Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Lighten Up This New Year

Recently. I've been working in two beautiful homes under renovation.  Seems they both had the same issue--rooms of totally dark woodwork--beams, crown. trim and plantation shutters throughout, all stained dark walnut.  The solution?  We started with the darkest, most bothersome areas and painted. distressed, and over glazed these to lighten the room, but in a way that repeats the dark wood tone to relate to those areas left dark.  A picture is worth a thousand words--so here are some before and after photos---  The last is a built in Armoire that was so dark it hid all the beautiful detailing==it was painted a soft blue, then distressed to reveal the dark tone wood underneath, then over glazed to amplify the recesses.  It is now the focal of the master bedroom, parading as an antique family heirloom. 

The first photo shows a huge mantel piece surrounded by a room full of dark paneling, shutters, and beams. It was painted a taupe/beige and glazed with added dark edges and fly specking, for a more refined distressed look.  The middle pics are of the same finish, different home--built in bookshelves and cabinets in a study.  (sorry, this site posts pics in reverse order)


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