One man's house is another women's giant coloring book
Weeks: 2 1/2
Stories: 3
Colors: 5
Painters: 4
I lived in the house several years before I was able to have it painted, but it was always part of the plan. There was no way I was going to leave this amazing tabula rasa plain white. One the painters were hired I realized I had to create a visual plan. First to plan my color ways, then to show the painters what I wanted...
I began by taking photos from which to create technical drawings
corner
(south-east side)
front
(south side)
side
(south-west side)
Then, I crudely stitched them together in photoshop to get a feel for the overall exterior, visually, to help me think about how to plan the color blocking.
And after going to the paint store, finding my color chips, I went to the craft store and found markers that matched the paint colors.
This lovely was my primary inspiration
(I am totally jealous about all detail this lady has in her woodwork - SO much more than mine. So much MORE opportunity to play with color and texture. OTOH my painters probably would have quit if I had handed them this photo.)
And after allot of trial and elimination
this...
became this...
and so on...
And finally, the whole process....
step one
step two
step three
A key to the process
My Mom
My critical helper
Cate and her husband Bill inherited my Grandmothers VERY large arts and crafts house in Cleveland and for years she spent her copius energy working on her own home and yard(everyone asks where I get my high energy levels - its from her). By the time I got my house they had retired, sold all their wordly belongings and moved to Costa Rica.
Once I had my own home, she came for visits, several weeks a year and we worked on my house. (Still do.) She taught me how to hang wall paper and has been game for my most outlandish projects - including the 13 color marbelized living room and THREE seperate wallpapered ceilings. (If you've never done it, take my word for it, its a pain, but so worth the effect - to be shown in upcoming posts.)
And thanks to both her and Bill, to date, there is only ONE room remaining that has wallpaper left to strip. It really helps to have a willing and able partner in crime - its how I've managed to get so much done in relatively short amount of time. Even when we couldn't get the project finished before she left - she always got the prep work done(stripping wall paper, cleaning, patching and sanding the walls and priming them) so I could easily finish it.
So, here she is, a lively 77, doing the detail painting on the porch.
Thanks Mom!
the full gallery
I would LOVE it if you would leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts/reactions - creating can be a lonely endeavor and I'd love to know if you enjoyed this.
In the process I named the house 'Forteza Luce' or, Fortress of Light', in Italian, for her glorious gigantic windows - the light inside the house is wonderful!
- The Chatelaine
Forteza Luce all dressed up in her new 'outfit'
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