Strie

Strie Techinique is the process of creating a soft vertical striping texture.  It tends to be more formal and very popular in English and French decorating.

The Where~ Just about anywhere but I do shy away from using this in a stairwell because of the angle of the stair risers tend to make the edges look a little sloppy.  I probably do this technique mostly in living rooms and behind bookcases to give dimension and interest to the room. It's also a nice technique to use if you have wallpaper above a chair rail and want to use a color below the molding.

The When~ When the room needs to be dressed up a bit.  It tends to be more of a formal look but I have used this technique in children's spaces as well.  It's a great way to blend colors which will give you a color that doesn't exist in any fan deck.

The How~ It's important to have a steady hand while doing this technique so don't over do it with the coffee before attempting this!  I like to limit this technique to the standard ceiling height.  Any wall height over 8' tends to be difficult to achieve the continuous brush stroke.  I always start with a light base coat and tint the glaze darker.  If you want very distinctive lines the glaze should be tinted considerably darker.  The base coat should be in an satin finish but if the walls are plaster, eggshell finish will work as well.

I always have someone roll out the glaze so I can focus on getting a straight line.  I also have the person who is rolling out the glaze make sure the laser level is moved every 12" so I can get a straight line.

Bedford Living Room- BM 1205 Base with Burnt siena tinted glaze

 







Master Bedroom  BM 1660 Base with Blue, Fushia, black tinted glaze

Family Shelves- BM 2088-30 Base; Glaze tinted with 2088-10

                                   

Manhattan Foyer- Metallic paint was tinted to strie over base of BM 1657

NYC Girls Bathroom- Metallic paint tinted and done in a loose strie to give it a playful look

Larchmont Living Room

This is what the walls look like prior to glazing.

Walls~ White Dove Satin Finish Basecoat.

Client wanted a subtle strie affect to give some depth to the room and to give just a hint of lavender color

Same wall as above but with a slight hint of color

Lavender is a pretty color but not typically seen in a living room so we wanted to be very subtle with the amount of pigment.

The fabrics in this room are linens and oatmeals with a quiet suggestion of the lavender in accent pillows.

 The walls keep the rooms light and airy but warms up the space with the hint of color.

Notice the glass bowl on the coffee table is the same color as the walls and the cording on the pillows have a deeper lavender.

Basecoat- BM White dove, Satin finish

Glaze-polyvine contractors glaze, zar poly acrylic satin finish; tint- mixol violet #9

Crosshatch

Crosshatch Glaze, also know as Linen or Faux Grasscloth~

The WHERE- Anywhere! no seriously! I've done this technique in foyers, living rooms, dining rooms,
  bathrooms, kitchens, offices, bedrooms.  I've done this technique in formal traditional homes, beach
  houses, New York City apartments and everywhere in between.

The WHEN-  This technique is the most flexible of all faux finishes.  I've used it in stuffy dining
  rooms to take the formal edge off.  In kitchens to warm up the space.  In family rooms to add another
  dimension.  I've added metallic pearlescent paint to the glaze for a master bedroom done in
  a soft blue and it was so elegant!

The HOW- This technique is actually pretty easy to achieve.  It does make it easier if you have some
  one to assist you.  I always like to start with a light colored base coat and use tinted latex glaze.  It is a
  two step process as the first coat should dry over night before the final glaze coat goes on.  See
  additional info in 'How To Crosshatch' in Stuff!  

Formal Dining room~

Again, this takes the edge off! Makes the room less serious and more
comfortable!

*Note- Personally, I like to do above
and below the chair rail.

Girls Bedroom

This room had lots of antique furniture but the wall treatment made it less stuffy!

*Note- Pinks are sooo hard to work
with! By using a linen look, the color is there but not as intense had it been a solid color.

Bedford Living Room

Hard to see the texture at this angle but notice that it is a formal yet comfortable space.

*Note-The linen mimics the linen fabric used for the couch. With so
many fabrics, this brings the room together

NYC Apartment Foyer

This space was somewhat formal but we wanted to give it a more modern feeling so we added the metallic paint to the glaze to give it a silvery blue tint.

*Note, again hard to see the texture but in real life, the color changes a bit depending on what type of light the room has.  During the day, a tall window gives it a fresh look, at night the incandescent light give it a glimmer.

Kitchen

The designer on the project wanted to use the yellow color from the window treatment but didn't want the saturation of a solid color.  The linen softened what would have been a pretty intense color.

Nantucket Dining Room

This color has been one of my favorites for years!  It's universal and just easy going.  I could probably tint the glaze in my sleep! (3 parts burnt umber, 1 part ochre)

What's In?!? Horizontal Stripes

The WHERE- The trend i'm seeing - using Horizontal Stripes in Bathrooms, Kids Rooms and Mudrooms

The When- When the room needs a pop of something fun! It's a great way to give a room an updated look without going too modern. And when there's not a lot of pattern being used in the space.

The HOW- Please see 'Horizontal Stripes How To' in Stuff column

Boys Room

Basecoat:  Ben Moore 'Timid White' 2148-60

Stripe:  Ben Moore 'Sandy White' 2148-50

Eggshell finish

 Black and White Boys Bath

*Note- with high contrast colors, the base coat should be the lighter color

Both base coat and stripe are done with Satin Finish

When doing a high contrast color combination, make sure you
press down the tape really well!  I like to use a credit card.

Girls Playroom

Tone on Tone

With this project, the dark color is an eggshell finish and the light color is a shade lighter but in a semi gloss finish.  The difference is subtle but the difference in sheen dresses it up!

*NOTE!!! If you want to play with different sheen, always have the lighter color be the color with the most amount of sheen.

 Lighter colors should be in satin, semi gloss or gloss;
dark colors should be flat, matte, or eggshell.

On this job, the base coat was the dark salmon in eggshell finish, light color was gloss finish

Boys Bathroom

Used Ben Moore HC 146 Wedgewood Gray
with Ben Moore HC 143 Wythe Blue

Eggshell Finish

Mudroom

Basecoat
  Ben Moore 'Decorators White'

Stripe
  Farrow and Ball 'Blackened'

This house is classic traditional architecture but was decorated with a modern spin.  The Blackened gray was used thru out the house and gave this space a very fresh look.

WELCOME!

In my world anything and everything can be painted, that's if you use the right paint and do the right prep.  This blog will hopefully be informative with product knowledge and creative ideas.

Over the years i've learned from experience and sometimes the most disastrous jobs are the jobs that gave me the most insight. So hopefully my mistakes will benefit you!  And because I've made painting a business, I've been able to come up with 'tricks of the trade' to save time, money and aggravation.

With that said, Disclaimer time(!):  As with all Art and Craft applications, these are suggestions but every artist and craftsperson can put their own spin on the technique.  Also, paint products sometimes have a mind of their own, surface prep, compatibility, environment and dry time can affect the overall result.  This blog will should help you avoid mishaps but as the old saying goes 'sh** happens'!