The Wine Room

Since my husband and I enjoy wine, we decided to dedicate an area in our lower level for wine storage.  Since the purpose for the area was just for storage (versus storage with a tasting area), we  framed in a relatively small 7' 1/2" x 10' space. Below is after drywalling and tiling with 10" x 20"s in a herringbone pattern. 

 

For the walls, I did a linear textured treatment, vertically oriented.  I trowelled on a texture medium and used a 12" paint trimmer to imprint random lines vertically in the product and used the trowel to knock down (flatten) some of the raised ridges.  This is how the finish looked while the product was still wet.

I then base coated the walls with Modern Masters Metallic Antique Copper paint. These are the walls  after the metallic copper paint base coat... a little garish, partly because of the bright spot light pointed into the room because I didn't have lighting in the room yet.

After the base coat dried, I brushed on/wiped off a Van Dyke Brown tinted glaze, toning down the copper paint. Here are the walls after glazing. (Later, we stained the ceiling a dark walnut).

I then spritzed the walls with water and dry brushed some other metallic paints here and there (Modern Masters Metallics Tequila Gold, Antique Bronze and Pale Gold), wiping most of the paint off except in the grooves. (No wiping yet in the image below).

This is how the walls looked after they were dry. The dry brushed metallics are subtle in the finish.   

We chose a door with a glass panel and affixed a decorative iron grill to the outside.  I did a metallic texturized paint treatment on the door and trim to match the grill.  This is a view from inside the room looking out to the lower level before painting the door and before the grill was installed.  The white door/trim color was awful.

Here is a view of the outside of the door after it was painted and with the grill in place.

Here are some close ups of the metallic paint treatment on the trim and the door, which I  posted about here and here (pictures appear dark without flash).

You can see the texture amd metallic characteristic a little better in the images below.

The iron grill was attached with brackets screwed onto the door frame.

                                         

My husband ordered various pre-made wine racks from the internet to fit the space and configuration needs for the number and size of bottles he stores. I would have preferred something different than the unstained red wood for the racks, but the price was right. (Some of the images are brighter than in real life because I shot extra lighting directly into the space when taking some of the photos).

You can see the the climate control unit toward the ceiling on the right in this image, which ensures that the room has a proper temperature (14 degrees Celcius) and humidity level (65 - 75%).

The sign below was part of a wine box. 

We went pretty simple with the room, but it is functional and has more than enough space for the wine we need to store.

Linking to:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style 

Textured and Glazed Handrail

 I love iron spindles and railings, so in planning our new house, choosing iron for the staircase was a no-brainer. The difficulty for  came in choosing a specific design. I initially was hoping to have an all iron look with swirled iron panels and an iron handrail, but the cost was exorbidant. This was probably fortuitous because that treatment probably would have overwhelmed given the scale of the area. So, I went with a simple spindle and wood handrail.

Here is a pic showing the raw wood hand rail at the bottom of the stairway.

Since I wanted an all-iron look, I decided not to stain the handrail. Instead, I did a metallic paint treatment that had texture that mimicked metal. After priming the raw wood, I applied texture (weathered bronze lusterstone) with a chip brush, and lightly sanded after it dried. Here is a pic of the lusterstone after sanding.

I then applied a metallic paint glaze (mixture of two Modern Masters metallic paint colors plus some glazing medium) to match the spindle color.  Finally, I topcated with two coats of  polyurethane.

Linking to:

Project Diaries at Stories of a House

Kim at SSS Before and After Party

Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking

Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick

DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Flaunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different Act Normal

Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous

Frugal Friday at the Shabby Nest

Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming

Remodalaholic Friday at Remodelaholic

Weekend Wrap Up at Tatortots and Jello

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On the Porch

Dining Table Re-do for My Son

I have been busy running around with my twenty one year old son, who is getting ready to move into an unfurnished campus apartment at the University he is attending. He has lived at home during his first three years of college, other than living in a dorm for two semesters. I am happy for him but I am also SAD, but I don’t let him see.  Anyway, other than bedroom furniture, neither my son nor his roommates have any furniture to speak of. I figured that a dining table was one of the more important items to address so I pulled out an old oak pedestal table that was my husbands when he was single. I think I have seen a gazillion of this same table on blog posts. The finish was a yellowing Oak and in pretty poor condition. I forgot to get a good "before" picture but below is one I took after I primed the top... you can see the original finish on the pedestal base.

So I cleaned, sanded and primed and then painted it black. To add a little interest I wiped on some metallic paint (Faux Effects MetalGlow in Toasted Coconut) on the pedestal base and legs.

Because the accenting seemed a little too THERE, I went over those areas with some dull black paint and wiped/blended to bury some of the metallic. (Below shows the dull black paint just applied, and then after blending).

I decided to add metallic paint along the bottom edge of the apron, see below. I was tempted to add some metallic along the top perimeter but decided to edit myself. Here is the table:

...plus chairs.

.
The table seemed too small for young men. I remembered we had a leaf to the table, which took me 40 minutes to find... good thing young ears were no where to be found.  Below is a picture of the expanded table.  I like the size and shape, so did my son.

...plus some upholstered end chairs.

Finally, I topcoated with 3 coats of polyurethane. My son is not sure if he likes the upholstered chairs… now that I take a step back I understand that they are probably not the taste of most twenty one year old boys. I seriously don't know what I was thinking. I'll need to get more simple end chairs.

Also linking to:
The Shabby Nest         My Romantic Home     Blue Cricket Designs
Chic on a Shoestring     Funky Junk Interiors
Life in the Fun Lane

 

Metallic Glazed Sideboard

I decided to bring up the sideboard I had in storage.. I thought I would use it in my birds' room... something to put their TV on.  I purchased this piece nine years ago and used it at my old house for a awhile but retired it after I moved. I kept it because I liked it’s bones... the carved detailing and curved feet. The piece is wood with wood veneer and hada cherry stain, which had kind of yellowed and discolored due to UV exposure.

I cleaned, sanded, primed and painted it (SW Antique Linen). Here are pics showing the primed piece...

  

and Antique Linen on the architecture against the white primer.

I decided that a metallic taupe color glaze would look nice. I applied the glaze with a brush on/wipe-off technique using a 2 inch chip brush and cheesecloth. The chip brush is a great tool for getting glaze into tiny crevices.

Here is how the architecture looks after wiping off with a cheesecloth... a nice, subtle effect.

To add a little more interest, I applied the metallic paint to a few edges here and there to give the piece a slightly distressed look without actually distressing it. For the hardware, I primed the pieces with a metal primer and did a tonal finish with some glazing.

Here is a close up of the curved feet.

Finally, I topcated with two coats of polyurethane. I think it turned out fine, the problem is although it fits in the room I was going to place it, I'm not loving it scale-wise and I really have no other area in my house for it. One drawback of having an open floor plan is decreased wall space . So it will probably be taking a trip to my Mom’s house… her neighborhood is having a garage sale in a few weeks. I probably need to mount the TV on the wall for the birds anyway.

UPDATE:  September 27, 2010

I ended up keeping the sideboard. I decided to add more metallic to the carved detailing. I dry brushed a concentrated metallic silver (Faux Effects Faux Metal Silver) over the high points and then glazed the areas with Metallic Pearl White (Folk Art), which added shine and pearlescence.

Here is a picture with the flash... you can see the silver detail, but not so much the pearlescence of the metallic pearl white glaze.

Without the flash, you can see more of the pearlescence and shine.