The power of paint treatments

I have been doing several paint treatment projects this week and it reminded me, once again, how paint can make a big difference. I am sure I should be blogging about Christmas, but this might be a great time to think about the projects you want to do in 2018 and what color - and texture - you will incorporate into your house.

When I mention paint treatment, you might be visualizing the sponge painting that everyone did in the 90's. Let me tell you, paint treatments have come a long way. There is so much you can do with paint and it can look incredibly elegant. We have moved way past sponging our walls with globs of paint.

You can quickly change the feel of a room with a paint treatment. Paint treatments can make your walls look like linen, or suede, or plaster, or give them incredible sheen or depth. If you aren't sure about taking the plunge with a paint treatment, you can start small, like a bathroom or a hallway. My first adventure with a paint treatment was adding a few flecks of silver shimmer into the paint I used in a bathroom several years ago. It seems so silly now, but I felt I was on the cutting edge back then. Look at this process of expanding your paint and texture comfort zone as an adventure.

One of the first paint treatments I did (after the mildly sparkly bathroom) was the picture above. It is a close up of a wall I did using Venetian Plaster and silver metallic paint. It took a boring room (that once had floral wallpaper) to a showstopper. It is very dramatic and makes a statement. The scariest part of this project was first painting everything black - the walls, the molding - everything. THAT was a dramatic look. I then covered the black paint with the plaster and allowed the black to peek through in spots.

With paint treatments, you can also make a wall look aged. I had a wall that was very beat up after the removal of cabinets. Instead of trying to make it perfectly smooth for paint, I embraced the roughness and created the look above. I did a similar look this week on a project in a new home. The client wanted a wall to look like an old Tuscan wall. Lots of layers of plaster and paint which made the wall interesting. In a brand new home, this added instant character and depth to the house. The next three photos are close-ups and a farther away photo of that room.

I love the incredible results you can achieve by texture and paint. The photo below shows a powder room that I did this week with plaster, copper paint, and varying shades of gold paint. It is hard to photograph metallic! This room also doesn't have a light fixture yet so I am photographing in the dark - hard to see the effect. But, trust me, this powder room looks like a little jewelry box. Very dramatic and elegant. This too is in a new build and we don't have the chandelier in yet. Once the chandelier is in this room, I will share pictures of the light bouncing all around this room.

Another project I did this week is to "age" a new fireplace mantle. The client wanted a rustic look instead of the simple wood. After painting the mantle gray, I used two different colors of gray glaze to give this an aged look. Paint allows you to do so many different effects and create a variety of looks.

Don't be afraid to use paint technique to create an incredible affect in your house and to reinvigorate your space. You can add character and depth with a paint treatment. It allows you to make your home interesting and somewhere you love to linger. Personalize your home and create a space you love.