A Day on the Bay

Well, howdy there.  Yup, it's two o'clock on Friday morning, and I'm just now writing my Thursday night blog post.  Sadly, when I arrived on the job today, I joked with the customer that I would be done by midnight.  I know that's just asking for it, and still I said it.  Sigh.  Someday I'll learn.  Today?  Today, I put on my boots to leave the job site at exactly midnight. (Don't worry, I didn't keep them up.  It's their weekend house.)

Most of my day was spent faux finishing doors to match paint finishes in a couple of different rooms, and then I finished up by painting a trompe l'oeil frame on a mural I painted for them last year.  I'd write something witty or informative about this, but the yawns are coming at about one-minute intervals, so how about I just show you a picture and say buenos noches...

Pantry mural, now with trompe l'oeil frame.

Originally the mural faded into the wall.  The rest of this chalet style lake house is paneled in tongue-in-groove pine, so the pantry was the only place Michelle and Mark could put a mural.  I based the design on travel posters from the early 1900's, when their neighborhood was a get-away destination for the residents of Minneapolis.

Here's one of the doors.  As it's a powder room, this is about all I can show you, but you get the idea.  They needed this side of the new wood door to match the pickled finish in the powder.  I couldn't resist giving it a few knotholes.



I did these dragonfly tiles the last time I was there, but since they are one of my most popular posts, and one of my most popular pins on pinterest, I thought new readers here might like to see them.  The technique is done by using bonding primer on existing tiles, creating the raised design with joint compound, then sealing, painting, and clear-coating it.  Works on tiles that aren't in super-wet areas, like this kitchen back splash.


Have a great weekend!  I'll catch you back here on Monday, maybe with the recipe for whatever soup I make up to feed my friends who come for 2nd Saturday Soup and Studio.  Any suggestions?  Comments are always a treat!