Thank you auntjen :) We do love many of the finishes in our new place (it feels new since we redid the whole joint). I know you're a color and texture junkie as well since I've seen pics of your lovely home. Actually...you are inspiring some color choices for our new home :o) For that I thank you in advance!

Ok I hate to admit it, but I hired an artist to do the walls. I had planned on doing venetian plaster in most of the rooms but when I broke my arm plastering, well that was the end of my plaster work. :o( Anyone want to buy several very expensive buckets of premixed for igloochic marble dust? :oP

So I didn't do those walls, but I can tell you how he did them, and I think they could be easily duplicated, unlike many of his other rooms.

Our walls started out with a knock down texture. He painted the room a pumpkin tone first. It was shocking LOL and horribly bright. We had an agreement that I couldn't comment until finished, then he'd tweek (this after I saw him spreading gray cement on my entry and hall walls LOL)

He does use all oil based products, but I think you could acheive the same look with water based glazes, although the durability wouldn't be the same. That being said, I have used water based glazes and they always do just fine.

So, first coat, pumpkin horror :oP Then he ragged on gold glaze, then followed with a burnt umber glaze ragged on, (just wadding up a bunch of cotton and pressing it to the wall here and there...pretty heavy handed actually). Then a deeper bronze gold tone, then back again with the gold. He varnished the finished product with a varnish he'd added a couple of dots of amber and brown pigment to (he gets those from a local paint store...I did the same for my lower bathroom wall to even out all the tones of the antique posters).

He's all about trail and error and layers. In our hosue, it's all of those layers of color on the walls he did that really make it work. When he did the master closet, I didn't like the color a much (I'd asked him to tone it down one notch so there was some differentiation). So he just tweeked with another layer of amber for me, and it was fab. He says it's hard to go wrong...you just experiment until the tone is right, but he always steps back and waits a day until he begins the next layer so his eye is fresh. It also helps the colors not run into each other because the wall is totally dry. I personally learned this the hard way early into using glazes :o)

I haven't put together an album yet, but I will as soon as it's all "done" which is probably a couple of months away. But thanks so much for the compliment again :o) We haven't had much fun with this silly remodel, but now we get to see the final product emerging and it's been great to have all the visions turn out ok :o)

Danny always does a practice wall on a large section of wall board to make sure the colors and texture are what a client is looking for. I'd say it was probably 3x3 or so. I'd recommend doing the same. Make the board the texture of your walls and then go for it and see what you get. It's amazing how one technique done on flat will vary from one done on texture (in the case of my closet) and you'll then tweek it a bit for the texture you're working on.

As I talk you through this it occurs to me, he might use the oil based glazes because the varnish might muddy up the looks with water based glaze. I'd definately experiment with that a bit on another surface to be sure it will hold up. The varnish layer is probably pretty important. It adds durability, but it also finished the walls with an appropriate sheen (the one thing I can't photograph well) that adds to the richness quite a bit.

Thank you so very much! It sounds like it would be fairly easy to do my own rendition, particularly since I'm not really much of a perfectionist and would be after more of an overall effect than anything. (Not that that's what you have -- yours is subtly gorgeous, but I think I might be able to use the glazes as you mentioned and at least get a bit of that look on my walls.)

I know what you mean about paints not photographing well. Actually, you say the sheen isn't coming thru in your pics, but for me it's more that the color itself just doesn't photograph as it appears in person. I know you've seen it before, but here's a pic of my walls. They look quite mustardy here, when they're more the color of an Autumn gourd. Do you think I could get a similar look with my base color?

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Here's a more accurate representation of the true color:
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Anyway, I just think your walls are drop-dead gorgeous! And I can't wait to see pics of the rest of the house. It's like you've given us a "sneak peek", and it looks absolutely divine.

Oil based glazes are easier to work with and don't dry as fast as water based glazes.....according to the faux expert who glazed our kitchen cabinetry.

Like Igloo, I've used both on smaller projects and can't really tell a difference. I imagine on a wall you would want the ability to work it longer to tweak.

I've only used water based glazes, & although you need to work fast, they've been fine for me as far as durability.

I use water, a glazing compound of some sort (usually Gesso) & paints or tints. WAY cheaper than buying pre-made stuff at the paint store.

And I LOVE your BR walls igloo!

Auntjen that starting base is PERFECT! You end up with so much glaze on it that the base kind of goes away, but it's the foundation for the final product. My dining room walls are done in a similar technique, starting with school bus yellow, then gold glaze, then buff (white) then pearl, then varnished to add to the durability.

(We're still not DONE so don't laugh at the goofy placement and lack of trim heh heh)

It's again a hard room to photograph...all metalics are I think but I wanted to show how the bottom color effects the top color (or is that affects?)

Being a perfectionist would kill you with this technique. After having done several rooms over my little lifetime I'd say that the first hint is less is more. Start with a fairly well spread out layer of the first color, the wait and fill in if it needs to deepen (the first gold coat on our wall was fairly dense, really pretty much changing out the pumpkin right away). And the second is to not quit til it's done! I did a kitchen once in base coat red, then added the gold...gad it looked like a cheap chinese restaurant had been gilded, really horrible, but after the buff, then another gold, then another buff it was fabulous.

I have only done walls with water based glazes and I'd say that for myself, I get plenty of working time with the glaze. I learned early not to second guess myself and go back over a done area until it's dry because it muddy's the look you're going for. I prefer to use it because of the fumes.

Auntjen....do it! I'd love to see your room after this experiment :) You really can't screw it up...just play and give it some time (proper drying time is a must for success). Danny says that the more you screw it up, the more you add to the patina LOL and actually I think he's right. Have LOTS of cotton (old teeshirts or you can buy them in a rag box in the paint section) on hand. You can't use a rag that gets too saturated.

Oh and the dining room...which is a similar finish, is actually drybrushed, a technique which I prefer when working like this because it's less messy :o)

I love that room already auntjen...but I'd love to see you do a little more wow just for the fun of seeing it in someone elses home LOL DH loves the bedroom...it's rich. Of course if you pour gold on most things, they do start to feel rich LOL Maybe I should try gold flakes in our food :oP

Oh man, your dining room is fabuloso too! WOW! Thank you again so very much for giving me the inspiration to do something like this. After the first of the year (well, ok - after we return from vacation, actually, so more towards the end of January) I think I am just gonna go ahead and give it a shot. That can be my first resolution for '09.

I'm going to save this thread, but I may resurrect it to pick your brain some more when I embark on this myself.

What a great resolution...no dieting or giving up booze required...maybe I should make it LOL (I'm running out of walls LOL)

You kiddin' me? I could glaze every single wall in my entire neighborhood easier than I could diet or give up booze. ;-D

oh igloochick,

Your dining room is FABULOUS!! I am thrilled to see your walls in that room. So glad you shared.

I did my laundry room with a tinted joint compound. I did it in my summer home, and it turned out wonderful, always compliments. But this time I decided to do a different colored base, and chose what looked like a gold. Well, when it dried (after I about broke my arm troweling that stuff on for hours) it was SCHOOL BUS YELLOW and I had to try very hard NOT to cry. Arrghh. Wouldn't have seemed so bad, but this is new construction and workers were still here working on the house. OH my, not the pretty walls I had envisioned!! LOL!

So I did what I did on my other wall, I did RL's smoke stain on the walls. It toned it down, but it's still not my favorite. It's just a bit bright and shocking. And I'm not loving the transition to the creamy-ish ceiling. :o(

Now I'm seeing your room, and I have hope. I'm going to do your other steps and add the buff and the pearl and see if that tones it down a bit more, and adds a bit more interest.

And then, I'm going to do a dark crown molding in there. WE had cabinetmakers install black crown in our kitchen, and love the look. And I'm loving yours as well. So maybe I'll throw some black crown in that room.... either that, or a VERY dark walnut. :o)

Thanks so much for sharing that space. I'm so excited to think that I CAN salvage my laundry room. :o)

Dang, Jen and Igloo - I love your houses!

Jen, I keep getting drawn back towards craftsman houses and bungalows and a few I've fallen in love with are "AuntJen houses".

Igloo, is that a brussel sprout topiary??

Jen, I was looking at the photo you posted above and wondering how you ever manage to take a photo without a cat getting into it somewhere.

then I saw him/her...

:-)

LOL Jen I'd also plaster the world before giving up a nice glass of port with flourless chocolate cake :oP

blessed, many of our other walls are done in a plaster type finish. The kitchen started with that type of base (he uses some sort of cement though). The first layer was gray, then he painted with a really bright yellow, followed by burnt umber, then toned down with buff and a tinted shellac. The result is this:

and a closeup of the finish on the hood (I took it for someone else who wanted to copy our hood but it shows the finish well):

Then in the hall, we stepped that down by using another yellow, just a bit lighter, and then the same colors in the kitchen so the two areas are different but also flow well:

So you have SOOO Many options with that rich base you've started with.

For my dining room, I did a dry brush technique, but pretty much covered all of the school bus paint color with the gold. That alone was a bit too much gold. The buff really knocks it down, but still allows the richness to come through.

I wanted the dining room to be a showcase for some amber venetian glass I have been collecting. Someday the chicken will be replaced with a venetian glass chandelier.

Oh and chic...LOL No it's not brussel sprouts....you made DH laugh since he knows how much I hate them. It's actually lemons :o) It was supposed to be burried with all the other (missing still in packing boxes) majolica pieces I have for on top of the china cabinet, but it's too tall so for now, it sits there. DH says we should "knotch out" the ceiling heh heh

Wow I'm SOOO GLAD to read about someone going to the dark side with moldings. Most people make funny faces when I tell them what color we used for the doors and trim...but I love the stuff. :o)

So get to work on the laundry, and then share pics :) It's going to be fab when you finish.

Love to see both of your homes ... I'm all about color myself, and get tired of seeing all these homes with "neutral" colors and furnishings.

I haven't tried texture, yet ...

Feel free to share more pictures igloochic and auntjen!

Me too, the older I am the more Alive with color, texture, bling and fabulous wood I want my surroundings! Ooops, sorry, I thought they were brussel sprouts too.....lemons?.....hummm...