Saturday, January 31, 2009

Bold Choices

Why not use a splash of color to create a personalized space?


The proper technique is to use a tinted primer to achieve this rich color. You also save about 10 coats of paint in the process. This bathroom started as yellow, with wallpaper borders.

The tinted primer was battleship grey, and then the process of turning that to red began.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Kitchen Rejuvenation

Kitchens are one of the most expensive rooms to renovate, and can be he most dramatic. We've done a few different kitchen rejuvenations for much less than a standard renovation would cost. The results aren't as dramatic, but you cannot beat the price in terms of updating the look of your kitchen.
Unfortunately, there are no before pictures. These cabinets were a typical 50's install with pine plywood doors and black handles.

A full sanding and spraying with Cloverdale's Ecologic paint in satin(cloud white) updates the look of the kitchen. The handles and hinges painted in silver.

It is hard to capture, but the advantages of hiring a professional with an airless sprayer becomes apparent with neither brush nor roller marks to interrupt the surface.

Please remember if you try this at home to prime properly to promote adhesion. Although Ecologic was used here, a latex product, we always recommend the use of oil-based finishes on cabinets to create a lasting finish.

In another project, we used a different technique to achieve the same results.

Before:














After:















This was a project on a budget. The holes for the original handles were filled thoroughly and new holes drilled for the replacement knobs. The paint used for this project was an oil-based primer for adhesion and Genral Paint's HP2000 in semi-gloss white. Flooring replaced with Allure's TrafficMaster garage tile for an industrial look.

Other:

White semi-gloss oil-based paint using existing hardware. They were originally painted in oil-based paint in a yellowed and dirty off-white color. As always, the cupboards were sanded thoroughly to promote adhesion.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Homer Street

This was a fun project. The layout of the condo made for excellent flow and highlighted the amazing views of downtown Vancouver.

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to take before pictures. The apartment was an off-white color throughout. The colors were chosen by an Interior Design Consultant from the Benjamin Moore collection.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Broadway

The classic "bottle house". The entire house is smaller than some people's condo, but what you lose in space, you make up in charm, well now. It wasn't the case when we started...

Living Room:


The ceiling had a beautiful plaster cove molding that we decided to accentuate by dropping the ceiling down onto the walls. Pulling the line from the window to set the height, this line was created in paint only using our special technique to have it as clean as possible. There are no traditional tape marks that some people get when creating stripes

A note on oil vs. latex

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The walls in this room had a paint adhesion problem. The paint was chipped off the wall until we reached the areas that it was solid. The room was primed with oil-based primer, ceiling included and the holes where the paint was removed was filled with drywall filler, sealed and finally painted.

Hinges.
A pet peeve. Although these are not beautiful hinges, I personally dislike a door that resists closing. The key is to not paint the hinges. The key is to tape and seal the hinges prior to painting. This hinge opens and closes the same as always.









Colors: Dominion Green-custom mix
Semi-gloss white Alkyd for all trim

Thursday, May 15, 2008

An Exercise in Simplicity

The color palette was simple: black and white.

A high-end condo in Yaletown previously painted in builder's colors of soften hues in green and beige gets transformed through black laminate flooring and 8 gallons of white paint.

Before:


After:


Thursday, January 31, 2008

My Own Home

Many people can show pictures of randomly selected pictures of projects that highlight their work. I have chosen to show the best example of my work, and I live with it on a daily basis.

Before:


After: