Painting Doors, A Shabby Distressed Way… Caromal Colours

Love this door.   It is a beast.

It started blue – I began the painting with Caromal Textured Basecoat Putty

after the Putty, I stenciled a french poem in gold metallic, then when dry I brushed on a coat of Caromal Chipping Creme.  The chipping creme  will prevent the top coats of paint from bonding to the under coats…

once the chipping creme dries I brush over it all with Textured Basecoat Wisteria.  When dry I sand the crap out of the whole door

once the sanding is complete I brush Caromal Colours Coffee Glaze over the whole door, and wipe back with a dry cloth

and this is what I get…

Another door – originally white, I dragged Textured Basecoat Colonial Blue and Bayberry

Over the dried blues and greens I brush on some Putty and then dry brush on custom blend of Modern Masters Silver and Warm Silver

when it dries I sand the whole surface then brush on Caromal Coffee Glaze and wipe it off.   Lastly,  I stencil some detail using Modern Masters Metal Bronze – paints that have actual metals in them, which then patina when sprayed with an activating solution.

The perfect touch…

Wouldn’t this be perfect?   Maria Carr‘s romantic bedroom

Dreamy Whites, French Farmhouse Inspired Living

a swing

Pacific Mutual Door

a room divider

Apartment Therapy via Centsational Girl

a backdrop, and sweet color at that!

Design Sponge

Available for purchase -  if you’re interested give me a shout!

Fabulous Finishes Studio

49972 Van Dyke Rd

Shelby Twp, Mi 48317

888-819-1490

on the east side of Van Dyke, between 22 and 23 Mile

You Know, It’s Sunday… On My Way To Minnesota!

I flew to Minneapolis this morning -  I’m meeting my friend and colleague Drew Beninati for a two day Caromal Colours Cabinet and Furniture Finishes workshop at his Studio – The Plaster Center.  I’m pretty excited -  I sent ahead a box of paints and the cabinet/finish samples we’ll be creating – it looks like we’ll have a nice group participating as well!

What a crazy weekend -  a long  day  Saturday, I left all kinds of notes for my helper Kathy – she’ll be manning the store Tuesday.   I arrived home only to head back out – we had to pay a visit to our Ocicat Bruno who was checked into the vet hospital

He was admitted Friday for a blocked bladder and won’t be coming home until  Monday or Tuesday.     We left there and stopped at Art and Jakes to eat – good food and affordable prices -   then one last stop at Meijer  for groceries,  by time we got home it was almost 10pm.

Did I mention I still hadn’t packed?  And I needed to wake at 430am because my flight out of Detroit was 730am…   I brought my camera…  will take photos and share our painty travels.

In the mean time,  today I got to see downtown Minneapolis – what a lovely city, from the airport (did they know I was coming???)

to beautiful Minneahaha Falls

to downtown history

to the most adorable puppy I’ve ever met

I am grateful to my gracious guests for taking good care of me.  Tomorrow we hit the studio and let the creative paint juices flow- I can’t wait!

Amy Asks, What Would You Recommend For Beginners?

Hi Patti, I am so excited to have found your site, I know you’ve heard this before! We are looking to purchase a home that has 12 year old medium oak cabinets, I have searched “hi and low” to find products that I can use to give them a new, updated professional look myself. I want a furniture finish, maybe the wall cabinets in parchment w/toner and a new island we will have built, in a chocolate textured base with toner. I now know the difference between the Reclaim paint (for smoother, easier application, and self-sealing) and then the Textured base coat line (thicker, more work applying and then you would need to add a sealer/protectant at the end).

First, what product would you recommend for a beginner (I do DIY projects a lot, don’t mind hard work and time) and what should I expect as far as drying times inbetween processes (like 4-5 hours or 2-3 days??).

I really want to eliminate most of the heavy oak texture, and I will be adding more moldings, etc. before I refinish. The cabinets are in great shape, hidden hinges and no previous hardware drilled…so it should have a great outcome [if I don't mess it up!] Thanks so much, can’t wait to order my samples and get going! -Amy

Hi Amy,  nice to meet  you via blog land!  I hope  I can help…

Both the TBC’s (textured basecoats)  and Reclaim are options for DIY’ers -  the TBC’s are very versatile – you can mash them, smoosh them, brush them, thin them down and brush or roll -

Peppercorn TBC

Basically, create ANY look you desire, so all that’s required is that you like what you create.     You say you want a furniture finish -  either line will give you that – I kindof favor the TBC’s, only because you can do more with them – brush thinner, brush thicker, drag other color in… and they are quicker to work with – you can liteally blowdry the TBC and then sand, and brush on toner or glaze- whereas the Reclaim needs to wait a good 3-5 days before applying any kind of glaze on top.   Thats the ADHD in me, too anxious to get to the next step….

I like that the TBC’s are thicker – they will cover your oak grain better than the REclaim

TBC Parchment on left, Reclaim Offwhite on right

With that said,  I’ll find myself painting w/the Reclaim and questioning why I want to use the TBC’s -  the Reclaim application is  easy – brush areas that are tight, then whiz roll the rest…. do a couple coats, then wait 3-5 days and brush on/ wipe off  glaze…     Can’t find a quicker, easier application.

Reclaim with Glaze

If you add more moldings, don’t worry about priming, etc – just paint over those like the rest of your cab’s and you’ll never know the difference -  both lines of Caromal Colour paints can go straight over raw wood – no priming or prep necessary.      Hidden hinges?   Perfect -  their paints bond to metal too -  just paint over them for extra ease – I hate removing doors.

I wish I could give you better advice – like “Use Textured Basecoats”  or “Reclaim is better”  but really it comes down to personal choice.  Both are easy, both are doable, both will result in a lovely finish – but you need to decide which way you want to go.   If you want to see some samples give me a shout ,  Patty

Taking Accessories To The Next Level With Caromal Colours Paints…

I don’t know what I’d do without my lovely Nikon camera.  I should take better care of it – but it’s hard to keep it clean and pristine when you need to use it in the middle of a paint project…

Metal candle holders before

In progress,  dragging several colors over each other

Can’t believe I didn’t get a better after photo, and they already sold

Little boxes before

After

Caromal basecoats bond to glass…

A tired looking picture in a frame, repurposed by painting over the whole thing…

Metal Home Decor, originally brown

Cool hens (or roosters?)

updated a brass lamp and it’s shade

Lovely candlesticks,  SOLD

Decorating charger plates

Ceramic vases

Gold leaf container

If you can imagine it, you can paint it!

Let Caromal rock your world…

The month of December we’re running a sale -  $50 off any furniture / accessories purchase of $300 or more.

 SHOP.FABFINISHER.COM   for all of your Caromal needs  – including perfect 8 ounce samplers of the Textured Basecoats – a great way to experiment with color combinations!