When we moved into our house five years ago, It was a very hurried event. We sold our house unexpectedly and then realized we had to find a house in a few days to buy in a town 250 miles away. Our house in St. Louis was very large, 6,200 square feet. It was too big for the two of us at our age and we opted to downsize. We bought a 3,600 square foot suburban house in a quiet little suburb of Springfield, Mo and moved in. Of course, we had to sell and give away a lot of stuff as it would never fit in the new one. Still, it required three moving vans and a semi tractor trailer to move us here. Remember, I have a very large private museum. We had to get it in a condition for us to live ASAP. We did and all was fine.
However, five years later, we wanted to make it over to our tastes and needs. I planned it all out in three phase. First, the living, dining rooms and kitchen plus the first level guest bath. Susan had paid close attention to my train station in the Logistics diorama that I had made various tiny marble columns as seen here!
We have these matching lamps in the living room that she really loves but, they would not fit in with the new makeover color scheme. So, she wanted me to disassemble the lamps and paint the red parts in a white/gray marble effect. Here are the red lamps plus my doberman, Dancer before the makeover. The most difficult of the makeover in these rooms were the ceramic tiles in the Kitchen, dining area and the guest bath. They were white, but not a typical ceramic tile finish. They were very rough cast, no problem there except the manufacturer had left them unglazed and very porous. We would have them steam cleaned and two weeks later would be dirty and impossible to clean other than with steam. So we had them cleaned once more, then gave them three coats of polyurethane clear gloss, That was a month ago. Still sparkling white and if there is a spot, She can easily remove it with a sponge mop.
The new color scheme is various shades of white, gray and a light brown. I dug up the colors needed from my workbench and took the lamps apart. The red metal tubes are quite large and heavy, so this wasn't going to be much like the previous tiny resin ones.
I started with a base coat of Snow White, then sprayed a cloud pattern of Testor's camouflage gray. The last color is actually gray but has a brownish cast. Perfect for what I wanted.
Next, just as with the miniatures, I used three colors of Micro ink pens to draw in the veins.
Then, more veins.
And so on,
It was about then, I asked myself why I was taking step by step photos and stopped. I did use pastel chalks to finish the marble effect as I did with the smaller versions. Reduce the pastels to a powder and with a large, round, soft brush, pick up the powder and place it where It would resemble marble, then a quick coat of clear gloss to seal it and so on. After I finished both, I sprayed them with clear goss about three coats and let dry.
Then, I assembled the lamps and she put them on the end tables once more. Attached the shades and, Viola! New lamps.
During the process, I wound up painting several accent pieces for her. We have a full bar in the media room on the lower level for the museum, but, we bought a metal bar to use on the main floor five years ago when we moved in. It was a weathered dark green color which didn't match at all. So, I gave it a coat of distressed white paint. It's in the corner next to the deck entry. In some of these photos you can see the white ceramic tiles I mentioned above.
Dining room into the kitchen.
Front entry. I painted the metal sculpture on the wall a distressed white.
The Kitchen Island and two white leather counter height stools. Dancer inevitably manages to hog the camera lens!
The newly decorated Living room with a new 80 inch smart TV.
Stair case. Our Salvatore Dali painting of "America in Dalivision". We bought this in Los Angeles in 1982 for $10K when he was still alive. That was 40 years ago!
The Guest Bath. All the countertops throughout the house are white quartz.
Well, that's it. Now you know why I have slowed up on modeling!
Thanks for looking in!
Bob
However, five years later, we wanted to make it over to our tastes and needs. I planned it all out in three phase. First, the living, dining rooms and kitchen plus the first level guest bath. Susan had paid close attention to my train station in the Logistics diorama that I had made various tiny marble columns as seen here!
We have these matching lamps in the living room that she really loves but, they would not fit in with the new makeover color scheme. So, she wanted me to disassemble the lamps and paint the red parts in a white/gray marble effect. Here are the red lamps plus my doberman, Dancer before the makeover. The most difficult of the makeover in these rooms were the ceramic tiles in the Kitchen, dining area and the guest bath. They were white, but not a typical ceramic tile finish. They were very rough cast, no problem there except the manufacturer had left them unglazed and very porous. We would have them steam cleaned and two weeks later would be dirty and impossible to clean other than with steam. So we had them cleaned once more, then gave them three coats of polyurethane clear gloss, That was a month ago. Still sparkling white and if there is a spot, She can easily remove it with a sponge mop.
The new color scheme is various shades of white, gray and a light brown. I dug up the colors needed from my workbench and took the lamps apart. The red metal tubes are quite large and heavy, so this wasn't going to be much like the previous tiny resin ones.
I started with a base coat of Snow White, then sprayed a cloud pattern of Testor's camouflage gray. The last color is actually gray but has a brownish cast. Perfect for what I wanted.
Next, just as with the miniatures, I used three colors of Micro ink pens to draw in the veins.
Then, more veins.
And so on,
It was about then, I asked myself why I was taking step by step photos and stopped. I did use pastel chalks to finish the marble effect as I did with the smaller versions. Reduce the pastels to a powder and with a large, round, soft brush, pick up the powder and place it where It would resemble marble, then a quick coat of clear gloss to seal it and so on. After I finished both, I sprayed them with clear goss about three coats and let dry.
Then, I assembled the lamps and she put them on the end tables once more. Attached the shades and, Viola! New lamps.
During the process, I wound up painting several accent pieces for her. We have a full bar in the media room on the lower level for the museum, but, we bought a metal bar to use on the main floor five years ago when we moved in. It was a weathered dark green color which didn't match at all. So, I gave it a coat of distressed white paint. It's in the corner next to the deck entry. In some of these photos you can see the white ceramic tiles I mentioned above.
Dining room into the kitchen.
Front entry. I painted the metal sculpture on the wall a distressed white.
The Kitchen Island and two white leather counter height stools. Dancer inevitably manages to hog the camera lens!
The newly decorated Living room with a new 80 inch smart TV.
Stair case. Our Salvatore Dali painting of "America in Dalivision". We bought this in Los Angeles in 1982 for $10K when he was still alive. That was 40 years ago!
The Guest Bath. All the countertops throughout the house are white quartz.
Well, that's it. Now you know why I have slowed up on modeling!
Thanks for looking in!
Bob
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