An Amazing Cabinet Make Over With Stencils

I hated them!!!!! I mean, truly hated them....those nasty, ugly barn wood cabinets in my master bath. The rest of my home is elegant; decorated in traditional style with lots of corbels, soft materials, restful colors. So this thing had to GO!!!!

 Now, you know me...I refuse to simply go buy new when something old is still in good shape. These cabinets were custom made, with heavy, thick wood, sturdy construction and in excellent shape. I can't just tear them out!

My plan was to create 1/4" oak inserts for each of the doors and drawers; My dilemma was that the barn wood was seriously glued in which prevented the panels from seating properly. Trusty claw hammer to the rescue!

Panels were cut, sanded and inserted just fine.

The entire vanity was then sanded down, primed and painted rich brown on the doors and drawer inserts and I used cream colored cabinet paint for the rest of the cabinet.


I then used our Elegance Wallpaper Stencil to repeat the vine over the cabinet doors, drawers and sides. Using a roller with metallic gold paint made that project quick and easy! When stenciling with a roller, just be sure to roll off all excess paint on to newspaper or a paper towel before beginning. This helps to prevent paint bleed up under the stencil openings.

 I added a repeated leaf border from our Furniture Stencil Borders #4 Stencil Set to the front trim. That was a cute addition!

 
I decided to add even more beauty to the cabinet so I cast a plaster medallion from our
Ornate Plaster Medallion mold. I painted it the same gold and attached it to the front of the center door.

A coat of satin varnish was all that was needed to finish the project. Now the master bath has taken on the same elegant look as the rest of my home and finally, finally, my major decorating projects are done!

So what is stopping you? I know you have a list of things you'd like to do to give your home more personality, creating a prettier space. Get out that list, plan to start something this weekend and then feel the satisfaction of your efforts when it's done.

Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for decorating projects, stencils and ornamental plaster molds to help you create the home of your dreams.

Fashion Stencils Create Awesome Designs on Jeans

The thing about someone like me who loves to decorate is that we decorate everything! And I mean anything and everything!
In this instance, that includes clothing. Jeans in particular! Jeans with designs on them has become a new fashion trend and I've been watching those designs get more and more elaborate an sassy.

I thought they were way too cute, so I developed my own designs for clothing. Now I'm decked with glam everywhere I go and I can't count the number of times I've been stopped by someone asking "Where did you get the cute jeans?".

These designs are now produced in my new line of "Attitude Fashion Stencils". Ranging from sweet to outrageous, there's something for everyone!

Stenciling clothing is easy! Click the link to see how.

Now, once your stenciling is done, glam your jeans even further by gluing on sparkly gems!

Mind you, this new line of fashion stencils isn't just for jeans! Dress up that plain little black dress, down the front or sleeves of a jacket, on the back of a coat or ski set....dress up your work out clothes and how about that plain robe you have been sick of?

And then? (You know me!)...use that design on walls, furniture, cabinetry and more! 

14 new designs on the website at Attitude Stencils.

http://www.victorialarsen.com

Kathy Van Gough, a talented artist and friend to our business for many years had the insight to develop a new product line for her business. The Van Gough line of Chalk Paint.

I'd heard of chalk paint before but had never tried it until now. All I can say is WOW! What an easy paint to work with! It slides on like butter on warm bread, the coverage is spectacular, the bonding superb, the colors are delicious and her beeswax sealer is to die for!

Chalk paint was one of the first forms of paint man ever developed and why it was ever replaced with anything else is beyond my reasoning.

Chalk paint has seen a resurgence of popularity over the years and faux finish artists all over the world swear by it's performance. I now see why.

A favorite application is on furniture because of it's bonding capabilities and Kathy's color line is modern and beautiful.

I personally fell in love with her tinted beeswax sealer. This product is a fabulous alternative to varnish. Not only does it thoroughly seal your painted surface, but you can use it as (what I call) a "detail rub" for raised plaster stenciling.

Rubbing a deeply tinted beeswax over your raised stenciling does two things at once. It seals the surface and the design but also brings out the intricate detail of a raised plaster stencil design. I used her French Caffeine Beeswax and am now HOOKED!

Here I used it over our new Raised Plaster Preston Frieze Stencil. See that bit of shine? That's the beeswax as it has sealed the surface. See all that dark detail? That's the tint of the beeswax. LOVE this stuff!

So if you are thinking about throwing out that old table, re-doing your cabinets or thinking about a new wall treatment, visit The Van Gough Chalk Paint website and check out the gallery for fabulous ideas. Then visit our website at Victoria Larsen Stencils for the designs you crave to make your project truly beautiful.

Free Stencil Contest at Stencilsearch.com

Here's your chance to win a full set of our Furniture Border Stencils!

We all love stuff for FREE right? And this give away is a whopper!

 

Furniture Borders #1 Painting Stencil

Furniture Borders #2 Painting Stencil

Raised Plaster Tremont Furniture Borders Stencil

Simply visit Stencilsearch.comhttp://www.stencilsearch.com to see our new article:
Turn Any Tired, Old Furniture Piece into a Decorative Piece of Usable Art with Paint and Stencils and then follow the instructions to enter the contest.

In this article, I show you how to turn your throw away furniture pieces in to treasures you wouldn't even THINK of throwing away!

And visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for Great Decorating Ideas with Stencils and plaster Molds, A huge selection of Stencils and the most beautiful line of Plaster Molds on the planet!

 

A Venetian Column Edge Plaster Mold for Home or Faux Finish Business

Oh how I love days there I find unique things to make my home or yard more beautiful. (Or to show to you). Today was one of those days and it popped up right before my eyes, begging me to take a look!

There it was! A venetian column edge plaster/concrete mold. My mind began picturing it's uses. Both in the Faux Finish Industry and for every home owner I know.

Whether you are a faux finish artist doing a room for a client, or a budding interior artist in your own home, imagine these uses for this spectacular mold:

1. You've painted a gorgeous Italian wall mural. (Or even have just a simple stenciled design on a wall). Now, cast this mold to create a wall to wall,  3-D floor element to stand in front of your mural. Not only will it make the mural recede and create depth within the mural design, it will also add an extra architectural element to the room (and a lot more profit in to your sale since you just added an extra service!).

2. Cast two sets of them, separate them by about 2 feet in front of your sofa and then cover with glass for a fabulous coffee table! 

3. Surround your plain front porch with them to create an old world entrance to your home.(I'd use concrete for this, then drill holes with a concrete bit and screw in to the floor boards to hold it good and tight).

4. Edge all the flower beds in your front yard (Wow, how elegant would that make your curb appeal?).

Cast this mold, then once the plaster is dry, take a hammer to one edge of it. Let it break as it will.
Tah Dah!...an "antique" looking, "broken" plaster piece to use as a decorating element on top of a large sofa or occassional table or buffet. Could you possibly have picked it up at a salvage yard in Paris on your last trip?

Buy this mold from Amazon. And I'd love to see pictures of what you wind up doing with it!

Now, what ideas can you come up with? Post them here on the blog and share with us all.

Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for more fabulous ideas for turning your home in to a home that delights you, plus all the stencils and plaster molds you could need to accomplish the task.

There are certain people that I've come across in my industry that are just creatively wonderful and on top of it, terribly sweet! Pro artist Suzanne Rende is one of those people.

Her visions come to life with our plaster molds and she had learned that using just one or two
plaster molds can create large, plaster ceiling medallions that she applies to the ceilings and walls of her customers homes.

Suzanne used our Crowned Acanthus Plaster Mold and Small Floral Medallion plaster mold in a circular formation to create this very ornate medallion. Painting each piece with gold metallic paint before installation made the finishing process quick and easy.

In this unusual yet quite dramatic medallion, she used our Small Cartouche mold on the ends and a combination of our Left and Right Scrolls mold with our Large Acanthus scroll Mold. Imagine how you could paint the inside of the medallion with any paint color to coordinate a room project.

Now this is a girl who shows off imagination when she casts many of our 2 on 1 realistic roses mold and with a cake decorating bag and more plaster, she pipes little branches extending from the flowers around a fixture to create a very feminine design.

Suzanne is amazing and delights me every time she sends me photos of her handi-work.

Now, take some delight in creating your own ornamental plaster ceiling designs.
Casting Plaster is EASY and it's CHEAP! Plaster molds are easy to work with and durable. We even offer FREE Ornamental Plaster Patterns using our plaster molds that make it a cinch for you to create quite elaborate designs without having to come up with a design for yourself.

So whether your are doing it for a client, or for your own home, you have absolutely no limitations to everything you can do with them. And Suzanne Rende is the positive proof!

Decorative Plaster isn't just for Victorian Decorating

Decorative plaster has been around since Egyptian times and has truly never gone out of style. Mansions such as the Woolworth Mansion recently featured in the news and stately homes all over the world sometimes use ornamental plaster extensively on walls and ceilings to add beauty to expansive spaces.

I personally have used ornamental plaster in my own large home and enjoy it's delicate elegance on a daily basis.

But though ornamental plaster decorating found it's US popularity in Victorian Era decorating, it has also crossed over in to today's modern decorating as well.

Ornamental plaster is actually very easy to create. It simply involves casting plaster molds, then arranging the cast plaster pieces in to frames, medallions, frieze and border designs on both vertical and overhead horizontal surfaces.

 The beauty of ornamental plaster in today's world, is that it can be used in our own homes, or incorporated in to our Faux Finish businesses to decorate everything from furniture to vases.

Case in point is Beth Savoie who recently emailed me about using our Ornamental Cabbage Rose Plaster Mold to decorate a bed head and foot board.

Beth is in the business of re-finishing and selling furniture. She found that our plaster molds came in quite handy when creating a new finish for an old piece. The results are incredible! And combining Raised Plaster Stencil designs with plaster molds gives her options she might not normally have for her one of a kind, truly beautiful pieces.

Visit her website at http://www.savoiestyle.com/ and enjoy her designs and maybe purchase a piece for your own home.

Visit the VictoriaLarsen.com website for inspiration, stencils and plaster molds to make a more beautiful home, a more creative life.