Sette Design

Chalk Paint and Silver Leaf

chalk paint antiqued and silver leaf

I know some of you out there might have a little "issue" with me that I am just too feminine. Well I am happy to present this macho (mascile) dark red and silver leaf piece. I like how it came out. Even certain people close to me who will remain nameless were shocked it looked so good and confessed (later) to intentionally staying quiet for much of the project.

It was not hard to do, patience is always the problem around here, so grab some patience and a paint brush and here we go.

I first mixed this dark red flat paint with a tablespoon or two of powdered stucco to make a light version of Chalk paint, sprinkling in the stucco with a metal strainer. I mixed it well. Here is the before shot.

I sanded the piece all over not too much because the chalk paint ad heads well.

I painted the whole piece red three times. Yes I drank some cappuccinos in the middle and I did not clean the house.

painting with chalk paint

how to chalk paint - make your own

I taped out the drawers, leaving the part exposed I wanted silver and put the glue down for the silver leaf. I wait about 20-30 minutes or until it is tacky. I work in sections

I put the silver leaf on with a soft brush and my hands.

how to silver leaf

I put a clear coat of polyurethane over the whole piece lightly over the silver leaf to not dull the gleam too much.

I let it sit a day to make sure everything was dry.

Then I took oil color raw umber (my favorite) and mixed it with turpentine and a dry brush to lightly brush over the commode to darken it up and make it look more used and antique.

When I silver leafed the drawer pulls I intentionally used the glue only in parts to make it irregular.

What do you think? Isn't SHE a pretty macho girl?

Natalie

I'm linking to:
Between Naps on the Porch
French Country Cottage
Miss Mustard Seed
http://romantichome.blogspot.com

Serious Fixer- Upper and Villa Dreaming

villa in Umbria

Here goes Nat again dreaming of a Fixer-Upper. I don’t really want this house because if it were mine I would have to become a soccer Mom. One of those Moms that has to drive the kids to all parts of the world. I’m much better on my bike for the quick drop off.

But wait... there is so much potential in this house and it wants to be loved. Dream along with me just for the moment … because it is SUMMER and summer is for dreaming.

potential like crazy

In the garden I would have a ladder garden with Morning Glories, and Sweet Peas, climbing all over seven ladders painted in shades of blue and purple. Then in the winter it would just be the structures. A simple stone maze laid out on the ground in a design of river stones and Lobelia. In the center of the maze there would be a French set of curvy metal garden chairs and a table to have a cappuccino or 2.

Inside – oh my I always had the dream to have different rooms designated for different activities. There would be a studio for me (certainly with southern access light) a music, art and study room for the girls. We would have two guest rooms for the endless flow of guests and family. There would be a movie room. There would be a library room with wall to wall books and a cozy couch and big chair in velvet and linen slip covers for the summer and spring. The kitchen would be intimate enough to hang out in and bake all the time.

pink, gray. red- what color is it?

Elisa would get a puppy.

I might even have a small room with lock and key with gorgeous painted walls in motif and some splendid photographs in black and white. Then at times I would go in that room with a cup of something steamy hot or icy cold and I would sit in the a big chair and stare at the walls and photographs and then when I came back out I would be recharged and ready to kick it!! The girls would say yah we have a new Mama and Alfredo might even at times beg me to go to the lock and key room. He would say “dai solo dieci mininuti vai!”

or is this villa orange?

wine cellar or work shop or
retail shop filled with gorgeous furniture?

The walls I would do in hot colors, oranges, pinks, kiwi greens, shades of blue, Venetian stucco with motif, gold leaf, tinted waxes, pearl and bronze, rich brown. Then there would also be a section of the house that was white and grey for a simple refreshing contrast. I would go crazy painting and restoring the old doors.

for sitting under the rain

The terrace would be crawling with Bougainvilleas and Hydrangeas in vases. I would have parties where we served cocktails or mulled wine or even just hot tea.

color inspiration red-orange with ochre and pink

here's a lesion for you shabby chic freakers study up!

Then I would have enough money so that once a week a little team of MEN would come and clean the whole house in two hours flat “in out no one gets hurt”.

hangin out on the steps.. wait are we in Brooklyn?

If you had a fixer-upper what strange dreamy space would you create? I give you permission to think out of the box, because it is SUMMERTIME.

dreaming

With affection

Natalie

The Details the Simle Life #3

a door within a door

morning espresso for my darling

I love the details in life. The little things my girls say like “I want to eat that cloud” or "I made you an egg and now I want a hug, I expect payment!" Who do you think said that the teenager or the ten year old? The teenager is the answer. I just realized this week that there is a code of things that you are not supposed to say in front of your teenager’s friends. I always thought I was a cool mom. I know we all probably think that. But I actually blast rap music, love fashion, bake chocolate cakes and let them all come over and scream loudly. My problem is I don’t know what the code is, we are in Italy so it’s all in Italian (keep that in mind, if you think you’ve cracked the code), the code could also be An Italian Culture Code or it could be some kind world code that all teenagers know (innate or learned?) and that has definitely changed since thirty years ago.

vine and Medieval wall

shades of orange

Anyway (I diverged) was writing about the details. I believe that sometimes in life when things get tough it is best to concentrate on the details, the little picture. Then suddenly for that precious moment life is so pretty.

I like to buy flowers,
put them in flower pots I have painted.
give them as gifts

I always love walking past these terraces and dreaming

a kiss? an espresso? or a cigarette?

this city girls is proud of her olive "grove"

getting ready for the party
the Quintana Medieval horse racing sport and Medieval food

A friend sent me this quote this week. I don’t know who said it. It makes life feel right and simple and almost easy. We just need to know what our desire is.

As is your desire, so is your will.

As is your will, so is your deed.

As is your deed, so is your destiny.

Cheers, look for the details.

Natalie

Italian Flower Festival

La Infiorata

Oh do I have something special for you today. It is one of my favorite things about living in Umbria, Italy. I get to go to the Flower Festival in Spello La Infiorata. Every year I force my girls (although they love it) to wake up early about 5:30 a.m and we meet up with friends, get on our bikes and bike to Spello for the festival, this way we beat the heat and the crowds. The people who do the actual laying down of the flowers stay up all night working with tents over the designs so they don’t blow away. They party into the night, this in Italy means drinking lots of coffee maybe a glass of wine and hanging with friends.

These designs are laid down with templates, they have wooden boards that cross over like little bridges, to work in the middle and they have misters to wet down the designs. The flowers are picked locally and some are dried and some are fresh and then separated into bins of color. There are lots of teenagers involved and team spirit is paramount.

Spello Flower Festival

Isn’t it just amazing that all this is done with flowers, the perspective, design, thought, creativity and profuse color is expansive and mind-boggling.

I just love the simple designs best. They bring me such a sense of peace and joy that is hard to convey here in words.

the simple life

tree of life

I think it is a great idea to take this flower festival idea and bring it to your home for a party. Think what a splendid impact it could make at a cocktail party, flowers and colored drinks in the back yard. Spread out in the driveway for a child’s birthday party, a wedding or graduation party.

simple they are so pretty you can't do it wrong

flower hearts

Doing the simple designs could be as easy as collecting shapes from around the house, then outline the objects in chalk and fill them in with fresh petals. Think about using buckets, kitchen plates for circles, even little baby clothing outlined for a shower could be adorable, irregular hearts and stars. Have the kids draw the forms and fill them in. It would even be fun to have a summer party where everyone does it together.

Cheers and love around the world from Umbria.

a view from Spell, Umbria

Natalie

I'm linking with:
Between Naps on the Porch

French Country Cottage

Romantic Home

Chalk Painted Chest

chalk painted chest

Hello everyone! I disappeared because my computer stopped working or letting me work. Having a Macintosh computer in Italy is like… well it is like being a barefoot California girl in cut-off Levis, when everyone else is in 3-inch heels and has straightened hair. The fight between Mac and PC, it’s going on over here too, isn’t that insane except no one has Mac unless it is a phone.

I learned something fun recently from a very lovely stylish client of mine who owns one of my favorite café’s in town. She taught me, you can just buy the metal bolts that go on to furniture in stripes. This is what they look like.

distressed faux finish

Nailhead Trim

Then you just line up the stripe and hammer in a bolt every 5^th bolt and thus pinning the stripe down. It makes me think there are so many other projects I could use these for, upholstering a chair, making numbers on a door inside or out, one big SEVEN for example could be way cool, because seven is hip. Man, I think they would be fun to do on a wall also. Does anyone out there know what these bolts are really called in English, it isn’t rivet is it? (the answer seems to be nailhead trim)

Here’s what the chest looked like before. I made my own chalk paint by adding powdered stucco sifted into a small bucket of taupe colored flat paint. I used about two tablespoons of stucco and mixed it really well. It thickened up very quickly so I am thinking that the Plaster of Paris homemade chalk paint recipe might work better. I haven’t found Plaster of Paris over here in Italy yet.

the before shot

The good thing about Chalk Paint is it covers everything and it was easy to sponge off in areas to antique the chest and let the wood come through. After it was painted I wiped over it with a hard dried out sponge to make the surfaces smooth.

The ball gown was one of my mother’s that she wore when she was 18. It has a twelve ft. long satin shall that goes with it. When I was young I used to put it on and stand over the kitchen heater that was on the floor and blew up warm air, the gown became huge like a hoop skirt. I am slowly doing a photo essay of photographing all the girls in the family in this dress. It is quite lovely.