Basically Done in NYC (for a while)

Here are a few pictures of some of the work we did there. I am aware that these photos are in no way professional or "good" they are not for my portfolio, but I figured there were probably a few people that have been wondering what could possibly be taking me so much time out there . Of course many of the "little" things we did (that take an enormous amount of time) don't show up in pictures at all. like color matching all the 139 light rings and many of the switch-plate covers. Actually many of the really big things don't really show up in the photos either.

The kitchen here is a good example the walls in this room got painted more than 8 times as the color was slightly changed (as either the home-owner, her designer, or the architect changed their minds. We were using metallic pants so each color needed 3 or more coats. The final color is a light blue/green/gray with a slight pearlescence. The "hood' shape over the island is finished in a kind of oxidized aluminum look to match the tile trims. It is a careful balance of several colors of spray-paints in specific brands. kind of dusted layers, and LOTS of rubbing with steel wool. you can kind of see the light rings there sanded down to their actual aluminum, and a little black heat paint.

Below is the Powder room the walls are a creamy marble and alternating light and dark shell covered tile, detail in horizontal strips on the ceiling we did and alternating cooper and silver leaf over a dark brown Venetian plaster. The metal leaf is gently, chemically aged.


This is the guest bathroom ceiling. The edging is in a eggshell crackle in a tan on a black ground. The ceiling is red lacquer with a polyurethaneclear-coat to give the large crackle over the whole ceiling. the star pattern is black lacquer with alternating silver leaf and copper leaf. The leaf is also aged here.


Another of the light rings.


This is the dome over the spiral staircase it is another aged silver leaf application. this one is about 4 layers with the dome aged after each layer. So there is about 4 subtly different levels of aging. As with any leafing, the real work is in prepping the surface. With a finish this shiny ANY kind of imperfection shows . We usually use a prepping process similar those for automotive finishes, including body filler skims and wet sanding to at least 600grit sand paper.





This is the wife's master bath the walls, floor, and the white part of the ceiling are white marble, with mother of pearl details. the inset of the ceiling (the part we finished) is a gold leaf, 18kt Moon gold I am not sure what is different about moon gold it is one of the common "colors" gold leaf comes in (along with lemon gold, rose gold, and of course white gold). It is much less yellow than most of the gold leaf almost a brownish tone to it, making it more neutral. It is also a bit more expensive than many of the other gold leafing options.


This is the Ceiling of the husband's master bathroom it is a painted pattern in three colors with additional patterning of thin translucent veils of a mica powder that is clear but reflects copper. it gets progressively stronger with each layer. The effect is quite similar to an iridescent silk.


These are more images of the Master bedroom finish I described in an early post or comment or something... I will find the location and put a link here (eventually). Under that plastic is the wall to wall hand-dyed silk carpeting. I wasn't able to actually get a picture of it before it got covered, for some reason it got cover amazingly fast... go figure...




This is the wife's master closet. The walls and ceilings are a yellow metallic in large squares, because it is almost (if not actually) impossible to get such large areas rolled out evenly with a metallic as they are always translucent or semi-opaque at best. In some of the squares, "randomly" distributed, there is a stencil of a pearl white, in several (like 12-20) coats. It starts to have a "puff print" like look to it .










Not shown at all are several things that just cant be photographed in any worthwhile way, like the ceiling in the girls room - blue with a pearl veil fading to opaque pearl, the master bedroom ceiling - the same yellow metallic as the wife's closet with no stenciling, the ceiling of the dining room where we color-matched the fabric covering the walls and added a few band of some other colors at the edge of the ceiling and on the wall above the back-lit crown-molding, the ceiling of the entryway- Aluminum leaf with a pearl veil, that is all but totally covered with the light in that recessed area.