Progress on Bedroom Project

 I work really fast... sometimes I have to force myself to slow down so I don't A. spend too much $ B. Don't make mistakes or C. don't make a mess. (B and C are not mutually exclusive).  Some bloggers manage to project a calm and serene work pattern and beautifully update their story as they go.  I'm trying here.  

First big part of the bedroom project was papering the ceiling!  Yes, I am addicted.  No, recovery is not progressing well.  There are 12 steps and NONE of them involved wallpaper!?  How did they think that would work? I kid, I kid. I'm not intentionally being insensitive to addiction issues.  Here's the paper I used, which i bought from Wallpaper Direct because they had a nicer price than amazon (where prices fluctuate)...  https://www.wallpaperdirect.com/us/products/anaglypta/deco-paradiso/110174 

I love this paper, not only is it beautiful, it's a nice heavy paper so it's easy to get it smooth, compared to a papery paper (like what I used in the hall/dining room... that was a hassle).  I love the art deco vibe of it. 

Art deco is one of my favorite styles, characterized by geometric patterns and bold saturated colors.  This room will have a lot of deco elements, blended with Hollywood Regency... which is similar, bringing in more metallic and opulent finished... because I'm a drama queen. 

Which brings us to the furniture.  Time to replace the silver metal mission style bed I've had for 17 years and put in an upholstered bed.  (The silver bed would have worked, but i wanted something different).  

The next, VERY frustrating process was painting the ceiling. I wanted a silver finish, so it has shiny, and makes the room a little more moody.  This room has huge east facing windows, so it can handle darker finishes without becoming cavelike.  Basically anything white in this room is going away.  I'm keeping the sumptuous blue walls, but the white feels very nautical, and childlike to me.  I want this to be a sophisticated gentleman's room....  Metallics are a pain on walls or ceilings because it's really difficult to get a consistent finish. (I'm actually still not there, but I decided I could live with it and keep futzing with it later.)  The reason is that the metallic pigments are suspended in a non-opaque paint, so you have to layer it to get a solid color, but you also have to keep application strokes consistent so the "nap" of the pigments are going the same direction. My only advice here is to consider your base color carefully (i.e. if i were doing gold, I would have a yellow or brown base), and patiently apply multiople thin coats.  Thick coats will not get the pigments on any faster.  (stay tuned for pics, but the paint i used was Krylon latex paint in silver).

Next consider trim colors. I narrowed it down to two options, 1 (painted on top) is "Carbonized" by Sherwin Williams, and the other option was "Urbane Bronze" also Sherwin Williams.  (I bought both at Lowes, but apparently Carbonized is not available on their website??) I expected to go for the bronze because it brings in a gold/green undertone that would work with the silver and the olive upholstery.  But I ended up liking the Carbonized more.  So that's what I will do for the door and window trim.  I did end up using the Urbane Bronze on the crown molding.  .... I decided it does work against the silver, but looks muddy next to the bed. Weird how colors interact huh?   I was able to do the whole crown molding using the sample size of Urbane bronze... win!

Here's the urbane bronze crown between the blue (Behr Nobility Blue) walls and the silver ceiling:

and here's an incomplete paint job of the carbonized on the door trim.... which led to scope creep on the project: 

I knew I would have to decide on a color for the doors.... but this is where I also realized I could no longer ignore the many layers of paint over the hinges.  I hate painted hardware. There are two closet doors (like the one pictured) and one entry door. The closet doors are the only original doors in the house!  The other doors have been replaced with off-the-shelf hollow core 6 panel molded doors. But they used the original hinges and scribed the door to fit a VERY not square doorway.  I'll be taking the doors down one at a time for refinishing, (so I can keep Bentley out of my shoes), and cleaning or replacing hardware.  The entry door is already down for refinishing (I'm going to repeat the faux stained look i did on the hall side of the door).  I'll be getting new hinges.  I'm keeping the lionhead hook, but replacing the blue cut glass doorknobs I added on a whim years ago.  They are beautiful but the center post is sized for a thicker door slab.  I still want to keep the knobs though, So I'm going to try to make them into robe hooks. Stay tuned!