WHOA! Check THIS out….this is an amazing bathroom transformation from the ever fabulous Gracie Reed, of Grace Designs Dallas.I have posted quite a bit of Gracie’s work here, as she is super talented and was also a featured artist and cover girl for our inspiration book, Modello by Design, Volume 2.

For this project, Gracie acted as the general contractor, decorator, and decorative finisher to turn this ugly duckling bathroom into a black swan. Modello masking stencil used: EasCen103. I wouldn’t normally use the word “sexy” to describe a bathroom, but I think it’s totally appropriate in this case, don’t you?

Lisa of Lisa Goulet Design, an interior decorator in Ottawa, Canada recently posted a simple and elegant stencil transformation on her blog that is too chic not to share here.

Lisa’s foyer before. Nothing horrible here, yet nothing memorable either.

Lisa used our classic and simple Moorish Trellis stencil in a creamy white over the golden beige walls. The black painted doors add so much sophistication,  and would be a brilliant idea to copy if your daring and want to add some designer dash to a neutral space.

These other views give you a good idea how the stencil design is used in a limited area, yet relates well to the surrounding spaces. Do you have a Royal Design Studio stencil transformation up your sleeve that you would like to see posted here?? If so, please share!

You’ve seen the amazing work of Gracie Reed, of Grace Designs Dallas here before. Her work is on the cover of our Modello by Design, Vol. II book and also featured in the whole first chapter. Gracie continues to inspire and amaze me with her talent and she recently sent along these juicy, colorful photos of some fabulous porch projects she did recently with some custom-fit Modello  masking stencil patterns. And so, to brighten up your day…..He-e-e-e-r’s Gracie!

Porch before: yaaaaawn.

Porch after: YEAH!

I think you’ll agree with me that these are really exceptional uses of some of our Modello Concrete Carpet patterns, adapted to fit the projects perfectly. For these projects, Gracie used a polymer-based concrete overlay product called RSCrete from Faux Effects, International. Like the products featured in the last post, this is an easy to use, integrally colored overlay that gets thinly troweled over an existing concrete slab. It’s kind of like a Venetian Plaster type material-for floors-and works wonderfully in combination with our masking stencils! Wouldn’t you love to walk up to either one of these houses and be surprised to see this?!?!

WooHoo!! Royal Design Studio is sponsoring a stencil giveaway over on the lovely Made by Girl Blog!

Head on over there and get all the details and follow the directions for the chance to win a FREE stencil of YOUR choice, valued up to $50. The drawing will be held February 18, so leave your entry comment SOON! Jen has featured some of our latest stencil designs, such as…..

Our new Large Marrakech Trellis stencil,

our modern, graphic Endless Circle Lattice stencil,

and our new Uzbek Suzani allover stencil. You may recognize this last design, as it was first done here on my first painting adventure to Marrakesh at Peacock Pavilions. For that project, we used very large Modello masking stencils. My friend Debbie Hayes later used the same design in an elegant brown and gold bathroom shown here. This new mylar stencil is a bit scaled down from that but it’s still quite a grand size and makes a fabulous bold statement, I think!

Besides running the very popular Made by Girl blog, Jen also has an online Made by Girl store where she sells her original (and very clever) artwork on posters, canvases, and cards.

I particularly love the typography posters where she highlights letters to spell names and sayings. I would just like to say thank you to Jen for hooking us, and YOU, up with this fun giveaway. Good luck everyone!!!

As most of the country seems to be snowed in and gloomy this time of year, I thought it would be the perfect time to share a SUNNY, cheery stencil project that talented Carol Leonesio posted recently on her Painter Girl blog, featuring stencils from the Moroccan stencil collection at Royal Design Studio.

I was really tickled to hear that Carol was was inspired by these stenciled stair riser projects (above) that the Peacock Painters did on two different trips to Marrakech. She had been JUST WAITING for the right customer to want to do this type of project!

For the black and white stenciled stairs in Marrakech WE were fortunate to be able to stencil the Moroccan patterns on precut pieces of wood, that would then be later installed on the stair risers.

This made the stenciling very easy as we were able to do it comfortably at tables, and didn’t have to worry about squeezing the stencil into a tight space or corner.

For Carol’s Moroccan stencil project, she didn’t have that luxury, as the stair risers were already in place. Before beginning to tackle the stairs, however, Carol worked up samples for her client in multiple colorway-and was thrilled when her client made the bold choice of bright yellow.

Carol began by painting every other stair riser yellow and white. Then she alternated 4 different Moroccan stencil designs on each riser. Carol used repositionable spray adhesive to hold the stencils in place and use Aura paint from Benjamin Moore for the stenciling. The Aura paint is ideal for stenciling because it provides excellent coverage and dries quickly-allowing you to do multiple layers in quick succession, if necessary. She touched up design areas around the edges with an artist’s brush and topcoated each riser with a water-based urethane when dry to add protection from scuff marks. Pro tip from Carol: Use a gardener’s foam kneeling pad to cushion  your knees from the hard floor surface. Carol consistently turns out great stenciling projects that she shares regularly on her own blog, Painter Girl. Check it out!

Moroccan stencils used for this project from Royal Design Studio: 3015 Endless Moorish Circle, 3014 Moorish Fleur de Lis, 3010S Small Curved Connection, 3012S Small Eastern Lattice

I have blogged here before about Susan Bickford and her decorative finishing business, Singing Walls. Susan is a wonderful, regular customer of Modello Designs whose work has been featured extensively in our inspirational “idea” books, Modello by Design-Inspiring Interiors from Artists’ Portfolios. Susan recently sent me photos of a fabulous ceiling project that, unfortunately, came too late to make it into the most recent book. Fortunately though, it’s NEVER too late for a blog post!

Susan worked with one of our talented graphic designers, Michelle, to customize our popular EasPan114 pattern, which features classic Japanese plum blossom branches, for a bedroom ceiling. You can see how well she coordinated to the colors to the drapery material in the room in the shot above.

As an added touch, Susan and her friend Elaine Castronova added 100′s of sparkling, Swarovski crystal to accent the flower petals.

Some of the photos of Susan’s work which DID make it into the recent book show the heights that she will go to in order to add a pattern that will compliment an architectural feature! Shown here, OrnCen164 in a dome-topped stairwell.

EasPan102 used for a fabulous striped treatment by Susan, along with another decorative artist, Lorna Soble.

Above, a motif pulled from our Ornamental Panel Collection was used in pie shaped dome. I particularly love this photo because it represents how much impact you can get just by using a fairly simple and enexpensive Modello pattern. It’s hard to imagine that this space would have even a fraction of the visual interest it does without the bold contrast of colors and design.

Click here for more information about Modello by Design-Inspiring Interiors from Artists’ Portfolios, Volume 2

PS It just so happens that today, August 13, is Susan’s birthday. Happy Birthday Susan!!

I am very happy to report that the long-awaited followup book to Modello by Design-Inspiring Interiors, from Artist’ Portfolios Vol. 1 is at the printers and will be available for shipping in a few weeks time. This latest version, Vol. 2, features some amazing work by 68 professional decorative artisans from around the country. Three different artisans were chosen as “featured artists” based on the depth and range of their work, as well as the beautiful photography that they submitted. First and foremost in the book is Gracie Reed of Grace Designs in Dallas. Her work is featured on the book’s cover.

Gracie brings a special quality to her decorative work. Her amazing attention to detail is evident in the way that she blends patterns, colors, textures and finishes. Also outstanding is the way that she carefully styles each room. The barrel ceiling shown above features our popular Chambord carpet and panel pattern.

Here, a patinated and patterned mirror, using Flourish969,  rests atop an elegantly stenciled furniture piece.

Embedded pattern on Venetian plaster walls, FlorentineGrille705,  is beautifully accented with more patinated and patterned mirror. Here,  OrnTile137  is repeated in custom shutters.

One of our tribal panel patterns, IndPan105 , was cut small to create a custom art piece that seems perfectly balanced with an entry table.

Our Prajna concrete carpet pattern anchors this rich Victorian-style parlor with a complimentary punch of color.

You can see much more of Gracie’s work, and many more inspirational interior shots (175 in all!) in this new book. Due to the high cost of printing, we are offering a very limited amount of these books for sale. You can pre-order the book until July 15 at a $3 savings. Additionally, we will deduct the U.S. ground shipping charges upon invoicing for a total savings of $17. Book sales are brisk! Don’t miss the opportunity to reserve your limited-edition copy of Modello by Design-Inspiring Interiors from Artists’ Portfolios, Vol. 2!

I’d like to welcome another friend and decorative finisher to the blogging world. Debbie Hayes is a very talented Greensboro, NC decorative artist who has been featured a few times before on this blog. 

Her new blog,  Faux Plus Design showcases her photography and literary talents (she’s a former newspaper editor) as well as her artistic skills. Debbie has accompanied me on several of the painting adventures abroad that I’ve been involved with in the past, including France, Morocco, and Italy.

She talks about these (and her ongoing wanderlust) in some recent blog posts, including one on Moroccan Souk kitties….

…and one on our last trip to Italy.

Some of these travels have inspired the color-saturated decoration of her amazing, inviting studio!

I am happy that Debbie (and her talents and ever-ready camera) will be joining us on our next trip to Italy this coming Fall. To find out more about trips to both Italy and Morocco, click here….

Sideways….a classic name for a classic movie about one of my favorite things….wine! Another of my favorite things? Cool customer project photos showing interesting applications for our Modello patterns. For example, these two photos from two different artists showing a horizontal (sideways!) application of one of our contemporary allover designs, ModAll129.

For this project on a glass backsplash, Lesley Anne Kinney of Decorating Divas RI used a reverse painting technique using oil paint and mica powders to create a contemporary woodgrain look. Awesome!

Barb Skivington of Faux Works used a similar idea recently for a builders showcase project in Greensboro, N.C. It this case, Barb painted on MDF to create a contemporary headboard. She ran the design vertically but on very horizontal surface. Classy!

Pssst! Check out this article that I wrote on Barb and her art and business for the latest issue of The Faux Finisher……

Just in time for you to start thinking about all those handcrafted Christmas gifts you’ll be giving this year….I give you a fabulous little stenciled side table treatment from Dagmar Alexandersson! Dagmar created these  lovely custom tables recently as a wedding present. She used acrylic paints and tile stencils from Royal Design Studio to create the look of embroidered table cloths on some simple fold-up tray tables. I adore the added tassels! 

Dagmar was a welcome addition to our group on the Umbria Italy Painting Trip with Gary Lord and myself last May. Gary and I are finalizing the fabulous details for a return trip to Umbria and Tuscany in early October 2010. Please email me at melanie(at)modellodesigns.com if you’d like to be placed on the priority list for notification when we open up registrations in a couple of weeks.