- Thread starter Moo
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I really love the colour of the plaster once it's been stripped, and intended to do what we did in Norwich, which was to leave it 'au naturel'.
But then this appeared:
I suspect that some historic water damage (that bit's directly under the bath) brought a chunk of the cornice down and this was a valiant attempt to repair the damage.
Unfortunately the 'new' plaster is very white indeed, so I've now got to bite on the bullet and choose a colour-scheme.
H**E**L**P !!!!!
But then this appeared:
I suspect that some historic water damage (that bit's directly under the bath) brought a chunk of the cornice down and this was a valiant attempt to repair the damage.
Unfortunately the 'new' plaster is very white indeed, so I've now got to bite on the bullet and choose a colour-scheme.
H**E**L**P !!!!!
This is what I'm faced with - wall : picture rail : wall : cornice : ceiling.
The ceiling's not in bad nick, so I'm tempted to leave it (grubby off-white). The floor will remain polished boards + one of our ancient rugs, and two walls will be floor-to-ceiling book storage with cupboards underneath.
This is the back half of the sitting-room and it's really quite dark, so I'm wondering whether it would be an idea to create a totally different 'mood' for it.
Any ideas?
The ceiling's not in bad nick, so I'm tempted to leave it (grubby off-white). The floor will remain polished boards + one of our ancient rugs, and two walls will be floor-to-ceiling book storage with cupboards underneath.
This is the back half of the sitting-room and it's really quite dark, so I'm wondering whether it would be an idea to create a totally different 'mood' for it.
Any ideas?
LadyArowana
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Fabulous work with the stripping Moo. As its only one section that's the bright white and you would really like to keep the natural look, why not just give the replacement part a light colour wash so it blends into the original?
That was my first idea, too, milady. But once I'd got down to the nitty-gritty of working out how to do it (the most difficult bit being choosing colours) I realised that replicating the subtle tones of the old plaster would be very difficult indeed. Which was why, in the end, I decided to paint over the lot.
I spent a most interesting day yesterday trawling the archives and studying what other people ( especially Nigel) have done, and come to the conclusion that I should treat the whole exercise as an opportunity to do something interesting, in a subtle, F&B way.
As half the room will be painted bookcases, and one wall, between the front and back halves of the room, doesn't exist, I'm really concerned with the wall in the photo, I suppose. It's got an alcove either side of the chimney- breast, and a modest working fireplace (which could be painted) in the middle.
There's got to be some colour variation, but how much? Should the picture rail be the same colour as the wall above and below it? Or the same as the cornice? Or darker? Or lighter?
You've probably gathered by now that my brain is getting rather scrambled ...
I spent a most interesting day yesterday trawling the archives and studying what other people ( especially Nigel) have done, and come to the conclusion that I should treat the whole exercise as an opportunity to do something interesting, in a subtle, F&B way.
As half the room will be painted bookcases, and one wall, between the front and back halves of the room, doesn't exist, I'm really concerned with the wall in the photo, I suppose. It's got an alcove either side of the chimney- breast, and a modest working fireplace (which could be painted) in the middle.
There's got to be some colour variation, but how much? Should the picture rail be the same colour as the wall above and below it? Or the same as the cornice? Or darker? Or lighter?
You've probably gathered by now that my brain is getting rather scrambled ...
JoceAndChris
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Firstly, well done on uploading the piccies so successfully - now there's no excuse not to share every little bit of the exciting house project with us, please.
Secondly, I love those mouldings! Aren't they grand? It just goes to show that really rather ornate things trickled down from the stately homes; what wonderful statements they are, and your stripping is bringing out their full glory - well done Moo!
Now some suggestions. If you have a look at the FnB website, even if you aren't planning on using their colours, you can see what colours they put with what:
http://www.farrow-ball.com/oxford-stone/colours//fcp-product/100264
I've found their suggestions of what to put with what work brilliantly every time. What colours do you like living with Moo? You could do a pale grey blue ceiling, off white cornice, a deeper grey-blue above the picture rail, the same off-white for the picture rail, architraves, doors and skirtings, and a paper that's got the tones of grey-blue and off-white within up to the picture rail. Or if you dislike paper, another deeeper shade of grey blue. Or the same idea in green, or red...
In our little music room I used Wimborne White for the ceiling, James White for the cornice (which has a very very slight greeniness to it), Green Ground for the space between cornce and picture rail, more James White on the picture rail, skirting, door and architrave, shutters in James White and Stone White, and wallpaper by FnB in Green ground and James White (St Germain).
None of those pics were taken on particulary bright days, the colours are cheerier. I've always kept woodwork off-white (and John Fowler famously played with 5 shades of white in his schemes) but Nigel's choice of fake woodgraining all the wood is a very sumptuous choice, I think especially when paired with a dark wallpaper.
I'd spend a good hour in a large newsagents flicking though the interior mags and buy those you might get good ideas from.
How very exciting, do keep us posted!
Secondly, I love those mouldings! Aren't they grand? It just goes to show that really rather ornate things trickled down from the stately homes; what wonderful statements they are, and your stripping is bringing out their full glory - well done Moo!
Now some suggestions. If you have a look at the FnB website, even if you aren't planning on using their colours, you can see what colours they put with what:
http://www.farrow-ball.com/oxford-stone/colours//fcp-product/100264
I've found their suggestions of what to put with what work brilliantly every time. What colours do you like living with Moo? You could do a pale grey blue ceiling, off white cornice, a deeper grey-blue above the picture rail, the same off-white for the picture rail, architraves, doors and skirtings, and a paper that's got the tones of grey-blue and off-white within up to the picture rail. Or if you dislike paper, another deeeper shade of grey blue. Or the same idea in green, or red...
In our little music room I used Wimborne White for the ceiling, James White for the cornice (which has a very very slight greeniness to it), Green Ground for the space between cornce and picture rail, more James White on the picture rail, skirting, door and architrave, shutters in James White and Stone White, and wallpaper by FnB in Green ground and James White (St Germain).
None of those pics were taken on particulary bright days, the colours are cheerier. I've always kept woodwork off-white (and John Fowler famously played with 5 shades of white in his schemes) but Nigel's choice of fake woodgraining all the wood is a very sumptuous choice, I think especially when paired with a dark wallpaper.
I'd spend a good hour in a large newsagents flicking though the interior mags and buy those you might get good ideas from.
How very exciting, do keep us posted!
Sonyaclegg
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How do you upload photos from a phone or pad? I really want to share some photos and I can't figure it out! Any advice appreciated
jocelyn plummer
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WOW, Moo you have made a good job of that, it looks great. How about trying Venetian White from Rose of Jericho, in whatever finish you think fit-- soft distemper is good, but depends what traces of other paints you may have to contend with. Venetian White is a greyer white and blends well with grey greens and grey blues. I do hope your OH is keeping busy too--maybe serenading you whilst you are up the ladder? :roll:
JoceAndChris
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The Rose of Jericho paints are lovely, I like that Venetian white. I used their soft distemper on the old cornice here in the dining room, it sat well over both the old distemper and the bits of modern emulsion. ( I didn't strip the cornice as it didn't need it). Certainly a delicate, watery paint to go over intricate mouldings.
If you were to build up a scheme with RofJ paints ( which would be very nice) then I have to warn you that being a cheapskate as I was, and not ordering their £8 tester, can lead to disappointment. I chose their Eau de Nil for the little bathroom, when it arrived, it was closer to Arsenic, and yet the hand painted tester card RoJ had sent showed a much much softer colour. They had told me that their new hand mixed batches could vary a bit from the colour sheets, and had advised me to buy the tester pot.
The small fortune you can spend on tester pots is so galling!
If you were to build up a scheme with RofJ paints ( which would be very nice) then I have to warn you that being a cheapskate as I was, and not ordering their £8 tester, can lead to disappointment. I chose their Eau de Nil for the little bathroom, when it arrived, it was closer to Arsenic, and yet the hand painted tester card RoJ had sent showed a much much softer colour. They had told me that their new hand mixed batches could vary a bit from the colour sheets, and had advised me to buy the tester pot.
The small fortune you can spend on tester pots is so galling!
JoceAndChris
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Sonyaclegg said:
Hi there. I use Photobucket - you can get a free account there. When you sign up you should be able to find a number with your name on that is used to text message your photos from your phone. You send your photos to Photobucket, then you log into your account at Photobucket and find your images in "Mobile uploads" Click on that image, underneath it are 4 boxes or options of different codes. The bottom one is IMG code. Copy it, and then paste the code into your text here on PPUK. It will appear as just a line of code, but when you hit submit and go to look at your post your photos will appear.
Photobucket allOws you to crop and resize images or change their brightness. If you don't resize the images always appear a bit big here, some computers cut off the right side of your piccy so not all of your audience will be seeing quite the same image. Resizing is an extra couple of minutes, afraid I don't bother!
Flyfisher
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I would repaint them and my instinct would be to do something reasonably dramatic, though I don't really have a clue what that would entail. I agree that reviewing Nigel's photos would be a good start.
It's personal choice, I know, but I'm not very keen on the natural plaster look and I'm sure there's a good reason why such things were always painted. Much the same as plastered walls really - I've never seen any left in their natural state.
But they are so wonderful (and look to be in very good condition) that it would be a shame to 'disappear' them by simply painting with the same colour as the walls or ceiling. A wonderful opportunity but also a head-scratching dilemma.
It's personal choice, I know, but I'm not very keen on the natural plaster look and I'm sure there's a good reason why such things were always painted. Much the same as plastered walls really - I've never seen any left in their natural state.
But they are so wonderful (and look to be in very good condition) that it would be a shame to 'disappear' them by simply painting with the same colour as the walls or ceiling. A wonderful opportunity but also a head-scratching dilemma.
Nigel Watts
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Having invested all that work in stripping them my first piece of advice would be not to use any modern paints on them, only simple distemper. Distemper, being bound with water soluable glue, can be removed again. Modern emulsion paint is much more difficult to deal with.
Distempers are not hard to make at home. All you need is whiting (ground chalk), rabbit skin glue (comes as dried flakes or granules from artists' suppliers), water and, if you dont want white, some dry pigments (also avaiable from artists suppliers - I can recommned a good one in London).
For a natural stone colour you could try adding some earth pigments such as yellow ochre and burnt umber to the whiting. When I mix my own distemper colours I make a careful note of the proportions so that I can reproduce them in future.
If you are prepared to be more ambitious you could have a go at a Victorian colour scheme and use two or more colours in the ccornice, as was commonly done then: http://oldhousecolors.com/2007/01/18/cornice-colors-for-victorian-homes/.
I used these principles in my hall. I will post a link when I get home.
Distempers are not hard to make at home. All you need is whiting (ground chalk), rabbit skin glue (comes as dried flakes or granules from artists' suppliers), water and, if you dont want white, some dry pigments (also avaiable from artists suppliers - I can recommned a good one in London).
For a natural stone colour you could try adding some earth pigments such as yellow ochre and burnt umber to the whiting. When I mix my own distemper colours I make a careful note of the proportions so that I can reproduce them in future.
If you are prepared to be more ambitious you could have a go at a Victorian colour scheme and use two or more colours in the ccornice, as was commonly done then: http://oldhousecolors.com/2007/01/18/cornice-colors-for-victorian-homes/.
I used these principles in my hall. I will post a link when I get home.
JoceAndChris
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That's a superb link.
I agree it's a lot easier to introduce multiple paint shades if you've a busy-ish wallpaper. I love the idea of picking a slim line out on the cornice with gold leaf - if there are other gilt accents in the room.
Is Moo's house Victorian?
I agree it's a lot easier to introduce multiple paint shades if you've a busy-ish wallpaper. I love the idea of picking a slim line out on the cornice with gold leaf - if there are other gilt accents in the room.
Is Moo's house Victorian?
Yes, Joce, it's Victorian - late C19. The whole area was pretty well established by the time Mr Booth's 'inspectors' made their reports http://booth.lse.ac.uk/notebooks/b375/jpg/53.html.
Most of the streets were colour-coded purple, which meant their inhabitants were really poor, though hard-working and respectable. Which is why the relative grandeur of the cornice and ceiling rose is so surprising.
However, thanks to all the helpful comments and advice, I'm beginning to feel much more sanguine about this particular little project:
Yes, Nigel, I'd already decided on distemper for the cornice and ceiling rose, though I'm far too much of a coward to attempt to make my own; it'll most likely be F&B, largely because there's a major stockist not too far away. And thanks so much for that link - it's going to be a great help.
Mike - thanks so much for your comments. They've given me great comfort, summing up as they do my feelings about the enterprise. Your phrase "reasonably dramatic" sums things up perfectly!
The light-bulb moment came with Joce's remark about picking out colours from wallpaper. I won't be using any paper, but there will be an ancient oriental rug on the floor. So that's going to be my starting point. The one I'm looking at at the moment (very ancient and threadbare, so OH will probably forbid me to use it) has got lots of tones of earthy reds, salmony pinks and rich blues, with touches of muddy yellow.
I can feel a touch of the Nigels coming on......!
Most of the streets were colour-coded purple, which meant their inhabitants were really poor, though hard-working and respectable. Which is why the relative grandeur of the cornice and ceiling rose is so surprising.
However, thanks to all the helpful comments and advice, I'm beginning to feel much more sanguine about this particular little project:
Yes, Nigel, I'd already decided on distemper for the cornice and ceiling rose, though I'm far too much of a coward to attempt to make my own; it'll most likely be F&B, largely because there's a major stockist not too far away. And thanks so much for that link - it's going to be a great help.
Mike - thanks so much for your comments. They've given me great comfort, summing up as they do my feelings about the enterprise. Your phrase "reasonably dramatic" sums things up perfectly!
The light-bulb moment came with Joce's remark about picking out colours from wallpaper. I won't be using any paper, but there will be an ancient oriental rug on the floor. So that's going to be my starting point. The one I'm looking at at the moment (very ancient and threadbare, so OH will probably forbid me to use it) has got lots of tones of earthy reds, salmony pinks and rich blues, with touches of muddy yellow.
I can feel a touch of the Nigels coming on......!
Penners
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This thread is way above my competency, but might Mr Kerrison have some ideas to inspire you? I'm sure you know (of) him in a distant land known as Naarch:-
http://www.terracedhouses.co.uk/index5-paint.html
Or, as you'll be installing bookshelves, perhaps you could treat yourself to Kit Wedd's book: http://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/publications/victorian-house/
Or, pop across the river to the Geffrye Museum and have a look at their interiors: http://www.geffrye-museum.org.uk/
Best of all, paint it in a colour that you (and Mr Moo) like.
http://www.terracedhouses.co.uk/index5-paint.html
Or, as you'll be installing bookshelves, perhaps you could treat yourself to Kit Wedd's book: http://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/publications/victorian-house/
Or, pop across the river to the Geffrye Museum and have a look at their interiors: http://www.geffrye-museum.org.uk/
Best of all, paint it in a colour that you (and Mr Moo) like.
JoceAndChris
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Ooh, interesting links there too!
Moo, the carpet idea sounds wonderful - you'll have some gorgeous colours in there to play with, and can use the more muted ones on the walls if you don't want it all jewel-rich.
I've been spending hours this week wondering what on earth rug I can put in the dining room to go with our patterned wallpaper, it's ever so hard. A great idea to start with the rug. And I like threadbare ancient rugs, they've great character.
Moo, the carpet idea sounds wonderful - you'll have some gorgeous colours in there to play with, and can use the more muted ones on the walls if you don't want it all jewel-rich.
I've been spending hours this week wondering what on earth rug I can put in the dining room to go with our patterned wallpaper, it's ever so hard. A great idea to start with the rug. And I like threadbare ancient rugs, they've great character.