DIY - Subtle Blue Sky Wall

Before I get into the post I wanted to tell EVERYONE that my Painting Techniques for Wall, Art and Furniture is now available for anyone truly inspired to up their game and skill level for painting.

I've been painting a brick and beam ceiling white, the work is grueling but the effect is uplifting.

For years here in Umbria I have wanted to paint these Umbrian ceilings white.  I find some of the rooms dark and heavy.  Other clients in the past have wanted me to do it too, but the project is messy, costly (pure labor and lots of paint) and time consuming.  It is hard to live in the space when the ceiling is being painted.  This is the practical part of the work.  If in fact you have a new space to paint I would suggest renting a spraying machine and spraying all the wood and brick, then you could paint the walls with roller or brush. The whitening finished effect is just stunning, to me it looks so much more Northern European.

Here are some before and process photos:

Here I'm painting over Venetian Stucco really smooth surface

For a moment we thought to leave the beams exposed.  It looked too complicated and not as fresh for the smallness of the room.

The walls I was almost convinced to paint blue and leave them simple but when the home owners really wanted an accent wall faux finished soft and billowy, it was fun to do and to look at and think about where to do more or less movement with the paint.  This is the obvious secret to faux painting a wall, get down the ladder and move away from the space and look at what you are doing.  You want to paint it inconsistantly and not make patterns or crosses.

Sette Design  light refects differently on smooth stucco wall vs. rougher

Sette Design http://settedesign7.blogspot.com

I mixed the latex wall paint ( In Italy this was Super Lavabile) with 50% water.
Then I spounged it on in rounder movements, then with a clean wet spounge I wipped it off in sections.
The diluted colors were 50% water/ 50% paint mixed well:  White, a Taupey Beige and Gray (on the blue spectrum).

Sette Design Faux Blue Sky

I know it is hard to believe the faux mix is gray ( it looks lavender)

What makes the whole wall work and come together is the painting of the Nude!  I screamed when it got put up.

Here is another little space, beautiful mixed tile motif stairs that rise to this little landing space.  I painted the walls pale gray and the ceiling the same satin white.

Cheers,
Natalie
I'm linking with these fun parties:
The Turquoise Home