October 13, 2011

Authentic Home Color Paint™ Exterior Paint Freshens Up This Family Treasured Cabin

This 1930’s summer cabin holds very fond memories for this adult family as it has been in the same family for generations. Due to the beautiful north Puget Sound location, the home receives considerable amounts of weather and this year it was time to tackle the exterior painting.

Cabin Back - Before

Kathy partnered with All Pro Painting to provide their expertise in repairing and painting a home located on the sea.  The home had not been painted in over 15 years so there was considerable amount of caulking and repair work needed on the original wood siding and deck.

Cabin Side - Before

Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ was used on the exterior of the home.  Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ in Sable was applied to the body, and Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ in Dark Glacier was applied on all the window trim, sills and soffits and Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ in Prosseco was applied on all window panes.

Cabin Side - After

The home looks fresh and new and ready for a lifetime of enjoyment.

Cabin Back - After

Visit Authentic Home Store to shop for paint and take a look at our resellers page for a local distributor of Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ near you.

June 29, 2011

Room Makeover Completed!

When we first met Katie & Jarrod Hamilton in April they were very excited to be the winners of our room makeover contest and had a list of things they wanted to have done in their living room.  They are a young couple with a four year old, Shelby, in tow and live in a lovely ranch style home built in the early 1940’s.  The house, which sits back off the street, has a lush green lawn and yellow paint with brick façade on the house that welcomes you in. After walking thru the home to gain insight on their style, I realized that Katie loves the “shabby chic” look and used soft blues and cream colors in their master bedroom.  The master bedroom was the only room in the home that was “finished” and so I took all my hints from this room.

The challenge for the living room makeover was to appeal to both Jarrod & Katie and to create a space that was a reflection of them and that they both would feel comfortable in. My challenge was to incorporate the feminine “shabby chic” feel with masculine touches while using their current furniture pieces.  The large 10’ x 15’ living room is just to the left of the front entry and has 4 East facing corner windows that let in a lot of light.  Setting a color palette for the room makeover was the first item on the agenda.  I selected Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ in London Fog for the living room walls with Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ in Champagne on Ice color for the ceiling.

The ceiling was the original fir bead board which is very predominant, was the first thing I saw when I entered. The dull colored fir ceiling darkened the room and I knew it needed lightening up in order to achieve our desired look and feel.  It was the only fir ceiling in the house so I encouraged them to have us paint it.  Both Katie & Jarrod were nervous about painting the fir bead board ceiling so we provided samples of a glaze to paint mixture for their review. After reviewing the samples we decided to use a 1 part glaze and 2 part Champagne on Ice paint mixture to give the “white washed” look to the ceiling while allowing the fir grains to still show through.  Billy Brandt Painting provided his expertise to transform the dark ceiling into something unique and exceptional.

The next area that needed updating was the fireplace. The original orange colored brick lined both the hearth and surround and it quickly dated the entire room.  We agreed that a 12” x 12” tile for both the hearth and surround would improve the overall feeling of the room as well as enhance the original mantelpiece. I selected Castillian Gray tile that brought out the blue London Fog wall color.  Tom’s tile team quickly transformed the fireplace which freshens up the entire room instantaneously.

I rearranged the existing furniture to create a conversation zone in front of the fireplace which is the room’s focal point.  I moved the upright piano to the East wall, the first wall you see upon entering the space. Previously the piano was in the left corner of the room and you barely saw it.  Now it is the second focal point and fits perfectly between the 4 corner windows.  The ivory color armoire that houses the TV was positioned to the left of the room’s entry and placed on an angle. An ivory shag rug anchors the conversation zone and decorative accessories in our color palette pull the room together and are the final touches to complete the new look.

“It was so easy working with Kathy Banak, Tom Fine, and their teams on our living room remodel!  Kathy brought fresh ideas to our living room which we’ve struggled with over the years to arrange and decorate.  We love the color palette that she chose and the updates to the fireplace by Tom’s team have given our living room a more modern feel.  The biggest change was to paint our wood paneled ceiling, we were nervous, but Kathy showed us examples from her own home to reassure us that it would look great.  We finally have a living room with the right colors, the right furniture placement, and the right décor.  We are extremely happy with the end result and highly recommend Authentic Home and Fine Construction.” –Jarrod and Katie Hamilton

June 22, 2011

Newest Project – The Hamilton’s Home, Our Room Makeover Contest Winner

This week we started our newest project, a room makeover for our contest winners, The Hamilton family.  They have a lovely home and Authentic Home and Fine Construction are genuinely excited to get this done and surprise them with a beautiful new room.  Take a look at our first viewing of the room in this blog post…The Hamilton Home.

The first day Billy Brandt, of Billy Brandt Painting, gave the fir ceiling in the living room a new look.  He applied a white washed finish to lighten up a rather dull and dark living room ceiling.  A mixture of 1 quart of glaze to 2 quarts of Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ in the Champagne on Ice color provides a fresh new “shabby chic” look to the room. Tomorrow he will be painting the walls!

As you can see the light ceiling will brighten the whole room and give all the elements, including the fireplace and windows and doors,  a whole new look and feel to them.

Yesterday, Billy applied the Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ in the London Fog color on the walls.

I love the lighter feeling the room has and how the piano and armoire are highlighted by the blue/green tone of the new walls!

Follow along as we show you the progress of this room makeover and provide colors and tips to help you with your next project.  Subscribe through RSS and get our updates in your preferred reader or check our blog every week for the update, enjoy!

April 24, 2010

Refresh Your Outdoor Living Room

It is the time year to get ready for all your outdoor entertaining. Sprucing up the graden, cleaning the deck or patio and bringing out all of your outdoor furniture certainly gets you in the mood for entertaining.

Are you tired of you dull, boring furniture cushions? A new look on your seat cushions can change your entire outdoor living space. There are so many options available for sun protected outdoor fabrics and they range from bright contemporary fabrics and colors to more soft and muted tones. Any upholester can transform your look today. And yes you can even reupholester your umbrella!