FORMAL LIVING ROOM
Day 1
The first step was to fix all of the plaster. Drywall mud is a perfectly reasonable medium to use. It sticks very well to plaster. I made my way around the room filling old anchor holes and repairing cracks. This room had the least amount of work to do and it's the first room you see when you walk in, so we wanted to start here.
After I patched everything it was time to replace the light fixture. You can go back to the walkthrough video to see it. I didn't take a picture. We are playing with a mix of Art Deco and Art Nouveau styles with a dusting of Colonial Revival. We love mixing and blending styles and don't want to be pigeon holed into a single concept. We want everything to live in the same time period or at least feel that way. The first purchase was this wedding cake chandelier light from Rejuvination. The hardware is unlaquered brass (my favorite) as it will patina over the years. I like to control the patina and good way to do that is keeping a bottle of Barkeeper's Friend around. A light wipe with a rag will pull off as much patina as you like.
PAINT
BENJAMIN MOORE
Soot - Regal Flat Finish
This color is part of Color Preview. A collection of bold, saturated colors that brings spaces to life for those looking to illuminate their world with pure, extraordinary color. A rich black color with cool blue undertones. It is full-bodied, saturated, and stunning.
We wanted to go bold right out of the gate. We think that the outside of the house is certainly not something you see everyday in central Florida, so we wanted to make a similar statement with the first color you see upon entering. We think a variation of black was the right choice for this. Another reason we chose this color was to make the Coquina fireplace pop.
Coquina was used as building stone in St. Augustine as early as 1598 for construction of a powder house. This was the beginning of a building tradition that extended into the 1930s along Florida's Atlantic Coast. So, this fireplace fits in perfectly for showcasing a little of old Florida.
Still occasionally quarried or mined, and used as a building stone in Florida for over 400 years, coquina forms the walls of the Castillo in St. Augustine. The stone made a very good material for building forts, particularly those built during the period of heavy cannon use. Because of coquina's softness, cannonballs would sink into, rather than shatter or puncture the walls. The first Saint Augustine lighthouse, built by the Spanish, was also made of coquina.
We still have some decorating to do, and some wood finish cleanup, but the vibe of the room is there.
The saloon doors that lead into the sunroom are quite old and they have a beautiful patina to them. They show their age, and we like that about them. They are a little grimy and washed out, so instead of stripping and sanding I'm going to brush on a thin coat of Gel Stain after cleaning them really good. I want the patina to show through and I think this is the best way to do it.
(Below) The bottom panel still needs to be glazed.
I'm using MinWax Cherrywood Gel stain and a soft bristle brush. I'm brushing it in really good creating a glaze. In the pic above you can see the center part of the door is not yet glazed.
I'll give the stain 24 hours to dry and then give it a matte clear coat finish.
The original patina still shows through, but the color is more saturated. They look finished, yet still show their age.
