‘Featured Finishes’ Series: Episode 11
Red, white & blue is our patriotic palette that will soon decorate our backyards and BBQs for the July 4th holiday. But, let’s not stop there! These bright, beautiful colors deserve a permanent place in our decor to enjoy year-round. A patriotic palette doesn’t have to look like a holiday party. Each color can accentuate your space individually or combined for a timeless look. It’s time to pay homage to these wonderful colors and open our minds to incorporate them into our daily designs.
This week, let’s celebrate a… Patriotic Palette
RED
Red is a powerful color in nature and a stunning accent in designs. From fire to cherries and even a glass of wine, red comes in so many shades it can be overwhelming finding just the right one! That’s what I love about this finish. Cherry Wine takes the stress out of crafting the perfect red and let’s you focus more on the finishing glaze to complete the palette. You have full control to tone the red up or down, bright or weathered… whatever is the perfect hue for your room.
- Imperfection is sometimes the perfect design. Try roughing up your project a bit. use rocks, a hammer, paint can opener, etc. and give your wood surface a few dents and dings.
- Custom tint Old World Finishing Paint™ to create your red tint and paint on wood.
- When dry, rub back with sandpaper or a damp cloth until you reach your desired distressed look. If you want more distress, get that rock back out and give it a few more whacks!
- Mix up a glaze and apply. Try out different shades of brown, black, red or even a completely different color for a little surprise!
- Blot off with cheese cloth and use your badger brush for the perfect final strokes. If you want your dents and dings to appear darker, really get the glaze into those grooves and be careful not to remove it in these final steps. Your dimensional finished product will really make people want to touch it and ask “How did you do that?”
WHITE
Sunshine, bright skies and fresh white accents are welcome anytime of year! Raw Silk is a textural intriguing finish that’s beautiful on furniture, molding, cabinets and any other decor accents. It’s delicate enough for a customized wedding gift or a baby’s room but rugged to handle the wear-and-tear of daily life.
- Pick the perfect white tint for your design and base paint your piece. I always like 2 coats for full coverage.
- Next, get your Old World Finishing Paint™ but this time we aren’t just painting with it… we’re activating it! Mix OWFP with OWFP Activator until it is slightly thickened.
- Take a chip brush and paint your own design on the piece to create a cool monochromatic texture.
- Finish it off with wax and a little buffing. If you want more shimmer, add mica powder to the wax and see what happens!
BLUE
Summertime is in full bloom but sometimes those stormy skies sneak into our landscape. The world is filled with an infinite number of blue hues, allowing us to inject that perfect shade into our decor. Stormy is a wood finish that’s not only beautiful to look at but fun to create!
- Custom tint Old World Finishing Paint™ to just the perfect blue tint and paint on wood.
- When dry, rub back with sandpaper or a damp cloth until you reach your desired distressed look.
- Mix up a glaze and apply. Try out different shades of brown, black or even another blue!
- Blot off with cheese cloth and use your badger brush for the perfect final strokes.
- If you need a little more pizazz, you can always add in a metallic powder to your glaze to add a little ‘wow’!
HONORABLE
The true patriotic palette that’s deserving in any space. It’s so subtle in its red, white & blue lineup but striking in how they all meld together to form a grand finish with depth and vibrancy. Honorable is a multi layer finish incorporating three custom colors and a dark, rich glaze. This is a finish you must commit to from the start and finish through till the end. Its beauty won’t come out until the finishing step so don’t lose hope or change your mind in the middle. It is complex and needs all the layers to complete the look and hold its head up high as the pinnacle of your room.
- Mix three custom colors of Old World Finishing Paint™ – Red, White & Blue.
- Apply the red OWFP first. When dry, rub back with sandpaper or a damp cloth, creating red oval spots across your piece.
- Now apply the white OWFP. When dry, rub back with sandpaper or a damp cloth, exposing the red color in a random pattern across the design. Remember where your red is below so you can expose it!
- Last up is the blue. Apply the blue OWFP and when dry, rub back with sandpaper or a damp cloth, exposing both the red & white colors across the design.
- You should now have a multi-color marbled look across your piece. All that’s left is the glaze.
- Mix up a dark glaze and apply.
- Blot off with cheese cloth and use your badger brush for the perfect final strokes.
Be bold with your patriotic palette and amaze your family and friends with your designs. Most people think in a very narrow scope when it comes to this color combo but the inner artist in you can shift their paradigm. Experiment with different combos and interpretations of red, white & blue this summer. Happy 4th of July!
Check out the Finish Gallery for more inspiration.
