Every year for the last 3 years I have had the great fortune to lead a different group of “Peacock Painters” on an amazing journey of art, culture, and discovery to one of my favorite places in the world: Marrakech. Each trip has been unique in the projects that we have done with Maryam (of My Marrakesh) at the increasingly lovely Peacock Pavilions. On our first trip in 2008, this chic boutique hotel was still a major construction site, but we were able to stencil some amazing graphic ceilings and henna-inspired stair risers. In 2009, we returned as Maryam and her family had just moved in to the main house there-with much work still to be done. This trip featured stenciled floors, more stair risers, and a dramatic, Art Deco-inspired mural. In 2010, we inaugurated the hotel as its first guests while we stenciled a beautiful entertainment tent there. As many projects as we have done to floors, walls, ceilings, fabric and stair risers, there are still spaces that are calling for an artistic touch.

And so, I am happy to announce that in October 2011, we will return to make more magic and more memories! And the memories ARE magical. In order to prepare for planning this upcoming trip, I spent a couple of days reliving our past journeys. Each person, each group, each project lives happily in my heart. I wanted to honor that with a special video that (I hope) captures the mystique and the joy that these trips have brought to me and all who have joined me….

Would you like to join me in Marrakech as well?? You can find more trip information here, and download a pdf with all the juicy details here. Space is limited, so don’t delay, OK? See you in Morocco!!

Today being “tax day”, April 15th, they ran a story on the news last night pointing out that a full 25% of Americans put off filing until the last two weeks before the deadline. I’m guessing THOSE are the people who aren’t expecting refunds?! Anyhoo, it prompted me to come clean on a character trait I have that I am none to proud of: I am a serial procrastinator. This fact is all to evident in my own house (and lack of regular blog posts), where the wheels of decorating grind slowly and projects get get pushed off for years. As in, MANY years. Gulp.

It’s been 4 years now (she writes incredulously-where DID that time go??), since I wrote this post about redoing my home office. I actually dismantled the room shortly after writing that post, and it’s been living in “no man’s land” ever since.

Back then, I was SERIOUSLY into Japanese decoration. Actually I still am, but the problem is, I am seriously into lots of OTHER decorating themes as well. That seems to be the problem. I have been back and forth, up and down, and even sideways trying to settle my mind on something that I will want to live with-and so, I’ve done nothing. Brilliant, huh? Until now…

I have loosely settled on a boho/contempo/Moroccan/upcycled/glam theme. Actually, that’s not a theme at all and obviously my brain is still crankin. But while my brain takes its time getting it’s thoughts together, I have at least started something. I am decidedly NOT a linear thinker, and take an “organic” approach to design. What that really means is that I figure it out as I go along. The main thing is to GET STARTED, and I am starting with the floor.

On my trips to Morocco, I have always been drawn to the zigzag zellij tile patterns on the floors-usually done in black in white or green and white. I was also inspired by Maryam’s kitchen floor tiles. I love the dusty look of concrete tiles and SkimStone is the perfect medium to give me that.

So, I came up with this sample, and havc the floor all ready prepped with the creamy white layer of SkimStone. Note: to get here, I removed the existing carpet from the concrete slab and spent some time removing the excess glue and scrubbing the heck out of it to get it super clean.

It’s going “down” this weekend, with the help of a custom-fit, Modello masking stencil, and here how it all lays out. It’s a smallish room (11′ square, more or less) and the stripes will definitely help to enlarge is visually. I will be adding an area rug at some point, but I really wanted a “neutral” but zingy (or should I say ziggy?) floor as a starting point.

So then what? Well, after considering about 183 different options, I think I am going to do a dado, made from upcycled cabinet door parts. I am quite partial to the look of this furniture piece I saw on this “Get the Look” post on the Etsy blog. Again, it reminds me of Morocco, where they reuse EVERYthing. I will need to cobble together a mix of old pieces and new pieces that I just make “look” old. I have been dying to check out Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint, and think this will be the perfect opportunity to do just that AND utilize a bunch of unfinished cabinet doors that I’ve had sitting around for years now ;).

And what else?? Well I currently plan to cover the rest of the walls with an off-white organic plaster, and am DYING to do the ceiling with this pink color as seen in the May issue of Elle Decor (it’s in Marrakech-where else?!). This will probably be done with Sydney Harbour’s Interno Lime Wash.

This is unsurprisingly turning into quite a project….let’s just get the floor done first…BTW, if you were one of those who put off doing your taxes till the last day, you’re in luck! The IRS is giving you till the end of the day Monday! So….you can put it off till after the weekend….

It’s already been a couple of weeks since I attended and taught at the Concrete Decor Show, but it’s never to late to share a great project!  I told you about it first here in this post. Besides teaching an 8 hour hands-on training class with Katrina Johnson from SkimStone, we left a fabulous finished floor at a very unique and deserving and thriving community center in Nashville called Rocketown. Rocketown was founded in 1994 by singer/songwriter Michael W. Smith as a place to give teens a positive alternative to the many negative pressures they face in the world these days. 

The first of its kind in the Southeast, Rocketown has grown into a regional outreach as well as a model for faith-based relational outreach across the country. Their goal is to lead and inspire youth through creative programs and mentoring relationships that are culturally relevant and eternally significant. Participant circumstances span the range of neglect, abuse, poverty, absent parents and normal peer pressures.  Rocketown engages local youth with a facility that houses a coffee bar; photography, art and dance, and recording studios; stages for live entertainment; and Middle Tennessee’s only indoor skate park. To date there have been more than 425,000 visits with an average of 1,350 teens from across Middle Tennessee participating in programs each week. It’s quite an amazing place, and we were happy to donate our time and materials to make it even more special, along with many other decorative concrete artisans who left their art in various rooms and areas throughout.

Audie Adams was one of many teens who actively participated and benefited from Rocketown’s programs and influence. A local stencil/graffiti artist, he has contributed much of the artwork that is found on the walls in the various studio rooms and offices. The project for Modello Designs and SkimStone was the recording studio/music room, and Audie provided the design inspiration that we adapted for the large floor graphic. I slightly simplified his original design concept to make it “doable” in two days and three layers, and Michelle did an awesome job of setting up the Modello stencil patterns in record time!

Katrina led off the class, which was a combination of hands-on and project demo, by discussing the basics of prepping for a SkimStone floor and mixing it all up. Her brother Pablo had done an awesome job of prepping the floor a couple of days early by applying a layer of their Bonding Primer over the existing finish.

Katrina and Pablo then power-troweled out the first coat of gray SkimStone over the Bonding Primer basecoat while the students looked on.

After a couple of hours drying time, I explained the design and stencil pattern process that we used and began the laying out the first layer of Modello stencils for the areas that were designated to be blue.

With all the vinyl stencils securely in place, we began applying an overlay of blue-tinted SkimStone.  You can see the art canvas on the wall that Audie Adams created, which was the inspiration for the floor design.

With the blue color down and the first layer of Modello stencils removed, we began the next day…

…and laid down the second layer of Modello stencils to complete the white areas of the design.

The last layer of Modello stencils added the finishing touches in bold red.

The red areas of the design overlayed right on top of the blue. Because SkimStone is an integrally colored overlay, it is possible to adjust the color to make it either opaque or translucent. We did two quick trowel layers of red for complete coverage and began removing the stencil immediately.

And here is the finished floor after sealing with 4 quick coats of Penetrating Sealer the following day. Rocketown reports that everyone there is thrilled with the floor, and we were so happy to be able to leave this “gift” to them!

Meanwhile, as the floor was “in progress”, Katrina and I kept the students busy in the other room learning all the ins and outs of SkimStone and how to creatively incorporate Modello stencils for custom graphics and design additions. Phew! It was a very busy two days but everyone was left happy!! If you want to find out more about the Concrete Decor Show, Dana Tucker did a great overview post over on the Fauxology blog. Next year’s show will be in San Antonio, one of my favorite cities in the country of Texas!

One of the great things about having businesses that focus on creating awesome patterns for decorating  just about any surface is that there are so many opportunities to work with different companies who have awesome PRODUCTS that can be used with our designs! Modello Designs has recently joined forces with New Look to see what kind of magic can be created with our Modello stencils and their easy-to-use, water-based concrete stains and environmentally friendly etching gel.

I popped in to the recent World of Concrete show in Las Vegas to visit with Jacob Webb, and the nice people from New Look at their booth there.

The simple process starts with 2 coats of their Solid Color Stain, (not shown) which comes in a ton of great colors and is easily broomed on. Then, one or more of their Translucent Designer Enhancer colors is applied with a spray gun through the Modello stencil pattern.

To soften the effect, a complimentary color can then be applied overall, after removing the Modello stencil.

Above are two examples of easy Marquetry effects that can be achieved by applying layers of color after different areas of the design are removed, one layer at a time.

The light “airbrushing” technique used with the Designer Enhancer Stains gives a nice, crisp edge to the patterns.

I was really excited about their QuickEtch etching gel! This is a water-based, biodegradable, non-corrosive  surface etching solution that etches concrete surfaces WITHOUT acid. I have used acid-based etching gels in the past, and this works just as well without the hazard and worry of using a dangerous chemical. You can find more information on concrete etching with Modello patterns here and an example of a finished project here. I love the organic look of etched concrete, especially with  the addition of Modello stencils!  New Look has training and distribution throughout the country, and provides a great alternative to acid staining and etching! You can find more information about our New Look collaboration here on our website, as well as links to more information and some instructional videos.

You’ve seen the amazing work of Gracie Reed, of Grace Designs Dallas here before. Her work is on the cover of our Modello by Design, Vol. II book and also featured in the whole first chapter. Gracie continues to inspire and amaze me with her talent and she recently sent along these juicy, colorful photos of some fabulous porch projects she did recently with some custom-fit Modello  masking stencil patterns. And so, to brighten up your day…..He-e-e-e-r’s Gracie!

Porch before: yaaaaawn.

Porch after: YEAH!

I think you’ll agree with me that these are really exceptional uses of some of our Modello Concrete Carpet patterns, adapted to fit the projects perfectly. For these projects, Gracie used a polymer-based concrete overlay product called RSCrete from Faux Effects, International. Like the products featured in the last post, this is an easy to use, integrally colored overlay that gets thinly troweled over an existing concrete slab. It’s kind of like a Venetian Plaster type material-for floors-and works wonderfully in combination with our masking stencils! Wouldn’t you love to walk up to either one of these houses and be surprised to see this?!?!

Continuing a focus on patterned decorative concrete, I’d like to share some beautiful projects by Nancy Tomaski of Paint My World in Johnsonburg, Pennsylvannia, using our Modello decorative masking stencils. Nancy is a long-time customer of Modello Designs, and you can see some of her amazing projects in our inspirational book, Modello by Design, Volume II. Alas, these projects were done after that book went to press, but I am very proud to share some more of Nancy’s work here!

This first project uses a custom Modello stencil pattern created from our one-time-use masking material. Nancy was able to create this original pattern with the help of Jillian from our design team. This photo shows the pattern all laid out and ready for color!

Nancy used SkimStone for this project, applying different custom-mixed colors of this easy-to-use cementitious overlay directly onto the concrete slab.

After the “concrete carpet” was completed, Nancy went back and created a realistic faux tile treatment using another concrete overlay system designed specifically for floors from Granicrete. Isn’t this an amazing transformation??

This next porch project features a custom adaptation of our popular Chavall carpet design.

Our specialty at Modello Designs is customizing our existing patterns to existing project parameters, and Natalie from our design team did a great job of recreating this design to fit the irregular shape. If it looks like this pattern was perfectly designed for this space, it’s because it WAS!

This last concrete porch transformation features our Toldeo carpet pattern, and Nancy did this one for herself, perfectly copying the color scheme represented in our Concrete Carpet and Panel Catalog! Yeah Nancy!

For this project, she used products from the iCoat concrete system to create both the faux carpet AND the faux wood and surrounding brick. Now, perhaps you are wondering how you can create some of these looks for yourself! All of the companies mentioned in this post offer hands-0n training and distribution of their products around the country. They can also recommend trained artisans in your area if you’d rather watch than do!

And a reminder…..I will be teaching a hands-on Modello/SkimStone class with Katrina Johnson from SkimStone at the upcoming Concrete Decor Show in Nashville. Go Girl Power!

I am going to be teaming up with Katrina Johnson from SkimStone/Rudd Company to teach a hands-0n SkimStone + Modello workshop at the upcoming Concrete Decor Show in Nashville, TN on March 17-18.

The class is “officially” called  Masking Patterns and MicroToppings for Ultra Decorative Finishes if you want to check the schedule. For some reason, in the concrete world they don’t like to “name names”, but rest assured it will be all about SkimStone and Modellos. I have posted many times about SkimStone here before, because it is one of my favorite mediums to work in for decorative floor applications.

Katrina is THE authority on SkimStone applications so this class will be full of great technical application information (the brains!) as well as instruction, inspiration, and sample making that features Modello patterns (the beauty!)

In addition to the class samples, students will have the opportunity to view and participate in a whole decorative floor treatment that we will be completing at Rocketown.

One of my favorite ways to incorporate SkimStone is with patterns from our Carpet and Panel Collection. We have recently updated the catalog with some beautiful new designs, like this new Bristol Carpet.

Another thing I am quite excited about it that we are now offering the Carpet and Panel Collection catalog in both a beautiful high res printed version, as well as a free eCatalog-available here. I’d love to know what you think about this format!

I didn’t even know that my Skylar’s Lace stencil from Royal Design Studio was being used in Better Homes and Gardens Do it Yourself magazine, but fortunately a kind customer alerted me! After striking out at several different stores, I finally came across the Spring 2011 issue at my local Barnes and Noble this past weekend.

This is perfect timing because I wanted to spend a few posts sharing some other floor projects, new “carpet” designs, and other assorted info related to painting and decorating floors. The article, aptly entitled “Eye Candy”, features this fabulous lace pattern done in a bold turquoise and white color combo. As the article points out, you can stencil all KINDS of floors, whether they be wood, concrete, primed vinyl, or canvas floorcloths. This version was done using a gloss finish blue with the white paint added with a stencil roller. Easy peasy!

There was actually a great DIY project done recently by fab artist and photographer Ashley Ann of Under the Sycamore that was INSPIRED by the original Skylar’s Lace stencil project that we completed in Marrakech. She details out the process for painting and stenciling on a plywood subfloor. Even though she was inspired by my floor , she didn’t use the stencil. . I actually love the stencil that she created herself, though, and of course it looks fabulous in gray and white!

Skylar’s lace continues to get a lot of attention (around the world!) and it will also be featured soon in some more magazines, YEAH! To celebrate all this Skylar’s Lace LUV we are doing a Facebook Fan Flash Sale for 24 hours only offering this very popular, intricate design at a very sweet price. Ready, set, and GO here to find out more!

It’s been a couple of weeks since these posts of Maryam’s My Marrakech office showing our Royal Design Studio Moroccan collection stencils appeared on her blog and also on the great Decor8-right at the same time that our Royal Design Studio website got compromised by a virus/hacker/www no-do-gooder and all the links that came in went-to waste! I am NOT loving the whole internet thing right now but am getting better about it day-by-day now that the website is back up after much time and increasing frustration coinciding with a decreasing bank account. Heavy sigh. OK, done wallowing and back to looking at and thinking about pretty photos and designs. The last time I saw Maryam’s office was when we were there with our lovely little group painting this past January. Sorceress of words that she is, she had penned this little story which we set up in Petras Script and cut for her from a Modello Pattern.

It didn’t look like much then…..

but look at it now!

Maryam and Skylar have become quite proficient with the stencils and brushes I left for them, using Skylar’s Lace in the doorway…

and various borders and patterns from our Moroccan Stencil Collection on spraypainted storage boxes.

Of course, all the other decorative details and touches are just divine….

making this a very special place for a very special person. Images taken from Decor8 and My Marrakech.

We’ve recently completed a rather large project here in our long neglected lunch room: a decorated coffered ceiling. Actually, it’s NOT completed as now I want to add wood detailing and pattern to the beams, but that’s for another day, week, month.  There are 15 different coffers, and naturally, I wanted a different pattern for each one, so scoured my design books for my favorite allover tile designs. We have now added these to the Modello line of decorative masking patterns and they come from historical patterns from Spain, Portugal and Cuba. I’ve mentioned before how much I LOVE tile patterns. Feeling rather lazy efficient about the whole thing, I decided to forego applying them directly to the ceiling and did them on the Roclon canvas that we sell instead. This way, they could be done easily and in a production style on our studio tabletops and installed with heavy duty wallpaper past on the ceiling when completed.

I used SkimStone for this project-a trowel-on product actually designed for resurfacing concrete floors, but that also works great on the Roclon for wall and ceiling panels. I love the color range and look of this product so much!

Here is a panel in progress with the pattern now being removed.  As these patterns would be great for floors, countertops and tabletops I decided to photograph them as they might look when used for that application….

And here they are on the ceiling! Great thanks to the girls of the West Coast Artisans Guild for their help on this project.

New allover tile Modello patterns here.