Arts and Crafts Dining Room Frieze

polychrome frieze and  gilt eucalyptus leaves

A San Francisco dining room designed in the Arts and Crafts style by Debey Zito Fine Furniture and Design,  became a wonderful opportunity for collaboration between several members of my local artisans guild, Artistic License.  This very special group is comprised of local artisans who specialize in period design.  Debey directed a team of local talent to create this room.

detail in cast plaster

A frieze panel of California poppies was hand-carved by Debey's partner, Terry Schmitt. To carve the frieze for the entire room was cost-prohibitive, so ornamental plasterer Lorna Kollmeyer cast them in plaster.
The casting is incredibly sensitive and you can see every pore from the original piece wood as well as every mark in the lovely carving.

I painted the new plaster frieze with a faux bois finish, to match the furniture-quality paneling that Debey and Terry installed the room, and polychromed the poppies with mica powders and pigment.

Terry also sculpted the plaster Eucalyptus leaves which I then gilt with 23k gold leaf. 

plaster painted with faux bois finish

Beautiful Arts and Crafts dining room by Debey Zito Fine Furniture and Design

The room is capped by custom  dragonfly ceiling paper, hand-made in San Francisco by David Bonk.


You can read more about this artisan collaboration which has just been published in the Spring 2011 issue of Arts and Crafts Homes magazine.

Lynne Rutter Studio

Ebony Cerused Oak - how to create this hip finish

ebony limed buffet, via 1stdibs

The last few years I have been getting more requests to "do something" with old furniture pieces, adding ornament, refinishing wood,  repairing gilding, etc. I love working on furniture and the special challenges each piece presents.

"before" orange varnished oak

One of the hardest things to work with is bright orange oak --- a tough one because of the assertive grain among other issues. Oh yes, you can fill it and paint it,  but why not find a way to work with it?
In this age of cheap laminate furniture, solid wood is something to be celebrated!

One project I had recently I took my inspiration from a midcentury piece of cerused oak, also known as limed oak.

Inspiration:  1943 Paul Frankl limed oak dresser, at 1stdibs.

In the sixteenth century this finish was created to help deter insects and rot in oak beams and paneling, by filling the grain with lime or lead-white and wax,  but after a while it became a fashionable way to lighten up and enhance the the look of the wood.     Cerused oak finishes  were also fashionable in Art Deco and midcentury interiors for  furniture, floors, cabinetry, and paneling, and is now once again very much on trend.
Note: I am not talking about the pickled "slimy pink" whitewash that was all the rage in the 1980s.  

A good cerused finish shows the grain in contrast to the rest of the surface.   High contrast between the wood and the grain is a really effective look.  Please note this is not a technique useful for any kind of soft wood (pine, cedar, redwood, etc.) nor do I advise trying this on any kind of plywood or veneer.

Inspiration: circa 1950 James Mont bench in ebony limed oak.

I found many instructionals for liming wood on the internet but none with pictures.  I like pictures!  So I decided to share the process of transforming this orange varnish oak piece into something more fabulous and moderne looking.

How to Make a Cerused Oak Finish:

 

Apply Citristrip liberally.

1.  Make samples!
Don't do this directly on a piece you care about. Always test an area or get some scrap wood to try out your materials!

2.  Strip and clean:
First, we need to strip off that varnish.  I like Citristrip for this kind of thing. Let it sit for at least  a half hour then scrub in the direction of the grain with a stiff stripping pad or brush.

raising the grain with a brass brush

Once you have removed all of the varnish,  rinse the wood thoroughly with water.

3. Raise the Grain

While the wood is still damp, scrub lightly with a brass brush. Brass will not discolor the wood nor be too rough.

If you are starting with raw wood, simply get it wet and scrub it a bit to raise the grain.   Rinse thoroughly, then let dry.

4.  Light Sanding
After the wood is dry, lightly sand to smooth out the top, and get all the dust and bits off with steel wool and/or stiff bristle brush.

You should then have a very clean oak surface with pronounced grain pattern.

Clean oak with deep grain pattern

5.  Dye the Wood Black
Make sure your wood is dry, and let's get some color on it!
Do not use "stain."  Stain will absorb into the softer  parts of the wood more than the rest of it.   Instead you want to dye it. 

Apply the dye with a brush, rag, or pad

ebonized oak

Aniline dye will soak into all the wood evenly without leaving any kind of residue.
You may get it in powder form - like raw pigment but much finer ground - to dissolve in water or denatured alcohol. Aniline dyes tend to be opaque, leave no lap marks, and dry quickly.
There are also pre-mixed "super penetrating" dyes that use acetone as a vehicle and are very effective. If you buy this kind of thing, please read the MSDS carefully, and wear the proper protection.

In some cases you need 2 applications if you want to get a good solid color.

*****Note:  In this demo I used a dye that I had on hand, but check out this tutorial on how to make your own inexpensive iron acetate  to ebonize wood. This natural option for ebonizing wood  uses a solution made from steel wool and vinegar, and is an extremely effective and affordable way to blacken the oak.******

6.  Seal the surface:
At this point what we have is an evenly dyed, fairly matte, and absorbent surface. It needs to be sealed mainly to make it a bit slicker, which will make the following steps easier. 

tinting  some amber shellac to a clear black

Shellac is perfect for this as it will not build up or fill the grain, and it dries quickly. And if the shellac is tinted with a drop of black (or the same color as the dye underneath), it will add to the depth of the finish.  In addition to keeping the color from migrating into the wax, the shellac makes it easier to lightly wipe the liming off the surface while leaving it in the grain.
Remember too much tint will slow the drying time of the shellac and add volume, so use just few drops.

Apply one or two thinned coats of shellac to your surface and allow to dry thoroughly.
 

"liming wax"  my home-made mix of wax paste and whiting

7.  Liming:
Liming wax is available pre-mixed but I made my own by mixing clear microcrystalline wax and whiting (chalk).   You can also use white powdered pigment or lime powder mixed into wax paste.    Make sure the wax paste you use is a type that will dry fairly hard, and does not turn yellow. 

filling the grain with liming wax

Rubbing the wax into the grain and removing excess

Cover the whole surface, use a liberal amount of liming wax and push it into the grain with steel wool or a soft cloth.

Immediately wipe off the excess with a soft cloth. 

Sealing the surface with clear wax

Let dry thoroughly. You can repeat the liming if needed,  or go straight to sealing. 


8.  Seal the finish
To seal this finish you need only add another layer or two of clear wax, and buff.

Microcrystalline wax is made with low odor mineral spirits and dries quickly and quite hard and impervious. 

finished surface!

Options:   I have achieved this look using paints and acrylic finishes,  but I have to say using more traditional materials makes this far easier and the finish has more depth. It  feels very smooth to the touch and is quite durable as a furniture finish, and very easy to maintain.

You may also try this finish with different colors.   And obviously, the nicer the  grain of the wood, the more appealing the finish will look.

Lynne Rutter Studio

The Steampunk Aquarium Mural

Giant octopus in a rusting iron aquarium

the garage before painting

I recently completed a fabulous project on a tiny detached garage in Oakland, California. My client is an avid scuba diver who loves all things Victoriana, and has a special attraction for octopi. So I devised a plan for a Jules Verne-inspired aquarium.

I designed the mural to incorporate the entire structure: the garage door became the glass "tank" and the building its "case."

The finished mural with many surprising details

In retro- steampunk fashion, trompe l'oeil rusting iron bolts and cast-iron brackets hold the aquarium tank together in a Victorian-style oak woodgrained case. The mural is completed with three portholes at the top and protected with several coats of UV varnish.


all images in this post ©Lynne Rutter

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Lynne Rutter Murals and Decorative Painting

Victorian Woodgraining

This splendid Victorian entry door set with leaded glass windows
was finished with a faux bois effect by Lynne Rutter.

In San Francisco Victorians, it's fairly common that the dark woodwork so commonly found in their interiors is actually redwood, that has been painted with a faux bois finish to look like something richer and more expensive. This style of woodgraining usually emulated mahogany, and was often nothing more than a layer of deep tinted glaze pulled over a painted surface, then varnished. This simplified faux bois technique is a remarkably effective treatment. 

In older American cities like New York or Chicago, the faux bois used in Victorian homes could be a more complicated process resulting in a realistic imitation of wood, but in boomtown San Francisco, there were few skilled painters available in the rapidly growing city, so most made do with a very simple graining job; and then it was off to the next house!  Of course these days we can improve these old finishes if desired, but one of my specialties as a restoration painter is rehabilitating and recreating these period finishes, which requires careful matching of color and mimicking the style of the original painter.

repaired areas of missing moulding were matched to the original  wood-grained finish

In this Mission District Italiante mansion, removal of a 20th century dropped ceiling in the dining room revealed the original mouldings, damaged but well worth saving! Missing areas were re-created by a carpenter, and then we painted them with a woodgrain effect to match the original finish. We also created a typical faux bois finish for the baseboards, doors, and casings, to restore the room's period look.

My associate Melka Myers,  creating a burl effect in the insets of some reproduction Victorian doors

The parlor in this house had an interesting paneled ceiling that had been painted over many times. I designed a color palette and finishes for this room to create a more Victorian period atmosphere. As you can see the finish starts with a bright, apricot colored base.

San Francisco Victorian-  the paneled ceiling being painted with a simple faux bois effect

My good friend Tani Seabock gave me a hand to work some magic on this ceiling, using a formula I designed that requires only one layer of glaze to skillfully fashion a convincing faux bois finish. This was done not only to preserve the budget but  to emulate  the original graining style used elsewhere in the house.

a faux bois ceiling  by Lynne Rutter Studio,    a simple finish with an outstanding effect

The effect is stunning, so much so that it's hard to believe anyone would want to paint it white. It's worth the extra effort to finish these surfaces as they were intended; you get so much more out of the architecture.

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Lynne Rutter Studio