Hand-painted Floor

In the decorative/faux finish line of work we get to see some amazing properties and stately old mansions on Long Island.

With this project we were in an adorable, original Chauffer's Cottage on one of the largest privately owned properties on Long Island. Truly a Gold Coast gem, its a neighbor of the Old Westbury Gardens. The Chauffer's Cottage is just full of charm, and all original floors and walls. This made finding anything straight very hard. Painting the floor pattern, with its two inch wide border was a challenge! Nothing is perfect and it fits right in with this charming home.

  

For more photographs of completed hand-painted floor projects check out my website:

Bella Terra Designs

Classic Painted Floor

Almost exactly three years ago, I painted a large floor in a foyer in a brand new constructed home.
It was absolute torture. I was 8 months pregnant, it was 95 degrees, no AC in the house. Need I say more.  Thank the dear lord I had 2 wonderful assistants to help me on the floor. Flash forward about 5 months after floor was painted. "The floor is cracking".

Uh-oh.

Well, my first thought was of course it is, they installed a floor in the hot, humid house, so the wood had expanded to bust, and now with the heat on the wood has shrunk, and the floor boards are cracking.

Makes total sense to me, and I am not a floor contractor.  This poor client has lived with the floor for 2 years, last year they wanted to re-do it, but I was again pregnant with our second baby, and said it can't be done now. After the baby. Long story short, it was just re-done this past week. Now, the floor still has large cracks, and some of them almost 1/8" thick. Seriously.  The builder and flooring installer are playing the blame game on each other. My poor client was very happy to see us back, and we tried and fill in as many cracks as we could with paint.  Paint is no miracle filler though. These cracks will more then likely re-appear.

What I love about this floor is it's scale. Two foot by two foot squares, in a deep chocolate brown and white. It just seems so classic and bold. I hope you agree!

Can you see the beautiful Gracie Wallpaper in the dining room? Next post!

Timeless.