Saturday, April 12, 2014

Working with Modello...

At first...
when my client Rita wanted me to do an elaborate design 
on these closet doors,
 in a room that already had so much design details...
I hesitated!

"Are you sure you want that much going on in here?"
I said.

"Yes, I like pattern on pattern,"
Rita said.






That being said...
 we got to work ironing out the details.

I contacted Modello Designs here in San Diego,
and worked with designer Derek Gaskin on the design...
he was awesome and so much help all the way through the project.


This folding screen was our inspiration piece.

If you haven't worked with or don't know about Modello...
they are a division of Royal Design Studio and do custom stencil designs.  
It's a one time use stencil, so you have to get it right the first time.
They're very precise and so nice to work with (both the stencil & design team). 


I made sure to measure and level, twice, three times, four times...
as many times as it took to have it line up perfectly.  
You can see where if one panel was off, it would certainly show.


It took most of the day just to lay the stencils out onto the eight panel doors.


Day two was adding the color.
Because this room does have a lot going on...
pattern carpet, pattern bedding, large wall tapestry, Russian art...
Rita decided on a simple, soft, one color application.

I wanted to do several colors,
but she was right...it would have been too much.


So on went the paint.  
You're kinda working in the dark a bit with these stencils,
as you can't lift the edge to see what the end result is looking like
and make needed adjustments.
You have to have a plan and confidence in what you're doing when you go in.


Once the paint is on,
and you're feeling comfortable with what you've done...
time to peel it all off!


There are many small pieces to pick off in this design...
namely these little diamonds in the urns.
There were 16 of these urns, each with about 60 little diamonds 
that had to be picked off individually!

I made a game of it and timed myself with my iPhone stopwatch.
The last urn took me one minute and 17 seconds to remove.

Note to self:
pay attention to the little details you'll have to remove by hand when doing a Modello stencil.

Rita and I both agree though, 
these details made the design special.


And there you have it...
the design wasn't too busy at all!
It's the perfect finishing touch to this beautiful guest room.



Rita and I were both pretty darn happy with how it turned out!

If you have a special one of a kind design idea, 
and need a special one of a kind stencil...
I highly recommend Modello designs.

I also recommend having clients you have fun working with...
Thank you Rita.

Enjoy










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