An Artful Spin for Special Spaces

When Charee Nickens first stepped into her client’s home, she took notice of the grand entry doors, eclectic furniture and the beautiful dark wood floors throughout. However, the plain white walls did nothing to enhance the home. The rooms did not feel warm and inviting and desperately needed to be personalized with color and texture. Charee was confident that adding the right decorative finishes would dramatically change the atmosphere of the home and harmonize the style.

In the kitchen and family room there is a hint of a country style; the remaining areas of the home have a contemporary, yet classic design. At the first meeting the client’s main focus was the living room walls. She thought she wanted a grass-cloth look, but that quickly changed when she saw the variety of custom decorative finishes in Charee’s portfolio—a whole new world opened up to her. With excitement, she chose many different finishes to be installed throughout her home. She was eager to beautify her entire home in anticipation of relatives and friends who were coming to visit for her daughter’s wedding.

For the living room, Faux Effects® LusterStone® was an ideal product to add a subtle, metallic glow, which is eye-catching and elegant in any light. Charee started with two coats of Off White SetCoat® on the walls, then vertically troweled on a mixture of SandStone™ and SetCoat® Clear. The final step was applying LusterStone® in Champagne Mist, Antique Parchment and Snowflake White. She chose to customize the finish by adding Crushed Pearl LusterStone®, which brought out the blue hues in the pillows and accessories. This finish added warmth with a hint of cool tones and a beautiful texture.

After designing and finishing the Living Room walls, Charee moved to the accent wall of the Dining Room and the expansive wall behind the staircase. Both of these walls needed a finish to unify and bring balance to the space. Charee chose a custom, chocolate brown plaster finish with hints of black and gold, which is a nice accent to the rich tone of the entry doors and flooring. After applying a basecoat of Dark Brown SetCoat®,

Charee applied three coats of Topaz Venetian Gem® tinted with some Dark Brown FauxCrème Color™ to add movement and cover the existing orange peel texture. When the Venetian Gem® was dry, she applied a black glaze with FauxCreme® Clear and Black FauxCrème Color™, tightly troweling it on to allow the glaze to fall into the texture of the plaster and create visual dimension. For the final coat, she thinned Palette Deco™ Gold with FauxCreme® Clear and again did a tight skim layer to give subtle highlights and shimmer.

Lastly, the tape was removed to expose the pattern. The finish also complemented the dining chairs and contemporary chandelier, as well as catching the light from the sconces. Charee’s idea to add the Versailles pattern on the stair wall added to the contemporary feel and broke up the large space. The understated detail gives the wall a modern and unique quality, yet is a very dramatic change for the space when entering the home. The entryway along with all surrounding rooms were transformed from ordinary to exquisite, now with a sense of connectedness and inviting ambiance.

In order to tie in all the finishes downstairs, Charee applied a soft glaze finish with FauxCreme® Clear and FauxCreme Color™ over a SetCoat® base in a neutral tone on the remaining walls. The stair wall from the upstairs was visible, so she continued the glaze finish on the walls upstairs as well, which makes both floors flow beautifully together.

In the powder room, she used Off White SetCoat® as a base on the walls, then applied LusterStone® to accentuate the beautiful bronze metallic glass tiles. The light from the chandelier illuminates the LusterStone®, showing soft shimmer and movement. In this room she used Champagne Mist and Snowflake White LusterStone® – the perfect tone to emphasize the features of the room. The cabinets were honey oak, which needed to be updated. To accomplish this, Charee created an antique white finish to complement the walls using Off White SetCoat® and a glaze of FauxCreme® Clear, Blending Solvent™ and a mix of Dark Brown, Earth Brown and White FauxCrème Color™. A mix of Dark Brown and Earth Brown FauxCrème Color™ was used for shading and accenting the edges. She followed with two coats of Varnish Plus™ Satin to seal and protect the finish. The crown molding and baseboards were also finished with the same antique white finish as the cabinets. The mirror and the window frame were finished with Metallic Bronze SetCoat® tinted with Metallic Copper FauxCrème Color™.

The kitchen was antique white, but the entertainment center and fireplace were a medium brown wood tone, looking dated and out of style. Charee matched the kitchen but added more shading and aging with FauxCreme Color™ to show the detail of the moldings. Changing the pieces to antique white made such a difference, making the room look more open, fresh and updated. It brightened up the room dramatically!

"This was a fun project where I was able to use my specialty, which is creating custom decorative finishes with an artful spin for special spaces to make them extraordinary"

Charee Nickens has been beautifying Southern California one home at a time for over 12 years now. After attending school for Interior Design, she took some time to start a family. That was also the time her mural business was born by painting for her kids, friends and neighbors. After attending several classes at Faux Masters Studio in Yorba Linda, CA, the professional training propelled her mural business into a full-service decorative finishing endeavor, which has led to countless referrals and strong connections with designers and contractors—all by word of mouth. The information and training Charee received from Faux Masters Studio set her on a prosperous path following her passion. Charee Nickens’ specialty is creating customized and unique finishes for both walls and cabinetry for her clients and is still sought after for her innate creative talent and her impeccable work ethic.

DECORATIVE ART BY: CHAREE NICKENS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY: JIMMY REED

WRITTEN BY: CAMILLE CABALLERO

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