Dining Room Archives - Leichsenring Studios

I’m Seeing Red and I’m Loving It!

by Sharon Leichsenring· February 01, 2021· in Artisan Finish, Artwork, Ceiling, Dining Room, Furniture, Mica·

I say I always start at the beginning of the project, for over ten years of monthly newsletters. But I just can’t do it with this one. I’ve just got to show what I’m so over the moon about. Look at those red walls! And those swirls of bright gold! Makes you want to lift up your arms and twirl. And just smile. So now, lets get back to the beginning. Early autumn, 2019 (yes, pre-Covid times for sure.) I was brought to the project by Dyane Prezioso of Prezioso Interiors. We both share a love for color and drama and this room was going to be the ultimate place to indulge with that love. The project had several parts: the walls, the ceiling and a 100 year old buffet just crying for a new life. As we saw the room in the beginning, it sported a dated old world red glazed finish. The most accurate description would be tomato soup red. The white molding and ceiling did little to help matters. Dyane chose the perfect red. The picture doesn’t do it justice. A little background about why this color is so special. This is Benjamin Moore’s CSP-1200 Burst Cherry. […]
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Dreaming About Dragonflies

by Sharon Leichsenring· March 03, 2017· in Dining Room, Murals, Scrollwork, Trompe L'oeil·

This month’s project was literally a dream commission. My client, the fabulous Ms.M, was a person I’d done work for many years ago. A move to a new home precipitated a call to come fix these blah walls and make it look as beautiful as my old home. So I ask, so what do you see happening here, pointing to this huge blank wall measuring 14 feet in width, and ten feet high. “Oh,” says she , “I’m leaving that up to you. You know what I like.” And yes I did know. A long perusal of fabrics in window treatments, throws and furniture kept turning up a recurring element of scrolls. Throughout the home, I also spied dragonflies. Could it be? Truly two of my favorites themes combined? I drew my proposal on top of a photo of the wall, the dining room table marking the visual bottom of the design. She loved it! I love it! We are calling this work? I am in love. The idea to use scrollwork as a frame surrounding a field of blue had been floating in my wish list for a long time and here I was, with the entire room dictating […]
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The Second Time Around

by Sharon Leichsenring· January 05, 2016· in Birds, Dining Room, Murals, Tropical·

First of all, let me wish you a happy new year. I started a project the Friday after Thanksgiving, thinking surely it would be ready to show you in January’s newsletter. Alas, even though I worked on it all through December, it’s not ready for viewing. I am going to share a few pictures and set the background for it. I first painted a mural at this home in 2002. Recently, the dining room was renovated, increasing its size and adding a sensational fireplace. The remodel work was done by Tom Mason of SandDollar Development. (superb work and attention to detail. Check out his work at www.sanddollarinc.com). The original moldings in this gracious Fairfield, CT home built in 1928 were preserved and additional molding was created as needed with seamless matching. Here’s a small part of the original mural. I’d like to think my style has developed in the past fifteen years. This current mural has been a wonderful opportunity to push the limits to create a reflection of just that. At the risk of sounding a little less than humble, I think the new mural rocks! You be the judge. The palette is much more sophisticated, and […]
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Rooms with a View

by Sharon Leichsenring· December 03, 2015· in Clouds, Dining Room, Kitchen, Murals, Places, Powder Room, Staircase, Stairwell·

The 21st interior design celebration, Rooms with a View, took place in Southport recently. Conceived as a brilliant church fundraiser under the auspices of the famed Albert Hadley (designer for the Kennedy White House, the Rockefellers, Astors and Gettys to name a few notable clients), each year the show embraces traditional and cutting edge design. Each of the twelve invited designers is given a space of 5′ x 8′ to create a vignette. They have a week to”build” their room, which comes quite simply with three walls and wiring for electricity. Then, the magic is on display for the weekend. This year was personally exciting to yours truly because the design team, Tracy Dwyer and Patrick Briel, from Westport’s Parc Monceau had asked me to paint a floor cloth that would be used in their vignette, The.Diving.Room. Too cool for words, I assure you. First, take a look at the room’s view. My rippling water over sand design painted on a canvas floor cloth is easily seen through the Lucite coffee table. Here is another view of the room. Here is the rug by itself. If you’ve never been to Rooms with a View, plan to next year. I’ll […]
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They had me at Krakens!

by Sharon Leichsenring· October 04, 2015· in Dining Room, Furniture, Ocean, Property Brothers, Trees·

I love a good challenge. It keeps me on my toes and thinking out of the box. I recently completed two projects that did exactly that. The first was a mural for a dining room. My client made it clear that she and her husband wanted something that truly captured their tastes and personalities. She mentioned mermaids, schooners and kraken. She had me at kraken. This was going to be fun. Kraken indeed! Norwegian mythological sea creatures. Here are a few of my initial sketches. Take a look at the finished painting. Each porthole is 5 ½’ in diameter. Keeping the budget in mind, simple trompe l’oeil planks completed the composition. Below is a closeup of the mermaid porthole. They might not be your cup of tea, but it was exactly what my client had envisioned. They are intriguing, these krakens, are they not? This month also brought the opportunity to be the decorative painter for a one-of-a-kind desk. The Twin Root Desk was designed by the brilliant Patrick Briel of Tripka Design. Imposing and utterly massive, it commands its office. And here you can see the two-tiered desk from another vantage point. Here is a […]
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Walk Away From The Wall!

by Sharon Leichsenring· November 05, 2014· in Childrens, Clouds, Dining Room, Floral, Mica, Murals·

A few years back, I used to teach week long workshops at schools for those wanting to learn decorative painting. Subjects included painting murals, clouds, trompe l’oeil and perspective. I taught occasionally in Denver and Atlanta, but was most at home in Houston at Janie Ellis’s School of Decorative Painting at Anything But Plain. As I was scheduled there several times a year, I had the unique opportunity for me to get to know my students well. I followed their progress and got to know them well enough to appreciate some very distinct personalities. The most common problem most faced was expecting way too much of themselves during a short period of time. The mind says “Yes, I know I need to factor in years of practice” but the truth is the heart looks for perfection. Quickly, with frustration only a heartbeat away. I shared my own mantra of what to do when that happened. I tell myself to walk away from the wall. A few feet’s distance quickly puts things into perspective. An artist needs to learn when something is done. Two projects this month had me muttering to walk away from the wall, indeed. A dining room designed by […]
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A Rose by Any Other Name

by Sharon Leichsenring· October 02, 2014· in Ceiling, Dining Room, Floral, Furniture·

A rose by any name other than DeCandolle’s Rose would just not express how happy I am right now with the universe. Love when the universe gets it right! The project for redoing this dining room began as a discussion over a cup of coffee with my client in her home, where I had done some smaller projects. Her dining room, though very pretty, was just not hitting the mark to reflect her personality. We talked about something floral, and I asked her if she might consider something where the scale was a little less than traditional. She said sure, and I was off and running. The room seemed perfect for huge, oversized blossoms, with exquisite swirled stems and leaves. My inspiration came from a favorite engraving of mine, Pierre-Joseph Redoubte’s De Candolle’s Rose. It’s beauty to me lies in its simplicity, a sweet briar rose. The sample was painted on a creamy background that I glazed with a pale gold metallic paint. The painting seems so alive, with the gentle shimmer of gold. Here’s my sample. It’s time for the big question. Will my client, Jeannie, love it as much as I do? I’d been vague about what type […]
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Look Up!

by Sharon Leichsenring· March 03, 2014· in Ceiling, Clouds, Dining Room, Scrollwork·

Ceilings… Designers think of them as the fifth wall. Let’s take a look at the possibilities. I’d like to share a recent ceiling project. It’s the ceiling in a large entertainment space. The overall ceiling measures a massive 40′ by 75′. My design was dictated by the two parallel lighting tracks, leaving a width of 18′ by 48′. I took this picture before the second chandelier had been hung so you could see it clearly. When working on a ceiling, any consideration making the work time shorter is much appreciated by the already stressed neck muscles. I cut large patterns out of ¼” foam core. This is work that can be done in the shop ahead of time and getting the design up on the ceiling. Each pattern was 6′ by 8′. I’d outline one side and then flip the pattern to complete each half of the semi-circle design. Here’s the template in place. Cool stuff indeed! Here’s a close-up shot. Another ceiling took on a completely different aspect. Here a small dome that’s been treated to a sophisticated celery metallic paint treatment. A three foot wide floral border circles the dome. It’s a grand ceiling for a formal breakfast […]
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Just a spoonful of sugar

by Sharon Leichsenring· January 05, 2013· in Ceiling, Dining Room, Headboards, Scrollwork·

If just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, wouldn’t it be nice to see how easily a few spoonfuls of paint improve a situation? My client could not find the perfect size headboard for this bed. See below the bare space available to work with. Here’s the resulting headboard, with the exact design, size and colors. Beautiful custom window treatments are enhanced with painted borders. The beautiful inspirations are taken directly from the fabrics with a bonus of highlighting the Palladian window. Window treatments design by Dyane Prezioso Interiors. White ceilings are becoming a thing of the past. Think of that ceiling as the fifth wall. Designers do. Doesn’t it deserve a little more than a coat of ceiling flat white? In this example, a lightened tone of the wall color was used to create a large rectangle with ensign corners. An additional border, a little lighter yet, defines the detail and the ¼” hand-painted pinstripe seals the composition. A little plate of “eye candy” served up to start out an inspirational New Year. Ready for a taste, give me a call. …and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to you!
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Choosing Your Challenges

by Sharon Leichsenring· April 01, 2011· in Artisan Finish, Artwork, Columns, Dining Room, Textured Finishes·

From time to time, projects come across my desk that I consider remarkable. What makes them so? In the two cases in this month’s newsletter, the common thread is that both would challenge me to use a skill set out of my comfort zone. The first was an opportunity to paint a large-sized canvas measuring 64″ by 103″. See it below. It is the “Fog Warning”, after Winslow Homer. Usually, the first, and I think more difficult step of a mural project is composing the design. Not a problem here. Here was an exquisite composition; the challenge was to decipher the artist’s palette and brush strokes. I obtained a large print, and then enlarged it section by section to analyze the movement of the original painting. I enjoyed the process once I allowed myself to relax and embrace it. A frame is in the works, but I couldn’t wait to share. The second challenge was so very, very different. I had an opportunity to work on this with the talented Ashlie Bickford of A Fabulous Finish in the Woodlands, Texas. We had an assist from Ashlie’s partner, Kindra Benge, as we got close to deadline. Indeed, even our wonderful […]
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