4. The Celebrity
Make-over: Maria Venuti's Living Room
Personal friend, Singer, Siren
and Star of Stage and Screen - Maria Venuti had long been at me to "do
something about the front door Darling!"
There was no doubt the paneled
and leadlight door at the front of Maria's turn of the century home had
survived long past its useby date. Painted yellow and white sometime in
the early 1970's it was about 15 years overdue for a coat of paint!
Come to think of it, the beige
shag-pile carpets were on that list too and I thought the living area
of Maria's home should better reflect her vibrant personality. After all,
for one who gives so generously of her time and talent to charity, I decided
it was time to give something back.
While Maria was travelling
with her daughter in Europe, I moved into the house … and basically
gutted it! She'd have been mortified … if she had any idea I was
doing it … I think I forgot to mention my plans!
The first thing to go was the
carpet - the underlay, and a few thousand tacks!
The walls were all washed down
and re-coated with a Dulux "Mushroom Cap" and the architraves
in "Sandy Cove". The wall around the fireplace was painted in
Dulux "Deep Onyx" and finished with a soft marble effect.
The exposed brick was plastered
and with a flat black undercoat for depth, sprayed gold. Two corbels were
added to the mantelpiece.
 Canvas
was glued down over the old timber floorboards and painted in a base of
"Mushroom Cap": layer by layer new colours were added to build
up the leopard print pattern. Every black dot was painted freehand! Finally,
six coats of Cabot's floor sealer made the original floor "stiletto
proof"!
Finally I got around to the
front door: more leopard print. This time, after a good sanding, leopard
printed cotton fabric was carefully glued into place and trimmed around
the windows. The mouldings were painted black with a gold highlight and
not one, but two big round brass knockers added for character!
 The
look on Maria's face on her return was priceless: and to think she spent
the entire trip home in the car from the airport telling me that "Red
and Leopard are all the rage in Paris this season Darling!
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