Hand Designed & Painted Scroll Border

This was a fun one day project that I was able to do for an old client. I did their daughter's room several years ago. My client asked me to both design and paint a custom border for her master bathroom. She wanted a neutral base color that would go with the tile, preferably something warm. She already had the border colors picked out - Spanish Red, Wildflower, and Georgetown Pink Beige. These are the colors of a beautiful chair that she has in her bedroom. So I helped her choose a nice neutral to tie it all together - Benjamin Moore's Antique Parchment.

Before I left, I did a rubbing of the decorative detail in the tile around her jacuzzi tub. I wanted to take from that to come up with my design. I worked for quite a few hours doing research online for different scroll designs and then drawing out a few ideas. I had to follow specific measurements as well because she wanted the border design to about be about 5 or 6 inches in height. I then did a mock up on foam board to show her and get her approval. She loved it - so it was a go.

It took me 6 hours to complete the actual job from start to finish. I worked fast and hard. It was not an easy task. The bathroom had a lot of different angles and tight areas that were hard to reach. I had to use 3 different ladders - 4 foot for in the tub & shower, 2 foot for above the sink (I had to put the ladder on top of the counter), and then a 6 foot for the really high areas. But I made it through and the outcome is just spectacular.

Here are the steps I took to do this job:

1. Draw out the design on paper - repeat the pattern a few times

2. Measure & mark the wall where the border will need to go

3. Transfer the design onto the wall with transfer paper

4. Paint the design