For a local interior designer, ‘home’ is a beautiful experiment | Featured real estate articles

“It’s challenging,” he claimed.

The course of action is slow, for starters. Sefcik started the substantial kitchen area rework in the Fan District residence he owns with his lover, Andrew Finnan, in November, and a portray crew was nonetheless putting the finishing touches on the lacquered-purple cupboards in the butler’s pantry in early June.

Plus, it’s an acquired ability.

“You have to have a light touch and not push the brush too hard against the surface area,” Sefcik said.  “The paint has to almost soften off the brush.”

Then there is the weather.

“Humidity can make the paint dry slower, and it can also give the finish a texture that appears to be like an alligator’s scales,” Sefcik explained. “If that happens, you have to sand it smooth and paint it again.”

That transpired when Sefcik’s crew painted the walls and ceiling of his dining room in a hanging peacock-blue lacquer finish a couple of summers in the past.  A 3-7 days challenge finished up getting three months.

Even when the approach goes well, historic properties like Sefcik and Finnan’s – theirs was crafted in 1908 – have to have in depth prep do the job to assure the plaster wall or ceiling is as flat as feasible to get that mirror-like sheen.

The more difficulty is really worth it, however.

“It’s a gorgeous complete,” Sefcik stated. “We appreciate to entertain, and when we transform on the chandelier in the dining room, the walls and ceiling shimmer like a swimming pool.”

Sefcik and Finnan purchased the residence in 2014, the same yr Sefcik introduced Avery Frank Types, a total-service inside layout business. Since then, he has taken care of the residence as an experiment, of sorts, from time to time pursuing thoughts that his customers could take into consideration as well complicated on a sensible or aesthetic amount.

“If I’m going to make a oversight, I want it to be in this article and not in a client’s residence,” he claimed, with a laugh.

The dwelling is also a showroom:  If your designer can do it and make it appear that very good, why should not you follow his lead?

A client resolved to hold custom Gracie wallpaper in his eating place soon after looking at images of it in Sefcik’s next parlor, for illustration. And quite a few clients have integrated lacquer-painted walls into their styles soon after looking at it in Sefcik’s dwelling.

Sefcik doesn’t limit his experimenting to wall solutions. He’s furnished the household with an eclectic mix of classic and custom-produced items, with a solid focus on European designers and artists. The Artwork Deco fashion is perfectly-represented, also, in a wide variety of light fixtures.

Some of the pieces – like the piano in the entrance parlor, a gift from Sefcik’s mother – are permanent fixtures. Other individuals rotate, as Sefcik discovers new items. It’s an ongoing course of action, and Sefcik said he is not particularly fascinated in looking at the dwelling “finished.”

“I frequently delight in trying new hues, fabrics and household furniture, so it will constantly be adjusting,”Sefcik mentioned.  “However, immediately after the kitchen area and then the master tub, most issues will be pretty small tweaks in this article and there.”

All over the renovations, tweaks and changes, Sefcik has centered on prosperous colours and advanced, substantial-high-quality finishes and furnishings. And it is one thing he encourages with his consumers, much too.

“I’m not concerned of a wealthy or dim color,” he claimed. “I convey to consumers, ‘When you vacation or see a beautiful lodge on-line, why would not you want your dwelling to search that way?  Why make it mix in with all people else’s when you can make it abundant and exclusive?’”