Painting the House

Jerry and I are considering doing some painting. Truthfully, we're considering hiring someone to do some painting, since we've been considering painting for a year now and haven't gotten around to it.

We recently had family visiting from England and I played tour guide and tourist with them for 11 days. On one of those days, we went to the Hospital de los Venerables (the Hospital of the Venerables). Now a museum, the hospital was built in the late 1600s for poor and aging priests; it's located in the Barrio Santa Cruz, which had been the old Jewish Quarter. Jerry and I visited the museum when we were here on vacation in late 2010.

THE CHAPEL AT THE HOSPITAL DE LOS VENERABLES.
SIMPLE AND UNDERSTATED. GREAT CEILING TREATMENT.

The building, courtyards, and gardens are absolutely beautiful and include some really amazing original art, including paintings by Murio and Velazquez. But, this time around, with our interior painting in mind, the chapel is what especially caught my attention. I wonder if Jerry and I can reproduce it in our house.

THE OTHER END OF THE CHAPEL. A LITTLE LESS ALL-OVER COLOR.

 A TASTEFUL BORDER FOR OUR CEILINGS.
THESE CHERUBS HOVER ABOVE ONE OF TWO GRAND STAIRWAYS IN THE HOSPITAL.

Our living/dining room (salon) has lofty and enchanting scalloped ceilings. The idea of taping it all beforehand doesn't excite me. The idea of painting all those scallops without taping excites me even less. And their twelve feet up. I get a crick in my neck just thinking about it. San Geraldo had said he would do it all. And he's a really good painter. But he usually starts painting and then 10 minutes in says, "I'm bored," which is probably why it's been a year and we haven't done anything. The scallops would be a lot more dramatic if there were some more contrast on the walls. Right now the ceilings are white, the walls are off-white, and the balcony doors and shutters are white.

DINING ROOM.

LIVING ROOM.

Jerry and I love bold color. But, if reproducing the chapel in the Hospital de los Venerables doesn't work out, we're thinking of painting two shades of rich "golden cork" in the salon and a rusty terra cotta in the entry, retaining the off-white trim.

Either that or we'll illustrate the history of our first 30 years together in continuous frescoes. We'll see.

THE CHAPEL'S TRIBUTE TO JERRY'S 22-GREATS GRANDFATHER SAINT FERDINAND THE KING.
I WONDER IF WE CAN GET ONE FOR OUR HOUSE. HE IS A RELATION.