Do-it-Myself Restoration Hardware

Before image

Finished Product

Details of clock frame

This was my relaxation for the weekend. After a hard week of work and not enough time to paint in the studio I came home on Friday and saw that I had received my Restoration Hardware catalog. I have been drawn to vintage, antique items for the last several years, namely due to my beautiful bride who has always been shrewd enough to see the value in the vintage. Often I see items that I'd love to own in these catalogs but don't have thousands to spend on a lamp! The thought that goes through my head is "I could duplicate that!" So to get the creative juices flowing and to find some solace I decided to paint my ubiquitously commercial wall clock so that it resembled the more awesome $300 wall clock in the summer catalog. I started by drawing in a few essential measurements and then based the clock in a mix of slate grey and black. The numbers were then painted in two tones and the dividing lines and typography were rendered in white charcoal. The hands of the clock were neck-tie in shape and I decided to base them in the same dark base color of the clock face. This camouflaged the hands and gave me the opportunity to used metallic paints to create a more ornate hand design. The end product is a very tromp l'eoil effect. Lastly, I aged the clock frame which was originally silver in color. Now, a $3 clock looks like a $100 design element. I hope this inspires you to make your own treasures. Enjoy - Jared