Tip #45 (I just made that up) on dressing up a house: Colorize your details! A bit of color can go a long way in showcasing your architectural features.

Case in point: The Medallions. If you have a white medallion on a white ceiling, shame on you! Trick that beeatch out! Make her shine!

My new favorite thing for detail is metallic paint. Not only did I do the latest medallion in blue and gold metallic, I’m using a warm silver for the plaster crown molding. Brownstone Bling, Baby!

A few things you should know before you start:

1. Ugh, it’s a real pain in the arse to stand on a ladder and work up on the ceiling. It can take 2 full days to a week for fine details.

2. Which means, if you’re buying a new medallion, by all means….work on it BEFORE installation!

3. Back to old medallions, be sure to strip away multiple layers of paint if it’s covering grooves. Spread a thick layer of Peel Away, cover with plastic and leave overnight. You may have to do this twice.

3a. See the photo below of the little detail we found in the wall. You can’t really see the beauty of it with all that paint. The medallion above the light fixture in the “after” shot is a reproduction.

4. Spray paint makes life a lot easier, but keep in mind that it’s not easy to paint over, so you’ll need at least two coats to top it. On the blue and gold, I sprayed the gold and hand painted the blue, but I had to go over both about 3 times.