Transforming a photograph by staining the frame

Another day, another progress shot.  Isn't this fun?

This one is from the office I'm almost done with, the one with this major gallery wall.  We had some art to work with that the Foundation had been given over the years, pieces that related to the work of the Foundation but had seen better days.  Rather than start from scratch, we worked with what we had.

Before:

After:

This black and white vintage large-scale photograph of Notre Dame was done no favors by the pickled wood frame, which just further washed out the faded colors.  Several thin coats of black stain brought it to life, and a goldleaf pen on the inside edges saved me from getting stain all over the photo.

Of course, a custom bench in a Schumacher wool doesn't hurt anything, either.

A custom coffee table in the finishes below is the final piece to come in to the room, and I can show you the whole shebang!

French gold frame and heavily burnished glass top.  It' going to be a stunner!