Chalk Paint™ Decorative Paint - Two Great Makeovers

Recently as part of the launch of Chalk Paint™, decorative paint by Annie Sloan, in New Zealand, I had the opportunity to give away an inspiring book titled, 'Creating the French Look'. I asked readers to leave a comment as to what project they might tackle if they were the lucky winner. One reader, Sheila from Christchurch, wrote how her house was damaged 2 years ago by the devastating 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Sheila's home has since been undergoing repairs and it is only now she is able to move back in. The theme of Sheila's interior is French style and planning to upcycle a few pieces of furniture for her new start she had already purchased some Chalk Paint™ from Femme de Brocante in Rangiora. A little unsure where to begin and meanwhile putting the paint aside, winning the book, was exactly the inspiration Sheila needed. Deciding to tackle a chest of drawers and a couple of chairs, Sheila sent me images of her first makeovers. Sheila praises Annie's paint and says she is "completely hooked" and I am not surprised seeing her results below.

Painting directly over a dark varnished Queen Anne set of drawers with Chalk Paint™ decorative paint by Annie Sloan in Duck Egg , Sheila then used a thin layer of clear wax which she allowed to dry overnight. A further thin layer of 'dark' wax was applied which was quickly wiped off. Once dry it was sanded back in areas to give the drawers an aged look. Sheila said using a clear layer beneath the dark wax gave the dark wax a better finish.

If your item has a previous dark varnish, Annie recommends you test a small area and leave it for a week to make sure it doesn't bleed through. If this happens you can seal the piece with clear shellac, alternatively I would recommend a 'sealer'. However, it is said that Chalk Paint™ decorative paint will cover most surfaces with no prep work required.

 Even the handles got a coat of paint. 

 Before a rather tired chair

After,  the chair has been transformed, even the upholstery seems to have come to life

I also wanted to share a fabulous makeover by Mary at 'Orphans With Make Up', a professional with paint techniques Mary used Paris grey to update a dark, Queen Anne sideboard. What a lift the colour gave this piece, a totally new look. I am excited by this makeover as I also have some Paris Grey for my first project, a rather sad chest of mahogany drawers I found stored in my mothers garage. It is about time they were given a new look and I know she would love them to have a French style makeover. You can see more images, along with Mary's 'before' image at Orphans With Make Up. Or you can view some of Mary's incredible past makeovers.....here.

Thank you Sheila and Mary for letting me share your projects with my readers. If any of my readers have their own makeovers with Chalk Paint™ decorative paint by Annie Sloan, I would love to hear from you. I have more projects from myself and readers coming up over the next few weeks.

Sharing this post with the following blogs;

I should be Mopping the Floor

The Dedicated House
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No Minimalist Here

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Refinishing, upcycling furniture

Most of us are familiar with the terms "upcycle" and "repurpose" with thousands of interior design blogs posting "before and after" images of their triumphs. Interior designers are also getting in on the act,  sometimes visiting second hand shops and auctions as options to finding that perfect piece and of course, they are not putting on overalls and grabbing the sander, instead they turn to the professionals who can do this work for them.

Refinishing furniture with specialised paint effects is quite an art, I found this out myself last year when I applied a French Wash to an old Pine table trying to achieve a distressed, French look. I thought it was as simple as buying the right products and away you go, however, I quickly learned it may be easy to apply the products but it is not easy to achieve the look you require unless you have knowledge and experience of paint techniques and effects.  

A few weeks ago on the blog, I talked about how I plan to keep some of the furniture I've inherited from my mother to upcycle/refinish in the future. With all that's been going on in my life and being so busy with the blog, I cannot possibly find the time to refinish the larger furniture myself. Added to that, the disappointment with my previous attempt, I was wondering where I could find a company that could do this for me. Lo and behold, last week I discovered a company called  "Lucille", located in Wellington.

Lucille is a boutique company owned by Olivia Neveu, Olivia takes "no longer loved" furniture and creates "much loved pieces". It all started when Olivia was studying for accountancy, being a poor student at the time she had to get creative with some cheap MDF bookshelves. Olivia has since moved on and left her career of Accountancy to follow the path she loves which is to re-imagine and refinish furniture for her clients.  Olivia prides herself in her work, whether it be a grand heirloom or a simpler piece, she will wave her magic wand and create something beautiful. Waving that wand though does take some work, sanding, new paint, pretty drawer liners, hardware and specialised paint finishes are all part of the refinishing.  Working with your ideas or allowing Olivia full freedom Olivia creates something of beauty for your home. If you can't find that perfect piece she will even try to track it down for you.

I think Olivia's work is fabulous, she pays such attention to detail, as you can see in the pretty floral lined drawers in her desk transformation.  The choice of hardware and of course the beautiful paint finishes all work beautifully together. I particularly love the special touch of painted stripes across the top of the mid century cabinet below. Different eras of furniture require different paint techniques and I think Olivia's imagination, combined with her skills  create  perfect harmony, a piece to be treasured forever.

Today I'm sharing some of the beautiful furniture Olivia has refinished.  I hope this will inspire you to take a new look at Grandma's old chair or that old shabby chest of drawers that have been in your garage forever. There is no need to get rid of our heirlooms, or to chop down more forests for making cheap pieces of furniture when you can have it refinished.  It doesn't matter if you haven't the imagination or skills, a company such as Lucille and a lovely person such as Olivia are the perfect solution.

I love all of Olivia's transformations, my personal two favourites are the cane backed chair and the desk with Queen Ann legs. If you have some furniture you would be interested in refinishing, please drop Olivia an email, she will be more than happy to to give you a no obligation quote and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at her reasonable costs. 

If you get a chance, also pop over and visit Olivia's blog to see more inspiration and before and after images of her work. 

Email Olivia:

hello@lucille.co.nz

Lucille on Facebook

Storing & Upcycling Furniture

I recently found myself having a conversation with a stranger at a dog park about my mum passing away last year and the predicament of sorting out my mothers house and furniture, of over 50 years of collecting. I would love to keep a lot of pieces of furniture and update them but I have absolutely no space left in my little cottage. My spare room, my studio, not to mention my Large Chinese wedding cabinet are overflowing with my mums possessions. During this conversation it was suggested  I look at some storage options as an alternative to having to sell a lot of my mothers treasured items, to be honest, this idea had completely escaped my mind.

Today there are lots of different storage options and some very competitive prices. It's been easy for me to work out how much space I would need by using the on-line estimators. Some companies even deliver small containers to your home where your can load your own furniture, they then come back and take it away to their storage lockers. Other companies allow you to store the container at your property. With this knowledge I am no longer in panic mode as I'm  thinking of the possibility of either extending my current cottage or moving to a larger home, the option of storing my mothers possession's meanwhile is a weight off my mind allowing me time to decide which pieces I will up-cycle and which items I will sell.

Deciding what to store is not too difficult and I have already chosen some of the furniture I'm definitely keeping. Among these is a nest of tables, chest of drawers, piano stool and a standard lamp. I have various ideas of what I what I might do, I most definitely want to sand back and re-paint the standard lamp and add a lovely drum shade, I have a great idea for the shade which I am going to share another time.  I also want to re-paint and re-cover the piano stool to use at the bottom of my bed. Meanwhile I've been browsing the Internet for ideas for inspiration and found some really cool ideas to share.

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All very different looks, I especially love the gold and black nest of tables in image 5. Unfortunately I can't find this particular image source it's been on my computer for ages as mum has exactly the same shaped nest of tables and I thought what a great way to create an expensive designer look.  I also love the idea of the contemporary drum lampshade on the vintage standard lamp. The last makeover I attempted myself was to apply a French wash to an old pine table but I do love the distressed look of the coffee table above.

Image Sources
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