Not Too Shabby & Re-Find Living: 2016

Chalkpaint anniesloan morethanjustpaint parisgrey graphite paintedfabric

I'm Dying To Share

12:47 PM

I'm so excited to share a fantastic Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan project that one of our very talented customers finished.

We talk about painting furniture all the time, but this project involved painting a costume for El Dorado Musical Theatre's recent production of The Addams Family Musical. The costume was for a Ghostly Ballerina, an ancestor for the Adams Family.

Our customer, Margie Rudolph, started with this very colorful tutu.

Starting with the dark blue tulle underside, she dip dyed with a Chalk Paint® Paris Gray and Graphite 1:1 mix.

She also dip dyed white trims in the same color mix.

She finished with a light silver spray, added the Chalk Paint® dip dyed trim, some metallic trim, and a layer of gray organza under the skirt.

What a transformation.

I think it turned out amazing!

aubussonblue

New Orleans

12:10 AM

We've just returned from an amazing few days in New Orleans. We met with the Annie Sloan Unfolded team to talk about all the new stuff coming this year - very Exciting!!! I'll share more details as soon as I can, I promise.

(Love these Aubusson Blue doors, very modern)

But I can share some inspiring color combinations found everywhere in the French Quarter.

Loved looking at all the historic buildings with planters off the ironwork balconies. Great Paris Grey and Graphite combination, beautifully accented with English Yellow flowers.

Maybe you'll be inspired with some new combos.

It seemed like Scandinavian Pink was used on at least 3 houses per block.

We ended our night with a huge tray of crayfish.

Can't wait to start painting.

anniesloan

How Much Does A Quart Cover?

1:52 PM

One of the biggest misconceptions we hear at the store is how expensive a quart of paint is..... And my response is always - when it comes to paint, you pay for pigment vs. water. Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan is highly pigmented paint. It covers beautifully!

Which means you'll get lots of coverage per quart of ChalkbPaint® vs. a quart of pretty much any other paint.

We recently finished up a bedroom set for our store in Auburn, Re-Find Living. I'm using the word set loosely because of course it's not a matchy-matchy set.

Rather 4 pieces we've painted Chalk Paint® Pure White, so they match now. This included a vintage full/queen headboard, rails, footboard, 2 night stands, and an antique dresser.

One of my Stockists friends who sells Chalk Paint® in Iowa, recently painted this 6-piece bedroom set with one quart of Graphite.

What have you painted with a quart?

anniesloan

Painting Furniture with Chalk Paint® - Wash Technique

1:00 PM

One of my favorite techniques to use on bare wood is a Wash, or Lime-Wash. This works by wetting the wood and then pushing the paint into the grain. This can be a quick and easy project with Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan.

This technique starts with pre-wetting the wood. I like using a 2nd paint brush, dipping it into the water and then 'painting' the wood with water.

Then taking a second paint brush, I paint a section of the wet wood with Chalk Paint® decorative paint. A small amount goes really far. When you're no longer able to spread the paint, grab a towel and start wiping off.

After finishing the whole surface, step back and look at the whole piece. If there are spots with more paint than you like, brush on some water, spreading the paint thinner, then wipe off with a towel.

Conversely, if there's a spot with less paint then you like, dip your brush in a little water, a little paint, and re-paint that area, spreading the paint around. Then dry with a towel.

This is a fast project and usually by the time I'm done with 'washing' on the paint it's ready to be waxed.

Remember - You're washing the color into the grain. You aren't painting the piece. You want the grain to show through.

This oak cabinet door was washed with Chalk Paint® Graphite and finished with dark wax.

This barn wood bar was washed with Chalk Paint® French Linen, finished with clear wax.

It's a great way to get just enough color, but not too much, in a room with lots of colors.

Any of our amazing Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan colors work perfectly as a wash, but my favorites are Emperor's Silk, Duck Egg, Paris Grey, French Linen, Old White, or Graphite.

Hope you're inspired.

anniesloan

Decopauge Night-Stand

3:43 PM

Hello!

Following on a previous post about decoupaging with Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan, I decided to decopauge a drawer on a night stand. I started by painting the nightstand Chalk Paint® French Linen, then top coat with Old Ochre.

Immediately after painting the drawer Old Ochre, using the wet Chalk Paint® as my 'medium', I placed one ply of the white napkin directly on top of the paint. Using a piece of wax paper, I pressed the napkin into the paint. Then for timing, I dried the paint with a hair dryer, otherwise I could have just let it dry naturally in about an hour.

After a few minutes, the paint was dried and the napkin was fully adhered to the drawer front. I then used a fine grit sanding block to trim the excess napkin from the sides.

Since I was going for a worn leather look, using my Annie Sloan paint brush, I started 'splotching' on some more paint on the drawer front. I chose French Linen, Old Ochre, and Pure White.

Using a paper towel I dabbed at the wet paint, helping it blend into the background.

Using the blow dryer, I dried the drawer front.

At this point, the napkin is completely sealed to the drawer front. I then applied 2 coats of Annie Sloan Clear Wax and one coat of Dark Wax.

It's a great finish, and really compliments the marble top of this vintage night sand.

Hope you're intrigued.

anniesloan

Decoupage With Chalk Paint®

11:05 AM

Most of you know how amazing Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan is for painting furniture, but have you tried to decoupage with it?

When we recently hosted a stop on the Auburn Art Walk at our Re-Find Living store (in Auburn), we decided to make it 'hands on'.

Providing each participant with a small art canvas, a decorative napkin, glitter, and a choice of any Chalk Paint® color, we set them free to create their own piece of art.

It turned out amazing!

We ended up with about 14 participants. 3 of whom did the same images, yet they turned out so differently!

Love it!

If you're interested in using Chalk Paint® in a new way, call the stores and sign up for one of our Make-N-Take Workshops.

anniesloan

4 days, 6 People, 31 Doors, and so much more. Part 2, All Done!

11:40 AM

Here's the second part to yesterdays painted cabinet post.

Quick Recap - The cabinets are about 40 years old and solid wood. The finish however had worn off in some spots, become gummy, and cracked. Making them perfect candidates to Chalk Paint® with Annie's amazing paint. We first cleaned all of the cabinets with a vinegar & water mix, followed by Dawn dish soap & water, then a rinse.

After playing with color we selected Coco to compliment the pink tile countertops.

Here's some before pictures. Over the stove,

By the sink,

The peninsula in the dining room

And the built in hutch,

Just nice normal solid wood cabinets, whose only fault lies in that they're showing age.

What a difference after painting!

And the built-in is beautiful now

And here's all of our supply list.

We ended up using a quart of graphite to base coat the hallway & bathroom cabinets. 1-1/4 at of Old White to paint both bathroom vanities, 4-1/2 quarts of Coco to cover all of the cabinets, and built-in hutch, 1-1/8 tub of clear wax, 8 fine grit sanding blocks, 20 rags, 2 rolls of paper towels, 2 pieces of 0000 steel wool, and a touch of shellac on the built-in hutch (next weeks post).

We also did this whole project during the wet & rainy time between Christmas & New Years.

Huge thanks to our great team of painters, cleaners, haulers, and finishers - Cass, Tori, April, Kim, Pam, and me.

Ready to paint your cabinets?

anniesloan

4 days, 6 people, 31 doors & so much more. Part 1

10:06 AM

So excited to share this great project! It's photo heavy so I broke it into 2 posts.

We inherited a rental that hadn't had anything done to any of the cabinets throughout the house in......well forever. So we grabbed our Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan color pallet and worked through the samples to get the perfect color.

The constraints were the very pinky mauve tile countertops that we just can't afford to replace & dated florescent lighting. However, we were going to take out the carpet and flooring and selected the new new carpet & 'hardwood' tiles first.

We started with Old White - too yellow

Paris Grey - made the countertops look very pink

French Linen - too green

Cream, Duck Egg, Versailles, Aubusson Blue, and Graphite....all didn't look perfect.

Then we tried Coco and it was perfect! It cleaned up the cabinets, and actually made the pink tile countertops look less 'pink!'

After picking the color, we got started cleaning. These cabinets are about 40 years old & the finish was gummy in some spots, and flaking in others. Pam cleaned first round with a vinegar & water mix, followed by a Dawn soap & water mix.

There were also some minor repairs needed on a few drawers and a couple of doors. Some wood glue, clamps & 24 hours later some light sanding took care of the issues.

Then we got started painting. Both bathroom vanities were painted with 2 -1/2 coats of Chalk Paint® Old White. It covered beautifully!

Here's the hallway cabinets & a built in bookshelf.

And after painting 2 coats of Chalk Paint® Coco, 2 applications of Clear Wax, they are stunning!

More to come.

anniesloan

Antibes Green Inspiration

10:08 PM

I love Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan, and one of my favorite colors is Antibes Green. It's a beautiful bright green with clear wax, and deepens to a rich green with dark wax.

Annie wrote "Antibes is one of the towns between Nice and Cannes in the French Riviera . Now there are billionaires yachts moored in the harbour but it still retains a certain magic and when I visited there a few years ago I cried when I had to leave. .... The light is incredible...... colours do seem to glow and shimmer ......No wonder Antibes was favoured by so many really famous artists in the late 19th & early 20th century. Picasso, Matisse, Renoir, Bonnard, Derain, and many others worked and lived there. This is what made me want to call my brilliant green Antibes."

From Coastal Living February 2015.

Beautiful side table painted Antibes Green with dark wax.

This picture is from Annie's book, but we've duplicated this look several times on farm tables at the store. It's always a winning combination with the Antibes Green on the legs and a beautiful waxed finish top.