Today i started working on this round table. It has what i call “good bones” – that is architecture that sings! (to me anyway).
it was completely black with an oak grain to it. I covered the whole table with Old Oche Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. When it dries, i am going to hit it again with another coat.
I want to make sure i cover the black with a good solid coat of paint!
Tomorrow i am going to give it yet another coat…but of pure white. The Whistling Elk is turning into my own private paint workshop where it seems every day now something is being newly designed…
I just found a great ceiling medallion stencil that i am going to tailor to fit the top of this table. Ooh la la! This table is going to go in our Paris Boudoir when complete and will feel so soft and elegant that it will be unrecognizable. Can’t wait til the next step tomorrow!
Do you feel like painting yet?
Tag: Annie Sloan
I like to live dangerously while painting
It is not unusual for me to live dangerously and just start painting on a piece at home without actually clearing it off…lucky for me that i am a neat painter!
I have owned this beautiful bookcase for many years. It is pine and was imported from Europe and just brie waxed and left in its natural state. Up for a change in my home decor I decided that i would paint the outside shell of the piece and give it a new design. The Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray paint on the wall was my inspiration. So here it is with its first coat of Annie Sloan Paris Grey. I painted the sides and the front facing edges.
After this dried, I painted Olde White on the parts that i considered trim. You cant see them in the picture but at the bottom of the bookcase there are 2 drawers…these i painted as trim also.
The piece remained like this for several days as i had to wait for another day off. But actually i could have stopped here – it was simple and pretty and looked great in the room.
Meanwhile i was rummaging in my stencil collection and found one that i could run down the front side edges…so i kept going.
I clear waxed the piece then dark waxed it, rubbed off the excess and sanded it down to distress it.
I also gilded the beaded trim and the stenciled trim on the front sides and the crown.
I thought i was done but I think i will do some trim work on the drawers…but that will have to wait for another day off from The Whistling Elk.
There is an old hole about the wood knob and i am thinking that i can paint a fabulous “lock” above the knob. This too will have to wait for another day.
Yesterday i was on a painting rampage
While i worked on painting the little stool I was also painting on some small boxes…then as i had the Annie Sloan paints open i decided to experiment with the inside of my pantry closet. I am working up to painting all my kitchen cabinets but that will have to wait for another day off from The Whistling Elk.
On the back and side walls of the closet i used provence and then on the shelves used duck egg. Love the subtle contrast! (I think my kitchen chandelier is throwing an interesting pattern on the shelves for a little play on light and shadows.)
I only did one section because i only had a very little Provence…but i will have to get more because i love the way it turned out. The room is Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray so these two colors work wonderfully well as an accent.
I still have plenty of the duck egg so i guess i will finish this project after i go shopping for more paint. Meanwhile i was also working on my old pine bookcase. More pix on that later!
Little Miss Muffet didnt have as cute a tuffet…
This little footstool was feeling very dreary in its old finish of rust/grey…
So i took it home yesterday and gave it a coat of paint. I waxed it with a little clear wax and let it sit overnight.
This morning i threw it in the car, drove it back to The Whistling Elk where i finished it off by sanding for a distressed look and gilding it around the top edges with a little of the Annie Sloan kings gold wax which i also rubbed into the top then dry brushed the legs…you can never have too much gold!
It’s just too pretty now. I love the way it looks sitting on the oriental carpet.
Rich Damask Wallpaper transforms a little Powder Room
Just had a little powder room wallpapered in Thibaut Kenilworth…love the rich color and the damask pattern on the paper! I painted an old towel bar with Annie Sloan Primer Red and then brushed it with a little gold paint. It looks amazing. Since this powder room has a low ceiling i cannot put in crown molding so i am going to run a fabric cording around the top edge of the wall where it meets the ceiling…and i am thinking i will probably glaze the ceiling gold with sparkles. That will have to wait though until i get another day off.
Candlabra love
This poor candlabra needed some love.
So yesterday I gave it a few coats of two different golds – one bronzey and one 14 karat…
and then painted the insides of the candle cups a sweet, sweet lavendar (Annie Sloan Henrietta).
There are two of these pieces….they are so cute now
This was a fun project for these post hurricane days! Keeps the spirits up!
I went a little crazy with the distressing
well, i might be done…
I did really go crazy with the distressing…but i think i like it!
I used a little of the gilding wax on the hardware and on the drawer front.
You can never have too much gold!
Ooophs – i just couldn’t resist painting the insides of the drawers with Henrietta – Annie Sloan Chalk Paint –
its the sweetest lavendar!
I love the little Fleur de Lis detail smack in the middle…
every time i open this little drawer i know it will make me smile – yes! I am definitely done with this piece!
It’s a Wine Cabinet Makeover
Remember that black wine cabinet that i posted…well the makeover is almost done!
First coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint…Louis Blue and Louis Blue mixed with Pure White.
I left the inside black….liking the contrast!
Later I’ll distress it…
Say hello to my latest Annie Sloan Chalk Paint project
Say hellooooo to my latest painting project…
This little wine cabinet is my paint project for the next couple of days.
It’s really cute but i am going to make it even cuter!
Stay tuned for the results….
Love at first sight
I fell in love with this little table while out searching for antiques….
Its not old – just cute with great character! It’s oval about 16 x 12 and was already painted with Annie Sloan Paris Grey. It also has a marble top – black with a little pink and grey.
As soon as i saw it i knew i was going to paint and gild it! It was just a matter of what color…
So naturally i did paint it – it wasnt even in the shop for 24 hours before it got a makeover!
So here “she” is wearing some Annie Sloan Henrietta over Paris Grey….and then rubbed with some silver gilding wax and some kings gold gilding wax.
Voila, so Little Paris!
Here’s some detail shots…who said you cant mix silver and gold accents????
It’s important to remember that you dont have to paint perfectly – when you are distressing it gives you a certain lattitude to be a little free…
I am so enjoying painting! I had forgotten how much fun it is and what a great creative outlet is can be.
Annie Sloan Chalk Paint – the marathon continues
This little table had a dark wood top…it really had style with those cute legs so I decided to just paint the top with some Annie Sloan Pure White.
I left the legs the way they were – so here is the table with the Pure White on it.
I waxed it with the clear wax and then applied a little dark wax then distressed it.
Last i hit it with some of the gilding wax then distressed it some more…
Now it has a whole new life!
Love it!
I also worked on this standing mirror…it had a lot of “design” potential!
One of the reasons i selected this piece to paint was because of the beautiful wood carved crown at the top…
and the way this mirror resembled a “boiserie” panel…
The way i envisioned painting this piece i knew that its architecture would be greatly enhanced by using two colors to create a contrast.
I knew that using an alternate color on the crown and on the inset panel would work beautifully
and that connecting them by hitting part of the molding with the contrast color would be very pleasing to the eye.
So, i decided to use Paris Grey and Pure White.
Here’s the crown with a little Paris Grey which i purposely slapped on so it didnt cover all the dark wood.
Later i put some Pure White sloppily over the Paris Grey – i didnt care about covering since i knew i would distress it heavily later.
Originally it was also part of my plan to highlight this piece with some gold wax accents.
However, a customer came into the shop
while i was working on it and asked me not to put the gold on until she saw it finished with just the white and grey…
she thought it might work for her just that way…so i will have to wait until tomorrow when she comes in to see whether it will go home with her sans gold wax..
Here it is BEFORE distressing…
I painted the body of the piece all Pure White then applied the Paris Grey over only the molding and on the inset.
I did that because i knew when i distressed it i would get the dark brown and the white thru the grey.
Here is the boiserie mirror after distressing…I am just dying to highlight it with gilding wax!
Here’s some close ups of the details of the newly antique mirror!
When i am painting i find myself working on a lot of projects at once…
if i have a can of paint open i generally use it on as many pieces as i can so i dont have to open/close the paint, clean the brush etc.
it may be that i am just lazy…. but i think its a good idea to use the paint on something else while the can is open…
so here’s a little mirror that i also worked on!
This distressed mirror was a brownish/cordovan kind of a color with some gold in the corners.
I just went ahead and coated the whole frame with Annie Sloan Pure White, Clear waxed it, distressed it and then
hit it with some of the gilding wax.
Here it is all done and ready for me to put in Little Paris so perfect for my shabby chic shop!
The Annie Sloan Chaulk Paint has been a pleasure to work with and i am loving
all the new decor created…a very good product for interior design!
The Great Annie Sloan Paint Experiment
I decided to experiment with the Annie Sloan paints…
so i bought some Paris Grey and some Clear Wax and have been painting everything in sight for the last couple of days…
out in front of The Whistling Elk in the courtyard.
This is actually a before shot….
The bottom legs/skirt etc has been coated with Annie Sloan “Paris Grey” while the top has an old coat of a beige tone benjamin moore paint on it.
Originally this table had a dark stain on it. It has been hanging around for a while and was pretty beat up.
When i selected it to experiment with i thought it might be fun because when distressed it would show the dark stain thru the beige…and the Paris Grey.
I also selected this table because it has nice detail for painting. The top has a raised pattern to it around the edges which
is separated from the center by two circular grooves which i plan to gild. And, the little finial
at the bottom of the leg stretchers is screaming out for gold…
So with my design plan in my head and the brush in my hand, the Annie Sloan paint went on easily and covered well…waxing was easy too.
After sanding the table and distressing it to the level i desired i painted a fleur de lis on top with some antique gold paint i had around
and also put the gold in the round grooves and on the outer edges of the table.
Then i waxed it again…
The next day I sanded it down again, distressing the gold paint and the fleur de lis.
I sanded some spots down to the very dark stain but decided i didnt like what i had so repainted/waxed some spots and re-distressed.
I actually really like the soft beige coming thru the Paris Grey.
I also decided not to distress to strongly overall as i liked the softness of the look. So, when i was satisfied with what i had i waxed it one last time. The next day i buffed it out.
I had these two upholstered chairs so i painted and distressed the chair legs to go with the table!
It was easy – paint, wax, sand/distress, wax….Voila!
So Very, Very Shabby Chic and perfect for Little Paris!!
here’s what the chair legs looked like before…
So the bottom line is that i am enjoying the whole process and having lots of fun with the Annie Sloan Paints!
Stay tuned because i hateto waste time so have been painting on other little projects which are coming along…