Chester NJ Retailer of furniture, home accessories, interior design – Maison Berger and Paint Couture!™
Over the years one tends to “adopt” great pieces…
This pretty antique vanity originated in Denmark and is circa 1910…
It’s been with me for 10-15 years and now it can be yours!
Yup, it’s in the shop and up for grabs…
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Our collection of exquisite, handcrafted, home wall décor just arrived! They are amazing and I love mixing them into wall collages. They will look like they have been in your family for generations!
These beautiful prints are created by one of the last remaining master artisans in the United States – individually hand-made, antique reproduction art! Bellisimo!!!
All of this 18th and 19th century, English and European, wall decor artwork is made to order by a master craftsman, with decades of skill and experience in the field of antique art reproduction and restoration. These prints are NOT assembled on a line run by machines – they are masterfully set in museum standard, hand-nailed and distressed, solid wood frames.
So each reproduction floral, architectural, or landscape, pastoral lithograph is individually cut, and hand-aged, to give it the look and feel of an original piece of antique framed art.
So the gallery shows you a sample….we are actually expecting some more in the fall. But now that we have these we are going to include them in our ART SALE…at 20% off.
Just finished stenciling this tabletop…yep, used a ceiling medallion and made it fit by using only certain parts of it.
In the picture it doesnt look centered but it is and i have the perfect stencil rosette (at home) to put in the middle.
Its going to be fantastic! I can hardly wait to work on it again tomorrow – soon it will look like an antique table.
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.
this is the beautiful table that i was using for a cash wrap prior to the kitchen island showing up yesterday…
it is probably a crime that i was using this amazing piece for my desk.
it was always loaded with paper and catalogs and being used to wrap gifts….
i certainly did not do it justice. it needs to sit majestically somewhere….a treasured piece of home decor!
Now it will have a new life…
I have cleaned it off and placed it on the sales floor with its very own chair…i Brie waxed the top so it gleams.
the top grain is so beautiful and though it may be old it still looks amazing.
The legs make a spectacular architectural statement too.
the table opens from 57″ to 110″ – its refractory leaves pull out of each side with a gentle tug
it’s really just too pretty!
just the kind of piece an interior designer could build a room around!
Its the kind of once in a lifetime piece that i really wish i could just take home!
it is an antique circa 1880 and i bought it for the shop because i thought the graining of the wood top
was the prettiest i’d seen…and i still love it!
Nobody is allowed to put anything more on it! (i think that means me).
I just want to admire it while its still here!
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!
It may be cold and windy outside today
but it is warm and beautiful and cozy inside Little Paris….and today is the big day!
the GRAND OPENING PARTY!!
We put a pretty christmas tree in
our Paris B oudoir decorated in pinks, blues and silvery garlands!
We’ll be serving champage, madeleines and petite palmiers
tonight at the Party. Ooh la la!
The Bling Bling Fairy from Mark Roberts 2010 Fairy Collection
sits atop our tree clutching his handful of pearls and sparkly jewels!
Well, today was the day!
We opened Little Paris to the public – we still have a few kinks to work out but we decided to go ahead and softly greet the world!
Here’s a little virtual tour….its better to click on each picture to see everything – I didnt want to shrink them too much!
Have fun! Here’s the entrance foyer/staircase.
Going up the regal staircase…
Looking up the staircase into the French Country Estate Room.
The Paris Boudoir
Remember this Vanity that we purchased in June, I think…
This next series of pictures is from our Paris Apartment Room
We are calling this last room the French Country Estate Room…
as it just kinda took on its own easy going relaxed feeling.
Well, that’s it….I will finish up the details and have the Grand Opening in Early September!!
I just finished painting the “Paris Apartment” in our Little Paris shop…
it’s a beautiful shade of pink called Cotton Candy!
If you ever told me i’d be painting pink walls in any room of mine – I’d have laughed….
but yes people can change and adapt. I really love it.
Here’s some pink inspiration for you!
via http://bellafayegarden.tumblr.com
Yes I am truly loving the pink!!!
So now two rooms of Little Paris are on their way to completion….
Happy Father’s Day all.
I found a beautiful vintage dressing table…
it turned up a little early but i just had to have it for Little Paris!
It’s such a pretty creamy yellow…with gold trim. And the mirror is amazing!
Of course we displayed out favorite perfumes from Shelley Kyle on it.
It’s going to be gorgeous in our Paris Boudoir…which i just primed yesterday.
I plan on finishing up the general painting early next week.
Yesterday I was out shopping for antiques and ran into the most gorgeous babbling brook! It was so pretty and
refreshing and made the greatest rushing sounds….lovely
I found some great pieces for Little Paris too…and have some decisions to make about a few larger pieces of furniture.
Some of the small pieces follow…hardware, books and a great compote.
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