Tag: decor

DIY, Furniture, Home, Paint, Uncategorized

Paint Couture! at The Whistling Elk

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Paint Couture Furniture and Cabinet Paint, Glaze & Finish
Paint Couture! at The Whistling Elk
The Whistling Elk is a distributor of Paint Couture! a fabulous new line of paints, glazes and finishes. Woohoo!

I just picked up my new sign last night…it’s very elegant! It’s all very exciting! This is a great paint – its a low VOC, water-based paint, available in 32 colors. Paint Couture! is a self priming, décor, furniture and cabinet paint. It has a great adhesion capability to existing painted or varnished surfaces. With Paint Couture! there is usually no sanding and no priming (though there are exceptions). It lays on very flat with little to no brush marks. The dry finish look is a matt finish. A Glaze, Finish Topcoat, or Wax is recommended after the paint has cured – and the glazes in this line are spectacular!! Not kidding here i am in love with the Champagne and the new Verdi.

We will be painting with some of the Paint Couture! paints and glazes tonight at the DIY Paint Workshop at The Whistling Elk. If you like painted furniture you will love this paint for your home decor projects!!

DIY, Furniture, Home, Uncategorized

Finishing Up a Few Paint Details Before the Chester Craft Show

by elegantparis2 Comments on Finishing Up a Few Paint Details Before the Chester Craft Show

painted furniture, diy, chalk paint, acrylic paint, architecture
painting architectural details to stand out

I am working on a table right now with nice architectural details…cant wait to see it finished!
Tomorrow is the spring Chester Craft Show…We are going to showcase some of our painted furniture during the show. You can also sign up for our Paint Workshops…the next one is June 13th at 5:30 pm. Call for more information 908-879-2425. Space is limited so you must register and leave a $50 deposit.

These are fun informal workshops! The June 13th class will cover chalk paint paint finishes and introduce Paint Couture! our new acrylic paints…in total you will learn 5 different finishes and leave thinking about all the great things you are going to do with furniture you have in the garage or basement. You will be creating masterpieces…

painted furniture, diy

The top of this piece is actually going to be black…and i have a lot more gold to apply. Its going to be stunning! And to think it was stashed in the basement…

painted furniture, diy, furniture, Paint Couture!
painted and gilded table in the works
DIY, Furniture, Home, Uncategorized

Finishing Up a Few Paint Details Before the Chester Craft Show

by elegantparis2 Comments on Finishing Up a Few Paint Details Before the Chester Craft Show

painted furniture, diy, chalk paint, acrylic paint, architecture
painting architectural details to stand out

I am working on a table right now with nice architectural details…cant wait to see it finished!
Tomorrow is the spring Chester Craft Show…We are going to showcase some of our painted furniture during the show. You can also sign up for our Paint Workshops…the next one is June 13th at 5:30 pm. Call for more information 908-879-2425. Space is limited so you must register and leave a $50 deposit.

These are fun informal workshops! The June 13th class will cover chalk paint paint finishes and introduce Paint Couture! our new acrylic paints…in total you will learn 5 different finishes and leave thinking about all the great things you are going to do with furniture you have in the garage or basement. You will be creating masterpieces…

painted furniture, diy

The top of this piece is actually going to be black…and i have a lot more gold to apply. Its going to be stunning! And to think it was stashed in the basement…

painted furniture, diy, furniture, Paint Couture!
painted and gilded table in the works
Furniture, Home, Uncategorized

I have a can of Paint Couture!® Italian Ivory

by elegantparisLeave a Comment on I have a can of Paint Couture!® Italian Ivory

So i am trying it out on my pretty french commode. I used it on the body and the top of the commode – Liking very much! It paints on nicely and distresses easily…

 

Paint Couture, The Whistling Elk

Looking around The Whistling Elk now to see what else i can paint!

Furniture, Home, Uncategorized

Let the furniture speak

by elegantparis3 Comments on Let the furniture speak

painted table annie sloan chalk paint

Just painted and stencilled this little magazine table. It was a solid silver/gold/black mix of color all over – rather a dark look to it. I decided to paint the top first and then see if the rest needed to be touched. It’s so funny how furniture talks to you and tells you what it wants.

painted table top

Stencilling with metallic silver is a departure for me since i am such a “gold” girl. But with this piece i thought it would work so i used it over annie sloan’s old white chalk paint. I am very happy with it! The old white really lightened up the piece and i am thinking that i am done…we’ll see what the client thinks!

pretty medallion in center of painted table
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Pine Cone Hill Bedding

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While it was raining yesterday i worked in the Paris Boudoir…arranging the beautiful Pine Cone Hill Bedding…

I love this bedding because it is both beautiful and affordable.
It’s perfect for our Paris Boudoir here at The Whistling Elk

Furniture, Home, Uncategorized

Our First Paint Workshop is Scheduled

by elegantparis2 Comments on Our First Paint Workshop is Scheduled

This table is finished…yesterday i mixed some Annie Sloan dark wax with mineral spirits (just a little) and brushed it all over the table top and base…rubbed most of it off, let it dry then sanded the piece all over with 600 paper, applied a thin coat of clear wax which was then buffed. Finis!

Our first Paint Workshop is going to be in May. Space is limited. The class will be held at The Whistling Elk in Chester, NJ…we have several time slots available…so call us if you would like to attend! 908-879-2425 Do you like the way it turned out?

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Gotta Love Those Good Bones

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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?

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I like to live dangerously while painting

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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.

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Yesterday i was on a painting rampage

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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!

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Little Miss Muffet didnt have as cute a tuffet…

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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.

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You just never know what you will find in the garage…

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Rummaging around in my garage i found this print that used to hang over my mantel about 12 years ago.
Wow, i forgot how much i loved this Icarte print…
So glad it works into my Powder Room Scheme – every time i see it it makes me smile…I cant believe it was living in the garage for so long.

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Paint is part of accessorizing a bookcase

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This wall mounted bookcase is in my guest bedroom. It’s from Elden Collections. I have always loved the architectual feeling it brought to the room. Since i just finished painting the room Ben Moore Adagio i decided to give the bookcase a facelift. Since the room is going in a shabby chic direction i went with Decorator’s White advance semi gloss. This is a fairly new trim paint from ben moore that is water base but it paints on like oil base…love it and the finished product!

blah blah

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Taking Freight in the Pouring Rain

by elegantparis2 Comments on Taking Freight in the Pouring Rain

I have been in the new shop location now for one month and yesterday i received my first large freight order…in the pouring rain with nowhere to conveniently take delivery. I must say you can get pretty innovative when you have too. But i do miss the basement at my old location. Sigh…

The arched mirror above is one of the large mirrors that came yesterday…its very shabby chic and looks great in the Paris Boudoir.

This one i had stashed away but since we sold a piece of art…it got a chance to hang on the wall. What a crime that i didnt hang it sooner…

Here’s another one that is now unpacked and leaning on top of a beautiful habersham console. It’s one of my favorite mirrors.

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Rich Damask Wallpaper transforms a little Powder Room

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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.

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Fashion is the name of the game in our new shabby chic bedroom

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Our new Paris Boudoir at The Whistling Elk is showing off our new Pine Cone Hill bedding line. The bedding in the bottom left of the picture is Bella Blue which is draped over our pretty Caracole french ottoman and the queen bed is wearing a combo outfit Madeline Cafe au lait quilt and a Louisa Ivory duvet. I am in love with the Louisa ivory duvet! This room is painted in Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray and when the morning sun shines in it is beautiful!

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Tea Anyone?

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Our kitchen island is filled with our Teas and our serving ware collection.

Our Bar made from reclaimed french pine is next to the “tea” table and filled with lots of tabletop goodies. The custom wall shelf hangs behind the bar and looks as if it was made to go with it. Love this little corner!
In the upper right hand corner of the photo is our newest swarovski crystal chandelier…pretty all in pink crystals!

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Sparkling Crystal Chandeliers and Deliciously Scented Air

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Ummm the Lampe Berger fragrance fills the air and the chandeliers sparkle like diamonds…this is the new main room of the Whistling Elk.

You can just see the end of the elegant custom bookcase/cabinet on the right and on the left side of the room is our Lampe Berger and our Tea Forte.

Habersham tables line up down the center of the shop housing our collection of LoLLia, Shelley Kyle and in the far distance the La Vie Parisienne jewelry.

Sparkling overhead are those amazingly beautiful bohemian swarovski crystal chandeliers.