« mrs. jones gets framed »

April 11th, 2012

my seeking a way to display samples of all of annie sloan’s 29 fabulous colors intersected directly with my friend chris garner‘s desire to try the chalk paint and to divest himself of some frames from the “scratch & dent” pile at his shop (from where, as you know, the most gorgeous frames and mirrors come.)  it resulted in this happy situation on the walls at my studio:

now chalk paint shoppers can easily see, touch, and compare all the hues.  there is lots of fabric-swatch-holding-up going on too, which is really fun to see.

(here is a “before” of my haul from his attic:)

and just wait until you see the gorgeous moldings chris is creating with some of annie’s colors, her waxes, and a little gilding.  i can’t wait to show you.

« paris gray table »

March 30th, 2012

among all the wonderful antiquing spots in our neighborhood (just check the studio page for a list) there is a great j.u.n.q.u.e. shop just around the corner from me & mrs. jones on central avenue – gary’s antiques. gary and his cohorts comb estate sales, flea markets, auctions (and, sometimes, i think, the curb) for their signature crazy blend of merchandise. he also occasionally builds tables from reclaimed pieces, such as this one i snagged recently…the base is an old plantation desk whose slanted top had been lost/stolen/ruined. gary constructed a new top and refinished the whole piece.

i love it for its size, sturdiness, bottom shelf, the original brass banding at the bottom of the legs, and extra-tall height…counter stools will fit nicely some day when it has retired from its new job as display in the shop…but the new finish was very, well, new. here it was before:

and after:

the finish is annie sloan’s paris gray with clear wax over it, a distressed band of old white on the edges, and dark wax rubbed into the knots and exposed wood for a tiny bit of age.

please don’t tell gary that i painted over his stain & varnish! i’ve also just come home with a long farm-style table that he built using a set of old turned legs that will serve as worktable in the classroom. stay tuned for that transformation, coming soon.

« isn’t she lovely? »

March 27th, 2012

yes, this is she, herself, our annie sloan.  a really truly lovely lady, gifted artist and artisan, colorist, teacher, designer…chock-full of humor, honesty, integrity and generous heaps of creativity.

and i do mean generous.  she will share every bit of inspiration, knowledge and experience she has just to try to make sure your project turns out well.   120 lucky attendees and all of annie’s stockists from our region spent monday in nashville in an annie immersion.  the day began with breakfast and a meet & greet, then a two-hour talk and demonstration by the fabulous mrs. sloan.  she gave all sorts of tips on mixing colors and patterns, the history and stories behind several of her colors, and a sneak preview of two wonderful books she has in the works, along with fabrics and new hues coming in the next few months.

following lunch, we broke into smaller groups for hands-on instruction.  the day wrapped up with a sociable hour while annie kindly signed books and samples and took photos with her many adoring “sloan rangers”.

and talk about the stars aligning…annie’s nashville visit coincided with the fab fairgounds flea market.  what a treat all the way around.

« chinese chippendale lite »

March 23rd, 2012

here is a before & after of some fab estate-sale chairs in which anna baskin lattimore spied the potential.  they arrived like so:

and now are at home freshened up with beautiful new upholstery and sleek coats of benjamin moore’s palace white, #oc.100:

of course this so-shiny-it-still-looks-wet look is only possible with hollandlac brilliant.  i’ve recently had some good questions about working with this amazing (but sometimes tricky) fpe paint, and will try to answer those in a post coming soon that will feature the third chair in this set, done up in a gorgeous green.

« great room/great wall »

March 19th, 2012

this project will go down in history with the young joneses as “the great wall of oxford”.  a super-darling and enthusiastic lovely client invited me to oxford, mississippi to give her built-ins a soft, furniture-y, distressed finish.  in all of our excited back-and-forth about finishes, colors, and timing, i sort of breezed past the photos of the space she kindly sent – without asking for measurements. let me repeat: i did not ask for measurements. imagine, then, me peeling into town on two wheels with three days set aside for the project, and finding that not only is her lovely home lovely, it is large. really large.  here is the before (with a base coat – benjamin moore’s linen white, #912):

she kept me exceedingly well-fed (pimiento cheese from olivia’s food emporium, burgers from phillips grocery, chicken-salad-salad from panini, home-made bran muffins and banana nut bread – all divine!) & caffeinated, though, and somehow (helped along by taking the twelve shelves home to do over the weekend) it all got wrapped up on time.

(my highly-skilled, artistic client and i had also discussed a layered, distressed finish for her kitchen island.  with the tight timing and spring break looming, she was game to take brush in hand herself and let me coach her through doing the island from the next room, rather than wait for another opening in the calendar.  she did a fantastic job!)

back in the great room: layers of paint (pratt & lambert’s contemplation, #19.28), wax, and glaze later, things will look really fabulous when she adds her choice of hardware, lines the backs of the wire cabinet doors with a silk & linen burlap, and gets the books unpacked and shelves arranged.  until those photos arrive, here is a sneak peek:

i am so glad she called.  it was really fun.