Reimagined Monday: From Uninspired to Shades of Antoinette

Have you ever decided against something because you just couldn't "see" it as a completed project, only to have it creep back in to your consciousness?  It happens subtley at first, then you think of it over and over until finally you are drawn back to it with a fresh perspective?

That's what happened with this poor little white/gold veneer dresser, lovingly stickered by a little local girl with an affinity for Winnie The Pooh.

It sat in the back of the storage area gathering dust for months.  Finally, I brought it in to the boutique to get a feel for it in a creative space.

Then the inspiration arrived... Manolo Blahnik shoes from the 2006 Sofia Coppola film "Marie Antoinette":

 

The perfect colour? Annie Sloan's Antoinette.  This dresser was made for it!  And so the reimagining began.

Because there is no sanding, priming or stripping required, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint was exactly the right thing to use on this off-white veneer. 

No worries about toxicity or clean-up either, so I set to work right on the spot in the boutique.

First, removal of the hardware.  Each handle and knob had been gilded in gold, so those were keepers!

Before long, everything started to come together, and it was time to distress.  Keeping the lines of a piece can be what distinguishes it, so rather than sanding I used a water technique to distress through to the gold gilding along the edges and details of the dresser.

You can see it a little better here:

It's not as easy to see the gorgeous finish as I'd had hoped (photography lessons might help! *lol), but here is a swatch of the Annie Sloan paint colour:

Here are the lovely Manalo Blahniks again:

And this is a final pic of the completed dresser.  It is in the boutique, waiting for the perfect new home!

But now I have a problem!  In my search for inspiration I found more Manolo Blahniks!

So many beautiful, inspiring colours... so little time!

Perhaps something special in Louis Blue, coming up soon at On The Apple Box!

♥,

Apple Box Boutique

Here is how to share your reimagined paint project at On the Apple Box:

Send us a description of how you used Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint or Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to get from your vision to the reimagined piece, before and after pictures, pictures of your project in progress or a couple of it in its finished state, and you may be highlighted on our blog!

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Project Personality: Coats of Paint

Project Personality

with Apple Box Boutique founder Leanne Playter Korsos

Hello!  Last week, On The Apple Box introduced me to all of you and I am excited about my first post for Project Personality.

Today is more of a rambling than a how-to (though there are plenty of those to come), but I just can't help myself.  I LOVE colour and fashion, and with all the blue skies, sunshine and occasional April showers we have been having it finally feels like spring and everyone is out in their new frocks.  When it comes to painting that's all it takes for me to start "dreaming in colour".  This week, the inspiration was spring coats!

 
Whenever I fall for something I start to create design boards that encompass the item, the colour or even just the 'feel' of it.  That's what happened over the last few days and I wanted to share my obsessiveness enthusiasm with you.  The idea was to take the gorgeous outerwear I've been seeing and build around it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP).  It's been a lot of fun looking through Apple Box Boutique's inventory of unfinished pieces and envisioning what could be!

I've been liking blue lately (probably due to the big skies of Alberta) and this coat tipped the scales to true love:

I've already selected a cute little foyer table that is destined to be this colour and I've decided on Provence.

Mixed with other ASCP paints there are SO many lovely shades, but I will go with 1 part Provence and 3 parts Old White:

If I ever find a stunning dressing table like this one from Mak and Jill, it will absolutely be my go-to colour!

This scrumptious confection is something  a modern day Marie Antoinette might wear, and of course I love all things "MA":

Emperor's Silk is referred to as "the perfect front door red", so it is suprising that it mixes to such a lovely candy-coloured pink.

With a little dark wax, it can look like this:

But add 3 parts Old White and I have just the right colour for my 'girl's room' dresser!

Stiltkskin Studios found the perfect piece to dress up with it.  This could have fit easily into MA's boudoir and they posted it on my birthday... How did they know?

Spring evenings always remind me of Vincent van Gogh paintings, and those incredible deep-blue night skys.  My next wardrobe addition will definitely be something like this:

No mixing required here!  Napoleonic Blue is a limited edition paint from Annie Sloan, but I hope it becomes a permanent part of the colour collection.

Especially when it makes a fairly ordinary dresser look like this:

Another bright (and versatile) shade that you generally see a lot of in fall is making an appearance and a statement this spring:

This is the signature colour associated to Van Gogh's muse, the city of Arles.

Appropriately, it is also the name given to the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint that has changed my mind on yellow.  I wasn't a huge fan until I saw this:

... and now I just can't get enough of it!  I've just finished painting a cabinet with Arles and it has become a coveted piece at Apple Box Boutique:

 But the really hot colour right now seems to be bright green:

Because of that, Antibes Green is flying off the shelves!

It doesn't hurt that layered with Aubusson Blue, it is reminiscent of colourful peacocks and the current decorating trend that borrows from their plumage.

Robyn Story Designs (for Michelle) + Oliveira Textiles = Lazi Daze Photography

Isn't this pretty?

I have a million more images from my boards to share (okay... maybe just hundreds) but sensory overload is a real condition and I wouldn't want to be the cause!

I love that you stopped in to spend some time with me (thank you!) and am looking forward to future Project Personality articles...  In the meantime, I'd be interested to know:

What is your current project and what inspired you?

My thanks to Ciruelo Interiors for the colour cards!

At First Blush (New Chalk Paint Colour "Antoinette" Creates a Stir!)

Valentine's Day may have come to a close, but the shades of love live on... The latest addition to the Annie Sloan family of chalk paints is arriving very soon and

I. Just. Cannot. Wait.  

Please allow me to introduce... "Antoinette".

Image courtesy Paint Shoppe

This is simply the most beautiful, French-inspired blush pink I have ever encountered.  It may seem... well, odd to some that a paint colour could create such euphoria.  But it makes me happy... so, SO happy!

It is no secret to most that I have an affinity for the flamboyance that was Marie Antoinette, and I have the same giddy enthusiasm for all of the incredible sets, candy-coloured costumes and the too-fabulous-for-words Manolo Blahnik shoes that graced the screen in the the 2006 Sophia Coppola film.  If even one frame is accurate, it is proof that this paint has been heaven-sent from Marie herself.

It turns out that I am not the only one swooning.  Here are just a few of the lovely projects that have been posted online by Annie Sloan and other lucky testers in the U.S.:

Whatever it is... that intangible "je ne sais quoi" has my full attention!

So many dream projects awaiting "Antoinette"... Ooo-la-la!

*Where not noted on images, original sources are unknown.  Please let us know if credit can be provided!