Reimagined Monday: Ahhhh, Florence!

Well, after several days of struggling with our blog... again (you may have noticed that the number of posts in the last week equals a big fat goose egg) we are back!

We'd knock on wood... but let's paint it instead! 

Today is...

Let's go back to July 6th at On The Apple Box when we announced the newest Annie Sloan Chalk Paint™ colour, Florence.  The conversation about creating a sample for the blog went something like this:

Leanne:  "Here is my primitive 'computer sketch' of my ASCP Florence project."

        Us: "Really... don't you want to try it on something small first?"

        Cue Leanne's stare of disbelief and chirping crickets.

        Us: "Right.  Well, we'll take pics"

Here is Leanne's sketch:

and here is the Florence paint swatch, extended with ASCP Old White:

Based on Ciruelo Interiors PG swatch

This is the story of what happened next, in her very own words (you might want to make a sandwich and grab a soda... that girl can chat!)

 "Hello everyone and happy Monday!

When I saw the paint chip introducing Florence to all of us in North America, it was love at first sight.  I couldn't wait to get my hands on a can and get painting!  In a second and a half I had the cabinet I wanted to reimagine sitting in its new place in my parlour... Oh the anticipation!

I think I say this every time, but that is one of my favourite things about ASCP.  I paint indoors and 'on the spot' for myself, the boutique and clients.  No more heavy hauling or worries about time of year, rain or temperature... an especially HUGE plus in the winter when you live as far north as I do.  Even the reindeer wear parkas here.  Lately they've been carrying umbrellas, which somehow seems wrong.  (Get it?  Rain Deer?  Right, sorry about that. Moving on...)  

The lovelies at Apple Box Boutique -- that's what I used to call them before that smart remark that I talk a lot -- shared my computer sketch and the colour card with you.  This is the cabinet, pre-paint and pre-my-kindergarten-version of a computer drawing:

Picture by previous owner.  Thank you!

I was inspired by an image I found on the internet a while ago, and for the life of me I cannot seem to find it again.  If this is your photo and your work, thank you for posting it and please let me know who you are so I can credit you!

I don't know if this cabinet was painted with Annie Sloan's Florence, but it has the worn, chippy look I was after and the colour is what I was dreaming about -- a deep verdigris that is reminiscent of old world paintings and oxidized copper.  Then Annie Sloan posted this image of a facade in France that made my heart skip another beat:

Finally the paint was here and no time was wasted in getting out the brushes!

To begin, hubby and I removed the top of the two-part cabinet and I set to work taking off the hardware.  I don't always do that, but the handles and pulls are lovely and I decided not to paint them.  It is much easier to paint cabinet doors while they are still on the piece so they stayed put and I worked around the hinges.

When I opened the can of Florence, it made me pause for a moment... it is so bold and bright that it could make a lot of people stop right there, but having experienced that with other ASCP colours (Emperor's Silk starts off with a big breath in as well!) I knew to be fearless and forge ahead!

I decided to start with the buffet section, painting it first with Florence then the trim and details in Old White.  When it was dry I started rubbing away some of the paint to give it a 'been around the block' look.

(Woops... messy Leanne reveal. I didn't have any felt for the feet so used beach towels to keep the cabinet from damaging the floor and a couple of garbage bags to protect from my 'Joie de Vivre' style of painting.  Others might call it wreckless abandon, but that's a story for another day.)

After a couple of hours of painting and a whole lot of second-guessing myself, I decided to really go for it with the distressing.  When it looked suitably worn out, I finished it with clear wax, then added dark wax to give it a lovely aged patina.

Here are the bits:

Flashback to the before:

... my sketch:

And this is what I ended up with, towels, bags and all:

Now to decide what to put in it!  I'll start with the precious crystal Mama just handed down to me, and then the world is my oyster!  Look out thrift stores... here I come!"

xo, Leanne

Everyone at the boutique already adores Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and now we all have BIG love for  Florence.

What do you think?  Are you loving it too?

♥,

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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We'd LOVE it if you shared our blog:

No Words Required: Tablescapes {Dining Outdoors}

Several weeks ago, I posted  a few of my favourite indoor dining tablescapes and promised that from time to time I would dust off the image collection and share it at On The Apple Box.

With the long weekend right around the corner, I'm excited to put together my first 'picnic' of the year and looked to my inspiration boards for ideas.  I hope you feel inspired too!

I love all of them, but my pick is this look:

I can't wait to start putting it together!

Now where did I leave that darned chandelier!?!

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

Reimagined Monday: Mak and Jill's "Coastal Living" Piano

Welcome to On The Apple Box. If you haven't visited before Mondays are a special day on our blog.  It's when we get to share contributor's projects using ASCP, a paint that manages to live up to its hype -- and more.

One of the (many) things that people find surprising about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) is the ability to mix colours without getting that murky or "muddy" look that can happen with some other paints.  ASCP has very little black pigment (with the exception of the colour Graphite) and can be combined to create pure, clean shades.

Old White (OW) is a staple that is gorgeous alone but is also often used to lighten or change other offerings in the wheel of Annie Sloan colours. The most recent Project Personality article shared colour cards for Provence and Emperor's Silk, where the latter was mixed with OW to take it from its original 'front door red' to a candy-coloured pink:

Imagine the possibilities!  With 29 colours to mix together in any combination or measure, the custom options are nearly endless... and oh how we love one-of-a-kind anything!

Today's Reimagined Monday is a great example of just how unique your furniture can become, thanks to two longtime friends with a love for interior design.

Mak and Jill are lovely ladies that refinish furniture and teach paint classes in sunny California, as well as provide decor and staging services.  They recently turned their talents to helping another good friend, Patti Palucha transform an average household instrument into a unique, one-of-a-kind show-stopper.

This is Patti's family piano:

Whether a Grand or an upright, there can sometimes be limited options for a piano's location.  In Patti's case, the only place it worked was near the front foyer and in her "coastal living" style home it just wasn't fitting in.  The answer?  Make it a signature piece!

Jill mixed together ASCP Provence with Old White to create a custom colour and voila...

Patti's family piano after the magic:

 

Isn't she a stunner?  It is so reminiscent of the beautiful pallet of the Georgian-Regency period (think Jane Austen)... when a piano was still a pianoforte and colour was everywhere.

This is a Grand Piano by Louis Bas of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, France, 1781:

It is the earliest French grand piano known to exist.... A little Antibes Green mixed with a touch of OW and you've stepped back in time!

 

ASCP makes painting fun!  And now... I am off to the studio to enjoy myself some more.

Happy Playing!

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

Send us a description of how you used 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!

Reimagined Monday: Abi Roberts' "From Boring to Bold"

Early in February, a very lovely young woman named Abi stopped in at the boutique to see what we had to offer, and to enquire about this red sideboard we had displayed in the window:

We had a wonderful chat about interior design and decor, and it turned out that Abi had hired some decorators to transform her new home, but she felt they had not quite gotten it right.  After living for awhile in her very modern, very neutral decor, Abi wanted something different... something unique.  We agreed that the best way to go may be 'back in time' and find a nice character piece to refurbish and to bring in some colour and interest in the easiest and most economical way possible... Annie Sloan chalk paint.  Though tentative at first, Abi decided to go for it and hasn't looked back.

Knowing a lot of people have the same concerns about taking on a big paint project or going with a new, bolder look, we invited Abi to share her story.

Hi, my name is Abi. Leanne has asked me to be a guest on her blog this week. She wanted me to share my experience using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint ( ASCP ).  Not only was this my first time using ASCP; it was also the first time I have painted any piece of furniture.

 

Upon arriving at the Apple Box Boutique for the first time, I fell in love with all the beautifully painted furniture. When Leanne explained to me that she painted all the pieces herself, I was so surprised. She then showed me all the colours of the ASCP that she carried. I was struck with how pretty they were. Leanne then suggested that I should paint something. I immediately said “Yeah, right!” in disbelief. First of all, it would never turn out as nice as her furniture, and, secondly, I wouldn’t have enough spare time to take on a project like this.

Later that evening I did some research on-line about ASCP. Practically all the reviews I read said how wonderful the product is and how easy it was to use.  Between these reviews and the encouragement that Leanne had given me, I felt I should give furniture restoration a try.

Now the search was on to find a piece of furniture.  I recently moved and basically had to start refurnishing it from scratch. I hired a design group but their idea of design was to buy brand new pieces of furniture and place it in the space. After they were finished, I felt I had a very boring place with no personality.

One of the first pieces of furniture that I wanted my designers to buy was a china cabinet or a buffet table. I desperately needed something where I can put my china and silverware away in as they have been in boxes in my basement since I got married 9 years ago. The designers said that you had to spend major money in order to get a good quality cabinet, which unfortunately, could not be budgeted for at that time.

I wanted a buffet that was older. I needed a piece with good bones so to give my dining room more character. The best source for this was Kijiji.  If you have not heard about this website, let me explain it to you briefly. It is a basically a virtual classified ad website where you can buy and sell whatever your heart’s desire.  When using Kijiji to look for furniture I have found that you must be patient, as people place new ads on the site every other minute. So if you look long and hard enough you can find the piece you are looking for at the price you want.

Finally, after a few days I found a beautiful French provincial buffet hutch made from solid wood for 50 dollars. I was so excited with my find that I emailed Leanne immediately to tell her know that I found something that I would like to paint. I wanted a pop of colour to add into my boring beige dining room and knew that I was going to change the colour.  In my email to her I said that after I sand it I will come into the store to choose my paint colour. I checked my inbox and got an immediate reply from Leanne. She wrote in all caps – “DON’T SAND IT!!!

When I called back to confirm, she told me that no prep was required. Cool, I thought, I’ll be by this afternoon to get some ASCP and some supplies. Remember I said that I needed a POP of colour, well I chose Emperor's Silk which is a vibrant red colour. I basically decided to go for it! My space was already boring and beige. I wanted to do something bold and fun.

When I got home later, I was too excited to wait, so I got started on a Thursday evening. I applied the paint straight away seeing that I did not have to sand or prime. The paint dried so quickly that I was done painting in 2 hours. I let the piece dry overnight. The next day, I moved the buffet into the garage (I didn’t want to get red dust everywhere inside my house). I took an hour to distress it a little bit by sanding the corners and the edges.  After wiping the dust down, I wanted the paint to set so I applied clear wax and buffed it out.  I then got a dark brown paint pen and highlighted certain areas to add dimension. I took the handles off and spray painted them black. Literally in 6 hours spread out over the course of a weekend I had transformed my hutch. I think it turned out great.

I was so inspired by this transformation that it led me to continue with transforming my dining room. So I hired a contractor to paint, wallpaper and add wainscoting to the walls. I also hired a designer (a different one) to decorate it with pictures and accessories. Who knew that what started as a simple little project, has actually helped me finish decorating my first room in my house.

(Much appreciation and credit to contractor Mark Leithoff, and Nicole Nyenhuis, my 'new' interior decorator.)

To conclude, I guess I caught the refurbishing bug as I currently have 3 more pieces of furniture in my garage to refinish. I am planning on taking an Annie Sloan Chalk paint tutorial from Leanne so I can learn some really cool techniques. I already know that the next colour that I'm going to be using is Antibes Green. 

Antibes Green + mixed in various parts Old White

A BIG thank you to Abi for sharing her experience and enthusiasm!  We hope this inspires others as much as it has inspired us.

And if you need a little more encouragement, a class is a great way to learn painting techniques and gain confidence.  We've partnered with Tara Jamieson of Lauren Lane Decor (and Home Show fame) to offer monthly classes in Edmonton!

Happy Painting!

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

Send us a description of how you used 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!