Vanity Makeover

My friend, Alexis from Soul Food Farm, has the most amazing

furniture, just waiting for makeovers.  I spent my Monday

there this week.  Painting with "the girls" 

and the new pups, who obviously grew tired of my painting!

I started with an amazing white cabinet that needed

new life.  I mixed up CHALK PAINT® brand decorative paint

in a blend of French Linen, Louis Blue and

Old White I call French Louis (super original name, right?)

  Then once dry, I dry brushed Old White on top and 

then sanded with 1200 grit sandpaper

to burnish the paint. and soften the dry brushing.

We took a little break while Alexis and her friend, Geo,

whipped up some lamb chops, fresh greens from the garden

and Polenta pan fried with Soul Food Farm Olive Oil.

(The estate olive oil is a huge hit in our household!)

YUMMMMM.  Seriously, life is good. (Notice

the paint on my pants, I got sloppy that day!)

This vanity is one of four in a set Alexis has been

keeping stashed away, waiting to be graced by 

CHALK PAINT®!  I really love furniture

that rests on casters.  LOVE.

One and a half coats of CHALK PAINT® 

in Old White.  I painted right over this handpainted

part, then used a warm, wet rag to wipe it off

to save the beauty of the painted flowers. I filled

in all chips with Dark Wax and 

buffed to a beautiful shine.

After painting the dresser, the tall cabinet and
the vanity, I ran out of paint, so I left the
mirror as is and discovered how much
I love the contrast and balance.

Here she is, in all her glory...

She will be proudly displayed this summer in an

amazing new venture we are revealing soon!

Why Annie Sloan CHALK PAINT®?

I always enjoy seeing the look on my customers' faces when I say, "Right, no priming, no sanding!"    I remember back in May of 2011 when I first heard of CHALK PAINT® decorative paint by Annie Sloan and as a licensed California painting contractor, I'm ALWAYS searching for the best paint and the easiest to use.  I always was a Benjamin Moore™ girl since 2001 and since I was first bitten by the CHALK PAINT® bug in June, I haven't looked back to my old friend Ben since.  Now, I'm not bashing Ben, he makes a great premium wall paint, but I'm over him now.  Just last week, I used Ben while doing a color consultation and working on matching our paint up for wood and trim and some Ben for the walls, I realized how very different our paints are from Ben.

Obviously, having your kitchen cabinets painted by a professional is costly.  Why?  Well, I call it 12 steps.  The average kitchen cabinet job will run you usually anywhere from $4,000-$8,000.  Having your cabinets done by a professional involves these steps:

1. Sanding
2. Cleaning with TSP
3. Primer Coat 1
4. Sanding
5. Primer Coat 2
6. Base Coat 1
7. Sanding
8. Base Coat 2
9. Light Sanding
10. Glazing (if you want an Antique Finish)
11. Polyurethane Coat 1
12. Polyurethane Coat 2

Now this doesn't even COVER the time between coats to dry.  Still think you need a professional to do your cabinets?  Think again.  I'm often asked if I'm still doing contract work.  I'm happy to say not as often as I used to, it takes a toll on my body, I have had one shoulder surgically repaired and another that needs it, also.   Now that I've hit the big 4-0 this year, I'm thinking of long term.  The beauty of what I do is that I get to teach my customers how to do their own cabinets!

If you don't know what TSP is, it is Trisodium Phosphate, a concentrated degreaser and cleaner.  WEAR gloves and carefully mix!  Here is the brand I use:

Annie Sloan's CHALK PAINT® for Cabinets:

1. Clean all surfaces with TSP (I NEVER skip this step because we always have grease on our kitchen cabinets!)
2. Paint in one of our 29 beautiful colors (or mix up your own custom color, I'm a fan of Louis Blue and French Linen right now!)  It's going to dry fast.  When it's dry, you can do the next step!
3. Paint on a second coat
4. Clear Wax
5. Dark Wax
6. Buff to a sheen

Lately I've been reading about other bloggers scoffing at the cost of CHALK PAINT®...but, why?

Consider this:

For one pot of CHALK PAINT® at the California selling price of $38.95, you can skip this:

Home Depot sells is right HERE for $39.98 a gallon.  That's right, I said you DON'T need primer for just about any surface you are going to paint.  No priming.

No more of this mess either (yuck):

Just paint it right on top of that surface.  Stop buying sanding disks for your palm sander!

You have ugly cabinets?  Check out what one of my customers in the North San Francisco Bay area did with his kitchen ON HIS OWN with 3 pots of CHALK PAINT® in Old White, 1 tin Soft Wax, 1 Wax Brush (total cost was under $200):

Before:

After:

If you want to learn to paint with CHALK PAINT® and aren't sure where to begin, send me an email and I'll tell you all about workshops held every month that will teach you all the basics on where and how to begin.  In a workshop, we will cover three techniques and everything you need to conquer waxing with clear and dark finishes!

Happy Easter

French Baskets created with CHALK PAINT® in French Linen

I have been on a roll lately and trying really hard to

keep up with the sales at my new "Patina" space.  

I found a set of 3 boring baskets

at Goodwill not too long ago, they are even lined

with plastic if you wanted to put flowers in.

I mixed up a 1:1 ratio of Annie Sloan CHALK PAINT®

French Linen (my favorite color) and water to thin

it down so I could paint a wash onto the baskets.

This is a great trick to "grey" vintage picnic baskets, too!

Thanks to Debbie at 'Round the Coop and her awesome

Pinterest, I found this tutorial about how to print on burlap. 

When I was in Oxford, England visiting Annie Sloan

at her shop, I scored a grain sack from France.  I framed

the front and had some amazing remnants from the 

back of the sack.  So, using this tutorial...

'Round the Coop DIY board on Pinterest, 
I used my basic Canon inkjet to produce this

image on my French burlap with an image
from The Graphics Fairy

Affixed it to the front of my new French basket

and added my latest obsession, Cotton Bolls (not a typo!)

Annie Sloan CHALK ® Tour San Francisco Event just days away!

 The Annie Sloan CHALK PAINT® American Tour began in New Orleans with two days of intense training and fun!  The first day concluded with a fantastic party at the Elms Mansion.  

From left to right,

Local Retail Partner, Susan Bell of Decor with a Past in Live Oak, serving
Fabulous Finds in Marysville and Junk in the Trunk in Grass Valley

Local Retail Partner, Bobbi Eddy of Not Too Shabby,
serving Folsom and The Red Door in Elk Grove

Stockist, Me, Tami Fandrei of Patina Decorative Finishes, serving Northern California

Stockist Debbie Cooper of 'Round the Coop, serving Country Roads in Old Orange as well as L.A. and Orange Counties

Local Retail Partner, Melony Hannah of Well Worn in Oroville, serving 8th and Main in Chico and Sera Bella Home in Redding

We all had a fantastic time as you can see:

Completing the party with a New Orleans Tradition:

the "Second Line" to live music!

Day Two.  Annie paints barefoot.  Don't you love it?

Will you be joining us in San Francisco?  There is still time to sign up.  You could even come the day of, there are "open registration" spaces available for those who "drop in!"

For more information, go to the Annie Sloan Unfolded site here!  While you are at it, check out the new website that was launched this week!  I think it's "BRILLIANT!"

Annie has landed...

That's RIGHT...she's in America now, New York City to be exact!  There are still a few spots available for the Tour here in San Francisco!  Want to meet all of our stockists and LRP's and OF COURSE, Annie?!

Here is the link! www.anniesloanunfolded.com/event

I spent my morning at Barnes and Noble as I tapped my foot waited patiently for the crew to put out their new shipment of magazines!  Soooooooo...just to drop a few names and covers:

Annie Sloan was in these NEW issues, including the PREMIER issue of Vintage Style:

Annie Sloan is coming to the U.S.

You have your seat reserved yet???  Here's your chance to paint with Annie and learn about color theory and the amazing person behind this fantastic paint!

March 19th at Historic Fort Mason in San Francisco.

Our giveaway raffle is now closed, local winners for each shop to be announced by tomorrow evening!