My Granny's Table

 

I am a pretty sentimental person. I sometimes wish I wasn't- but I am. As a result, my home is full of mismatched and somewhat random stuff (that I love). This little table was my Granny's. It is the only piece of furniture I have that was hers. It was well worn and pretty scratched up when I got it, but I decided to use it anyway. It is a great size and fits perfectly in an empty spot between my kitchen and living room.

 

top of the table

First, I cleaned the table to make sure there was no furniture polish on it. Then, I painted the table with 

Cream CHALK PAINT®. In a couple of spots, an orange 'stain' was bleeding through the paint. If you have painted many wooden pieces, especially old ones, you know what I am talking about. But all is not lost! A quick once-over with Clear Bulls Eye Shellac by Zinsser in just those spots allowed me to paint right over the problem areas. (there are several ways to seal a piece so that it can be painted, but Shellac is my favorite)

After a quick, thin coat of wax, I painted a top coat in Old Violet CHALK PAINT®. I distressed the edges and legs to show the Cream and the wood.

The color turned out to be the perfect choice for the piece. I love it when that happens! Now my little old table is fresh and beautiful again. So glad I held on to it!

My daughter's room makeover...

My daughter's birthday was at the end of January and I promised her a room makeover. Now this was a little strategic on my part because I told her it was a total surprise (i.e. no input from her whatsoever, so no hot pink walls!). Here is her room before...

Not much at all that I liked about it BEFORE. I started with painting the walls,  then using Old White & French Linen CHALK PAINT® I painted her headboard and finished it with a grey stain. I used Aubusson Blue CHALK PAINT®  with dark wax on a new(antique) dresser. My husband built a bench for the end of the bed and I finished it with the same grey stain. I used accents of mustard yellow (Arles CHALK PAINT®) on the mirror and with a throw and a small rug.

 

A little Provence CHALK PAINT® underneath the headboard.

I purchased the chalkboard USA map off of etsy. The throw pillow is an el-cheapo from Ikea.

Mirror painted with Arles CHALK PAINT® and finished with dark wax.

 

Final reveal! Oh yeah, I almost forgot- my daughter really like it!

Isn't He Lovely?

 Great legs but not much personality.

That was this guy- BEFORE we got our hands on him. 

Seriously sad. But look at these legs. Aren't they lovely?

All this table needed was some fresh paint and he would be amazing.
We tossed and turned wondering what color would bring out the best in him. We decided to go with
Old Violet Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan. 

After a little clean up with the wet wipes, we painted.
A coat of clear wax, then dark wax and things were looking up. 

I'd say we got it exactly right. Tell us what you think!

Restore a Dining Chair with Provence Chalk Paint®

We recently stumbled upon a group of sad dining chairs...but saw some potential.

 

After removing the seat and a quick clean with a Clorox wipe, we looked over our cans of Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan. What color? hmmm....this is always the hardest part. Even for our customers, choosing the right color for the piece of furniture can seem overwhelming. We always recommend getting inspired by one of Annie Sloan's books or searching Pinterest for great color uses/mixes.

 

For this project we opted for Provence Chalk Paint®. We used a soft, yet durable, beige linen for the seat cushion.

 

We applied dark wax and clear wax simultaneously once the paint dried. This is a great technique to use on certain colors- the clear wax moves the dark wax around and softens the intensity of the dark wax. Also, FYI this project took about one hour and twenty minutes (including drying time).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Fish Bench...with CHALK PAINT®

A customer inspired me with a page from a magazine she brought in the store. I am not sure which magazine it was, but there was a terrific old bench in a chartreuse-green color with a folk art fish painted down the length of the bench. I fell in love with it! So...I had to make one myself.

Here is the process:

My husband built this for me using pine boards-


This did not take long, but I would recommend waiting for the stain to dry overnight before painting on top of the stain. I wanted a dark wood to show through when I distressed the top of the bench.



Using CHALK PAINT® decorative paint on the top of the bench, I mixed 2 part Arles with 1 part Antibes Green to get this "yellowy-green" color...very creative & scientific name I gave it, don't you think?



Instead of straight-up plagiarizing the fish from the magazine, I opted for using some of the same color elements, but changed many of the fish pattern to mimic an old fishing lure. I started with the white base using Old White CHALK PAINT®.


Using Graphite CHALK PAINT® for the outline & details of the fish. Outlining artwork gives it a more "folk art" feel.



I added more CHALK PAINT® colors to the body of the fish. Scandinavian Pink, Provence & Olive. Keeping the paint very watered down, I was able to blend the colors in the body of the fish.



Because I thought this bench may need to have a home outside someday, I used an indoor/outdoor poly-acrylic satin varnish to seal the bench top.



And...voila! A fish bench...using CHALK PAINT®!

NOLA and Fishing and Springtime

Have y'all been to New Orleans lately? If not, here's my visitor's perspective: The food is amazing! We started eating at Cafe du Monde and didn't stop for four days. (Yes, we were popping TUM's like they were candy. So worth it!)

At Cafe Du Monde

Annie talking about her new book

We just got back from an annual meeting there, where we were hanging out with the Chalk PaintR decorative painting crowd, starring Annie Sloan herself. We stayed in the Loew's hotel, which was really nice. Too bad, I didn't take any pictures. I like nice hotels. 

I don't know if she actually said it or not, but I was thinking about it and I have decided that Annie Sloan must subscribe to the philosophy that says "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." 

I'd say over the week, she was teaching us to fish. (more on fishing later)

Annie is so very generous in sharing her talent and knowledge, and she's easy to listen to because she is funny and has a lovely English accent. If you've taken a class from us or talked to us for very long, you know that, in fact, we think she is quite wonderful. (She says 'quite' a lot while speaking.) She- and her team- shared not just about paint, but also about style, social media, photography, art influences, and business management. It was inspiring and challenging and at times, validating. And it sort of lit a fire under us, as evidenced by this blog after an 8 month silence.

The message she gave us (and would have us pass on to you) is: 

'Get on with it.' 

In other words, go for it. Just do it. Do not be afraid. 

Apply this to whatever it is you haven't had the courage to do yet. Go fishing for yourself.

You have our permission and blessing. 

According to Gary and Byron, this was some sort of fishing trifecta.
Yes, I think they had fun.

This year, we took our handsome and handy husbands with us to New Orleans. They had some fun of their own fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. I'm pretty sure that's the main reason they tagged along- not to learn more about our 'magic paint' as it is referred to by at least one of them.

But, they did not complain at all about the food or coffee we made them consume. So, maybe they can go again next year. Maybe. 

Byron and Cari 

Shannon and Gary

We ended our week with dinner at Palace Cafe. And guess what I ate? Fish. Pecan crusted catfish. Again, yum. 

Seriously, wouldn't you order that?

And finally, here's a look at our springtime storefront. 

Have you seen our awnings? And we have new oilcloth banners. 

We'll have the doors open, (unless it is snowing or sleeting or hailing or raining buckets or the wind is blowing 100mph- all of which are possible in Spring in Arkansas) so stop by soon. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Hill-Gallery-and-Homewares/134308699952099?ref=hl

Thanks to Cash Mob Fayetteville for nomitaing us for September's store. Vote and leave a comment....pretty please!!
It has been a long and very hot summer, but we are gearing up for cooler weather and the Holidays. Mark your calendars- our Open House is scheduled for October 3-6 with great specials/food/demonstrations each day.

Coming Soon- House Special Interiors (our partner store) will be stocking Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint. We can't wait to get our hands on her incredible colors!

Check our our website for more information about the store and our products-