Farmhouse Platters

I had the idea few months ago to make some large wooden platters. Great hunks of wood, spread with delicious morsels of yummy food to share with friends or an exciting food prep' board :)

Homedit

Roar Events

A Daily Something

Teal & Lime

Francois et Moi

I fancied brightening up the wood like the two examples above, with Chalk Paint, decorative paint by Annie Sloan, lending itself so brilliantly to textured surfaces, I could easily slather it on! Using two generous coats plus wax, creates a stunning splash of colour, beautiful in contrast to the natural tones of the wood.

For those sending me questions regarding the safety of the paint with food items, I found this via ChalkPaint.com

"...Chalk Paint® is a non-toxic, water-based paint that is lead-free, EG-free, odour-free and has very low volatile organic compounds (VOCs). There is only one Chalk Paint® but it offers endless possibilities."

These boards have been selling really well at the Artist Collective in Albany, Western Australia that I have been part of for the last few weeks, running until the end of December 2014. Must be our summer on its way!

Annie Sloan Painters in Residence - Dump Desk!

My third piece was given to me by a friend who found it at the dump, we originally thought that we would paint it up for her daughter, but then they found a ready-to-go pink desk so this one slowly rotted away at the back of our wood shed. Here she is in all her glory! 

When we dug her out, my hubby gave her a new top.

My colour palette was in place before my design with this project. Pattern-wise, I love chevron but its been around for too long to simply copy, and too neat for me by all accounts. But using the well-loved pattern as inspiration, I wanted to find a more casual design. 

Michael Miller

Etsy

JGBInteriors

 I simply used a ruler as a rough guide to paint my lines. So with a new top and paint job...

Can you pick the Chalk Paint shades?

For Annie's write up on the desk, jump over to her lovely blog... thanks for reading :)

A Tiffany Blue offering...

Tiffany & Co.

A friend offered me an old dresser that she had been using as a surface between single beds in her guest room, when she brought it over, it was actually more like a small buffet.

I had been obsessing over a Tiffany Blue shade that I had seen on Pinterest, made with quantities of Provence, Florence and Old White, from the Annie Sloan range of decorative paints.
Isn't it a beautiful colour? 

Here is the link to the recipe and more pictures of the process from clever Jessica at Paint in my Hair Boutique

The little buffet was nothing special in terms of character or shape.....

But with a little paint ... the whole piece is transformed!
As I was painting, I realised it was such a perfect height for a baby change if you were looking for storage in a stunning shade to brighten up a nursery - hence the beautiful, fun little coral knobs to contrast with the aqua!

We are all viewing slightly different shades on our various devices I know, but you cant really go wrong with a pop of this aqua in your world!

Via Pinterest

Tiffany & Co.

Cloudfront

First 2 Painter in Residence pieces

My first 2 Painter in Residence projects have been released via Annie Sloan's blog! I have had a great response to both pieces. Here are the before & after shots - as we all love those!

 

 

So this console was dated and too shiny for my liking! I used Provence, Greek Blue & Pure White to create the ombré effect and those shades again on top for the Moroccan tile-effect pattern. The piece was waxed for protection, an aged effect and a beautiful subtle finish.

 

For my children's wardrobe, I mixed a cute soft peach using Barcelona Orange & Pure White, then created a random spotty pattern using mainly a cork and pencil tip to print (then neatening up with a fine brush) in Pure White. The inside is painted in Provence which is a stunning contrast to the orange tones.

 

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who has been so kind with the reveals, its full-on painting with so many people ready to comment and judge your style - its all been really lovely though!

2 down, 4 to go...watch this space :)

New header & last weeks pieces!

So the school holidays have been and gone, hence my absence on the blog!. I'm always pottering away in the workshop/back deck with some form of paint project. Our school holidays are generally quite homebound with the farm, so lots of time to play around, but not much time to write!

A few weeks ago my friend and I had a rummage through one of her farm sheds and we found quite a few hall tables/cupboards, strangely none with tops. (Hence all the driftwood style inspiration!) I had a local customer looking for a hall table and she was keen on Coco, by Annie Sloan. Here it is with a coat of Pure White and Coco on top.

 

 

I went even more rustic with this recycled top, sanded it smooth and used dark wax to seal it. I love the natural curve on the front of this piece.

 

 

The same customer was also looking for a larger surface area in the form of a table. This piece below has been knocking around in the workshop for a while, sometimes, but not very often, I'm not completely un-decided on a colour for my furniture, so it just stays gathering dust, waiting its turn!

 

 

 

I felt the need to go very rustic with this piece, layers of Paris Grey, Old White, and Duck Egg, along with some sweat when distressing! 

P.S. do you like my new blog header? Adorned with my Painter in Residence badge ;)

My interview via Annie Sloans's Blog, Paint & Colour

I have been featured on Annie Sloan's Blog, Paint & Colour - a little about me, my style and why I love Chalk Paint so very much! This montage is a teaser for my Painter in Residence pieces...

 

My pieces, along with Janice and Alex's, will be posted over the next few weeks via Annie's Blog and Social Media pages. I hope that you are inspired some of the colour and techniques :)