Split Personality~an inside story

During the winter months last year, long before I ever had the impulsive moment to open a shop I had struck up a friendship with Steve of An Urban Cottage blog.  Steve is from Massachusetts too, and he lives in an antique Greek Revival that he has been rehabbing one room at a time.  Steve's home/blog has captured the eye of Better Homes and Gardens~and his stylish rehabbed home can be found in the latest issue of Cottage Style! 

Anyway, back when we were both just blogging about our houses, we got to chatting about the idea of sharing a  shop where he would sell his manly industrial stuff and I would have my shabby chic french stuff. 

 Steve's living room~

his industrial chic vintage style is evident in his accessories.

My dining room~

You can see how different our personal styles are!

So while Steve and I imagined a collaborative effort

we knew that combining these two decorative points of view 

just might capture a broad array of shoppers.

 Of course it was kind of pie in the sky kind of fun talk 

but I could imagine it in my mind's eye.  

And maybe because of those brief discussions that 

is how Maison Decor came to be~a set of split personality stores!  

One is loaded with the rustic industrial antiques that are 

more masculine in nature, while the other favors pastels, 

and pale grey painted furniture with

 a big pink french provincial couch for ambience! 

Anyway, I opened the first store with the shabby cottage style

 and then came the second store that embodied

 hipster vintage urban decor.

 

As I got busier with the store openings and daily running 

of the new venture we kind of lost touch~until recently 

when he reached out to me offering me a very nice old chest of drawers.  

Did I want it for my stores? 

Heck yeah! So while I have yet to arrange for pickup, 

Steve popped in the Boston shop this past weekend 

and wrote a review. 

 It was great reading his take on the Maison Decor experience, 

and see what "mantique" he purchased to take 

home to his now famous Cambridge home.

Read about Steve's trip to my store here.

Then check out Steves rehab post on his home here.

Our ten thousand dollar wall and Industrial Chic stock

 The ten thousand dollar wall~

That is what Picker Paul called it after he and Justin and I spent time

rearranging the store in Boston yesterday.

I didn't add it up, but I think he might be right!

I think it looks like a ten thousand dollar wall for sure~

we moved our beautiful antique Mora clock to the left 

and placed the Brittany armoire in the center and flanked it 

with the trendy wall banners that are affordable and fun works of art.

The newest addition to MD Boston is our 

gorgeous antique grain sack chair.

 We collaborated on our layout and got the store looking

quite marvelous~it had been getting all clustered up and claustrophobic

as it is so small, and when things sell and other things get pushed around

with out time to think~well it can feel uncomfortable.

So Justin and I planned to meet to merchandise the store

and we got Paul to join us to help with the moving of the large items.

 I snapped away while during some of our before moments...

Paul is holding our junky and dangerous 6 foot ladder...

 Here Justin risks life and limb to hang a wire chandy 

from an exposed pipe at ceiling height 

while Paul steadies the ladder and J.

 Another acrobatic moment~

he was way up there hanging a sign in the window~

 We want to hang this OPEN flag so walkers will notice our store~

waiting on landlord approval.  Since our store has closed doors we think

lots of people don't realize we are OPEN for business. 

With the cold weather coming this is going to be the 

way it is all the time~so we need that flag!

 So anyway, back to our inventory~the newest item is the chair that

 you might have seen on Betsy's blog. She did an amazing job~

the best ever! It is all redone and so elegantly too, 

I am proud to have it in the shop, and I think it might 

already be SOLD~I wish it could stay longer! 

And after all that hard work I doubt I will ever see another anytime soon.

 How about this French Market Basket? Its one of my favorite things!

Authentic and vintage and in excellent shape, you won't find one

on eBay~but you will at Maison Decor Boston!

 An incredible tool chest trunk will be making its way to Boston soon as well~

The interior has sliding storage compartments that used to hold a carpenters wares.

Now you can hide the cheetos and the remote in here if you use it as a coffee table.

 Today I scored a batch of industrial and rustic items~

so I have created a new category online for just those kinds of things...

The Industrial Chic Collection

One of the items was this 9' tall wooden ladder with the fat round rungs.

 We could have used it the day before when this kind of stuff was going on~

So here was the stash~I was invited to go through the 

basement of the old brick railhouse

restaurant across the street. 

The owner collects antiques and was letting a lot of his stuff go!

 Wonderful batch of crates~

 We will use them for Chalk Paint storage in Boston until they sell out~

 A commercial grade stainless steel pot rack that is just enormous!

 Old galvanized Beer Buckets~

I can see planting small Christmas trees in these babies.

 A great looking rustic bench, an old metal sign...they will head for the Boston store.

Paul was quite pleased about the collection! 

What a ham! 

Where is our HGTV film crew I ask???

I hope you can check out our Boston store at 524 Harrison Ave. 

This is an iPhone panorama shot.

 Its a tiny treasure packed shop~

so take your time and look around...

and if you don't see what you want, 

add it to our wish list.

We have fulfilled many wishes already!

Chalk Paint® Tips

 Annie Sloan

Creator of Chalk Paint® decorative paint

I took this photo of Annie this April when I attended a day long conference

workshop in Boston.  The highlight of the conference was listening to Annie

explain her color theory and how she looked at color through the lens of history

and then tried to create those colors in her paint line.

She showed us many things~and it was a revelation for me.

By the end of that day I decided I wanted to 

open a french home decor store that offered this marvelous paint.

I had been painting with Chalk Paint for over a year and 

kind of thought I knew what there was to know about it...

well I was wrong...there was a lot more for me to learn.

This post has tips for all of you who are using the paint

or about to start on the Chalk Paint road.

Get your furniture ready by cleaning it from 

dust and grime that may have accumulated over the years. 

Here are some things I recommend when using Chalk Paint®.

Remember the Chalk Paint basics:

 no priming, stripping or sanding!

Pick a color you love and lets get started!!

Tip #1
Assess your piece.  Is it super shiny?  If so I do go over my piece with a sanding block to knock back the shine.  Otherwise just start painting! Chalk Paint dries quickly! Don't use repetitive brush strokes or you will get a rough finish. Long fluid stokes are best.
Load your brush up with the paint and use longer strokes across the piece,
trying not to go back and forth over your strokes as you can with latex and oil paints.  This is something you will need to adjust~your style of painting. Longer fluid strokes.  Because the paint dries quickly, wrap your brush in foil if you are taking a break, otherwise it will be crunchy and stiff in short order.

Kind of shiny....and will need some clear shellac too.

 Tip #2
You really don't need to prime or prep (unless its super shiny~then sand lightly). If the piece has flakes or gouges those are issues that need to be addressed as the paint does not make those problems disappear.  If you have a piece of furniture that starts to bleed while you are painting  (which means a discoloration comes through your lovely paint job), stop painting! Get a can of Zinsser Clear Shellac and go over the entire piece. It will dry quickly and then you can resume your paint job.

Another reason you would want to seal a piece with Zinsser Shellac is if it has a bad odor, like must or smoke. Seal the entire piece first, then start painting.

Tip #3

One light coat of paint, followed by a second light coat should be your protocol for most pieces of furniture. When you start your first coat, expect to see brush strokes and some of the wood peeking through.  You might feel like your paint job is looking amateurish~but wait til the second coat goes on.  You will look like a hero!!  Two light coats of paint is the rule, not a heavy gloppy first coat to try to cover the surface.   When you apply the second coat I like to "kiss" the tips of the brush in a bit of water to help the second coat glide on smoothly. It makes a big difference.  As you are painting check the edges to make sure it is not running or globbing on the side you are not directly painting. I am checking constantly to make sure there is no buildup as I paint.

 Tip #4

After the two coats are finished, this it the time to decide to distress or not~if you are going to distress your furniture I like to do it before I wax. Its a personal preference. Go over the edges where it would be worn authentically with the passage of time. Resist the spotted look~a little bit here and a little bit there creates the dreaded Leopard look! This piece below is what we call "violent distressing"! Normally we do not distress pieces this heavily, but once again, its a matter of preference.

Tip #5
Now your piece is painted and distressed (or not) and ready for waxing.

Use a wax brush to apply a coat of Annie Sloan Clear Wax. If you buy one thing, make it a wax brush! It is worth its weight in gold. Apply a small amount of wax by kissing the tips of the wax brush onto the wax and then apply to the surface of the furniture.  Brush it in with a good amount of pressure.

I cover about a two square foot of area, then take a lint free cloth and rub it down to remove any residual wax.  We don't want extra wax on a piece as it will not dry properly. Then move to the next area and repeat the process. Remove any errant brush hairs when waxing or they will become part of your finish. When you have finished the entire piece wait 24 hours and then take a clean lint free cloth and buff.

We use the Ultimate Buffing Brush to make short work of the buffing required to bring up the lustre wax can give a piece of furniture. You can get this at our online shop, www.shopmaisondecor.com if you are interested in purchasing. If you have ever scratched your nicely painted finish with your fingernails while buffing with a cloth you will wish you had strapped this horsehair buffing brush on instead!
Buff means to rub the cloth briskly over the surface and you will see a sheen develop.  It takes a piece 21-28 days to fully cure.

Tip #6

Caring for your wax brush:  If I am doing a lot of painting and waxing I store my wax brush in a neoprene (not latex) surgical glove. It keeps it nice and supple, ready to be used, even several days later.  I don't like to wash my wax brush until I am finished with it for a period of time.  Wash your brush with warm water and Dawn dishwashing liquid. It cuts through the wax nicely.  Then I paper towel it off and shape the bristles together as I towel it off, then place flat to dry.  

Tip #7

Dark wax?  If you plan to age your piece with dark wax, you want to apply it after you have finished your piece with Clear wax.  Don't let the clear wax dry first~if you do, then lightly wax again with clear wax, then apply small amounts of dark wax in areas that would look good with a patina.  Some pieces will want to have dark wax over the entire thing, others will benefit from a small touch here and there. Apply dark wax with a separate wax brush, like the one shown above or a cloth. (Do not use your Clear wax brush as it will cause staining and render it ineffective for creating a clear wax finish in the future. We sell both options in our online store here.) After you apply a small amount of dark wax, use a clean cloth and rub it around on the piece~continue until the piece is done.

Tip #8
Too much dark wax?  If you think your piece got too dark with your application, add some clear wax with a cloth and rub to remove the dark wax area you would like to lighten up.

Tip #9:  A combination of a little dark wax mixed with the clear wax on a paper plate and then applied can be an easier way to use dark wax. Try this to see if you prefer this method. Remember to always apply any dark wax over a fresh moist coat of clear wax.

Tip #10 Dark wax changes the color of Chalk Paint. The desk in the photo above shows Paris Grey.  The greenish khaki area is Paris Grey after treated with dark wax...it looks totally different.  I recommend making a sample board with your paint color, wax the entire thing, then use dark wax over half the section so you can access the effect of the dark wax.

Tip #11 Do not use wax on outdoor items.  Chalk Paint can be applied to front doors, home exteriors, bird houses, metal and cement garden statuary and more.  The reason we don't wax is that the warmth of the sunlight keeps the wax from curing.  Yes, you can paint a front door and wash it later on without a coating of wax!

Tip #12 Caring for your piece.  Do not use furniture polish on your waxed pieces.  A damp clean cloth will do the trick.  Smudges can be removed by applying a bit of clear wax and buffing out the spots.  Over time surfaces can benefit from another a coat of wax, particularly on pieces that are getting rubbed down a lot over time, like coffee tables, kitchen cabinets and the like.

My kitchen in Old White

Tip #13  Workshops~I highly recommend taking a workshop with your local stockist.  I learned so much from my first class~and I know my students are blown away with the information they get in my Introductory class.  The Introductory Workshop is really an Everything Workshop~so if you are looking to get into painting furniture~this is the class for you!

Click on the comment section below to see questions that were asked and to see the answers I gave in regards to various paint and wax dilemmas.

QUESTIONS??

If you have a particular question about Chalk Paint™® and wax,  ask on the comment section below. I will answer your questions in the same format right here in the comment section.  Scroll through the comments as you might find an answer to a question you have been wondering about.  

For more information on my two stores please click here.