Ok here we go~this is my new Boston location in its raw format. Its a small space, less than 500 square feet
with tremendous vertical space. All kinds of materials on the walls, one to the left is brick, there is white beadboard and then two walls were covered in plywood. There is a sink and cabinet bank in the shop which fits the bill for my purposes perfectly!
The big thing to handle first is the plywood wall coverings~I had
a plan in mind which was to create a focal wall in the back using
Annie Sloan's wonderful Chalk Paint™.
Trying to achieve a rustic french market store
in this space~you won't be seeing much of the Feminine French
I favor in my Malden shop~this store will have a different vibe~
I mixed up equal parts of Chateau Grey and Paris Grey
to make a color for the base of the back wall.
Eyeballing it, I poured equal parts into this quart mixer cup~
It created a lovely sage grey green color.
All day long Colin and I worked inside the new space painting the walls.
This is the view from the sidewalk if you looked
up into my shop...the facade will be getting
a transformation too, but first things first.
We let people know what was going on inside by placing the small funky
Antibes Green table out on the walk~every Sunday (and this was Sunday)
there is a fabulous and well attended Vintage Flea Market called
SOWA Vintage Market held right next doors in an open air setting.
I had tremendous foot traffic passing the shop all day long.
In the winter months the market is held indoors~
it will be a great fit with this store of mine that gives
people options on reviving and renewing their old treasures.
Colin and I started applying the custom mix of Chalk Paint™.
I added some water to make it easier to go onto the
rough plywood and it worked very nicely with great one coat coverage.
You can see it drying in stages~its super cool on walls.
This was a first for me~painting walls with Chalk Paint™!!
I was so excited to do it!
See that spray bottle? I used it to apply another
mix of two Annie Sloan™ colors~Old Ochre and French Linen.
I poured a bit of both in a tray and brushed it on
with abandon and then spritzed and ragged.
You can see the lighter sections...Colin was afraid I was
about to ruin the entire wall~haha! I will admit I was nervous,
but you MUST break through fearful thoughts when you
are creating something that you can see in your mind's eye.
Its starting to take shape~
Colin moved into the window display area to paint that floor,
which was also plywood. Look at the funky Antibes table...
and look at all the people~
It was so energizing to be in this scene!! I am totally
pumped about this store and its location.
The little table had handouts~all were gone by the end of the day!
Here is the feature wall all finished up!! Its just what I was hoping for~
Next we needed to prime the bigger plywood wall as I planned
to paint it white to balance with the white bead board wall on the other side.
Me checking out the progress~
YAY!! We are getting somewhere!
Colin and I have a lot of fun doing these things together!
My sunshiney boy~always up to the task at hand.
He is looking forward to building the company with me.
Another issue we were faced with was the floors~I had
planned to paint them, but after a sample area we just
were not feeling it...so I thought we should sand them....
which meant another thing to figure out.
In the meantime, Justin came to join us in the painting.
He will be running the store, and Colin will be
coming home on weekends to help him as we expect it to be very busy.
Its such a great feeling to have my sons interested in what I am doing~
and all as charged up over Maison Decor and Annie Sloan as I am!!
A head scratching moment was caught by Colin...lol
That kitchen sink area is going to look so neat when I am done.
It will be skirted and and the cabs will all be finished in a rustic style...
baskets on the top...yummy!
A pose for the day~on top of the dreadful but wonderful old floors~
I had to go home and ask
Mr. Maison Decor if he would be on board for
returning the next day to sand and refinish!!
and that is just what happened~Mr. MD and Colin went into
do the floors, and Justin and I
headed to Malden to paint up pieces like this
beautiful french console table in French Linen.
I am finishing up this petite settee~its so sweet in the Provence finish.
Many asked about this clock~its in the online shop
www.shopmaisondecor.com
Many times I cannot write you a return email as often
you have a "no-reply" setting on your blogger ID.
So if I am not writing you back, that is why!!
After Colin and Mr. MD sanded the floors,
we all went over to get Steak tips and Pizza!!!
Then at 8PM Colin and Justin headed back to Boston
to apply the first coat of poly on the floors.
They look so much better than before~
it was two long days but we made tons of progress.
]This little green table sits like a tiny beacon in the window~
it says:
"Annie Sloan is coming to town!!"
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