Rustic finishes with Chalk Paint and Wedding details

Have you seen this grey washed out wood finish in stores and magazines?

Its a rustic look that is very popular right now. Restoration Hardware does

it, its in Veranda mag and all over the place. Its a fairly easy paint technique

that is called dry brushing. Lets take a look at the before photo.

This is a fancy shmancy table made by Baker Furniture Company. Top of the line

construction and surely cost a pretty penny when it arrived in the furniture showroom.

But now after decades of use it has some wear and tear to its original finish.

The inlaid area is all crackled and there are a few spots where the finish has

been damaged. When I see a piece like this, its the perfect candidate for a

dry brush. I love using French Linen Chalk Paint® to get the look that I

see in my magazines. Using the smallest amount of paint on your brush

you sweep it across the furniture until you have it looking like the photos

below. Less paint is more, as you can layer and layer and layer your

sweeping motions. Finish it off with Clear Soft Wax by Annie Sloan and enjoy!

Practice this technique on a piece of paper to get the motion down right

and then go ahead and fearlessly attack your piece!!

I LOVE the look!! I painted right over the hardware too.

Its got that lovely grey worn finish that completely transformed this stodgy piece.

Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan never disappoints. If you haven't done anything

different with it, start experimenting! Trust me, you CAN do it!!

You are welcome to take a workshop of course, and once in a while I offer

an advanced class, like this one we had yesterday where we did Decorative Finishes

that included the Dry Brush Technique.

In the midst of running the shop and doing workshops, I am trying to help with the wedding details for Justin and Madison. Time is of the essence and these little details need to be pulled together.

I ordered a hundred mercury glass votives and some came busted...lucky it was just a handful. We had to get battery tealights as the venue's fire rules do not allow candles.

We are trying to create a ribbon streamer garland thing,

as a decorative piece. Gina and our new hire, Julia, started stringing

it together at the end of the day yesterday.

This is the idea of the garland...but we need to make it more RUSTIC!!!

So we will be adding burlap and velvets and shredding some fabrics too.

It was way too shiny for the couples taste, and all I need is to be told once,

and I will get it done!

Its much like working for a client on a decorating job.

I need direction people!!! So the ribbon garland will get tweaked

today and hopefully it will be just right.

(Less pink, less shiny, more brown and more texture.)

My hubby drove an hour and half this week after work to scoop up this amazing antique French settee for me!! I got it from the uber talented designer Matthew Mead
who is based in Concord New Hampshire. This settee will NOT be going in my shop.
I plan to use this settee in my dining room AFTER I use it at Justin and Madison's wedding as their reception seating. Its huge and its lovely and I am so happy I was able to get it from Matthew. He is one busy designer and I am a busy nobody running a shop, so coordinating this pickup was a major achievement. He would text me when I would ask about a certain date "Oh I have to meet with the Associated Press", or "Shooting for BEtter Homes and Gardens". haha! He asked me if a certain date would work, and I would say things like "Oh I have to take my dog to the vet", or "I can't leave my store unless its Sunday or Monday". Pretty funny convos that highlight the differences
in our lives in little text blurbs. Anyway we worked it out and I will be returning
to see more of his stuff and hopefully bring it to Maison Decor's floors.
He told me he had some things he thought I would love.
So stay tuned on that front.