Friday, June 15, 2012

Projects and behind the scenes at Maison Decor

 Colin's debut project using Annie Sloan™ 
All hail the Queen~~!
This Union Jack motif is a huge decorator trend right now,
and this little desk would be fun in any boys room~
Ingredients:
Emperor's Silk, Napoleonic Blue and Pure White Chalk Paint™
 Colin taped it off all perfect-like and I convinced him
 to add the shabby style with smudged lines 
and overlapping edges~its very cool!
 A closeup~
 How fun~!! He liked painting, and I asked him if he 
would like to do a guest post soon on his experiences 
working here and painting and he told me 
he had already been thinking about it! 
 While we had the Emperor's Silk opened, I was dying to
 make a color board mixing it up with Pure White.
 Straight up ES in lower left, then 50% mix of white, 
then 2 parts white and finally 3 parts white to red~
pretty cool how you can make most any color.
 This armoire is for sale in the shop for $495~quite a deal. 
The finish is French Linen with a 50% dry brush mix using Old White...
my client Suzanne liked this finish and it inspired the finish on her hope chest.
 Pretty lines and details all got a nice brushing~even the hardware.
 See the shades of French Linen and Old White....
thats how I do it...
.right on a paper plate with a dry stiff brush.
 Waxed and ready to cure~soon to go home to momma.....
 The behind the scenes comment in the title is me sharing a bit of what happens in the store...I can be here alone for hours and then all of a sudden people are popping in and buying stuff and the phone is ringing etc...I have a customer I call my number one customer~Mike. He is gay and he LOVES my store!!! He has purchased more things for his apartment and loves telling everyone that they HAVE to check out my shop! Last night he popped in during my evening hours and saw these new vintage lamps I added (they had been in my Etsy shop) and I am quite sure since I added the leopard shades he instantly fell in love with them and HAD to have them!  He comes in and tells me what is going on with him...like he just got a new job after quitting his last job as a server in a downtown Boston restaurant...so its kind of fun meeting people who love what I love and they come back time and again and shop and talk. I had a judge come in today too for the second time...I am right down the street from a courthouse...so the judge is a pretty woman who loves pretty things and last time I told her all about Chalk Paint™....today she came in and bought some accessories and a quart of Duck Egg...she is going to paint an old chair with a hole in the seat of it that she keeps a flower pot in~you might have seen this idea before, but to think a judge loves flea market style is quite cool!! I also had a lady buy my vintage red and white linen hand towels that Betsy folded so nicely and displayed...and then she picked up the huge silverplated centerpiece bowl and bought that too~!  She told me she was soooo glad my store was in her neighborhood, and that she just loves it!  
 Between customers I paint and I sew and I set things up...
like right now I am making flirty slipcovers for these
 heavy iron chairs...its a pretty old fabric that I ripped
 apart from old slipcovers that are a 1970s vintage. 
 They should look really pretty...I don't know what it is 
about metal chairs, but I am quite attracted to them.
I guess that explains why I have 17 of them in the shop 
right now...and Colin had to stop me from buying another 
set out of the back of a ladies jeep who pulled up
 out front the other day to see if I was interested...
 Colin keeps me in check...and he has been goofing around 
taking pics while I was loading my next workshop into
our Annie Sloan website...its July 15th! 
I have one spot left in my June 24th class~
(call the shop at 781-324-0701)
Here is my Vice President of Operations....
soon to be doing his first guest post!! 
To all of you heading to HAVEN 
please make sure you stop at the Annie Sloan Unfolded booth~
they are giving away serious prizes over there!! 
I hope to go next year, this year is sold out~
but if you are lucky enough to go,  get over 
and see the Annie Sloan booth!!
Tell 'em Maison Decor sent you~

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20 comments:

  1. Amy, it sounds like you're just in heaven in that shop. You may make Colin a decorator and blogger before you know it. He sounds like he's made for the position of official shop blogger. I don't know paint from diddly, but you may just talk me into trying this stuff. And that, my dear, would be a real stunner. My second husband once told me I shouldn't even pick up a can of spray paint for the safety of all around.
    Brenda

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  2. Ooooh, Colin's table turned out great! That would be wonderful if he were to do a guest post, Amy. It sounds like he is your right hand man in the shop. I'll bet it's wonderful to hear people saying they are so glad you are there!

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  3. Looks like you're shop is taking off nicely. I'm so glad! I believe your son Colin has found his new calling too. Wish you were going to Haven. I'm not going, but am planning to meet some of the girls, that are going, for dinner next week (since it's in Atlanta). I don't know who all is going, but I believe it will be a large crowd. Blogland may be quiet with everyone gone at one time!

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  4. Amy,
    Have fun at haven.I wish I could go.If it were not for my fear of flying and our budget I would go in a heart beat.That french cabinet is gorgeous and it is a steal!
    ((((Hugs))))
    Anne

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  5. Amy,
    Have fun at haven.I wish I could go.If it were not for my fear of flying and our budget I would go in a heart beat.That french cabinet is gorgeous and it is a steal!
    ((((Hugs))))
    Anne

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  6. I'm always interested to see what's happening in your shop Amy! You seem to have so much going on all of the time. I'll bet you are finding that your days just zoom by and that you are having a grand time! xo

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  7. I love the Union Jack table. Quite a success for a first tie painter. Looks like you all are having fun and it's nice meeting all these new people. I know your business will just keep growing and growing. I love the way your customers chest turned out. But what I love most is Napoleon in his bow tie.

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  8. I'm with Nita -- just love that jaunty Napoleon! (but how can he tie it with one hand stuck in his jacket)

    Colin is turning into such an asset (and I'm sure there have been a few moms pointing him out to their eligible kid!)

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  9. So fun hearing about your customers. I owned a Dairy Queen for 20 years and the people you meet are one of the best parts of owning a business. I love that pink paint you were mixing. I enjoy every one of your posts about the shop:)

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  10. Great goings on and your son did a fabulous job on that chest! I'm not going to Haven either, but I live here and will be meeting a bunch of bloggers for dinner one night. Can't wait!

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  11. It's been so fun watching your store come together and from my point of view, it seemed to go together pretty quickly. It's so great that your son is there and willing to help! I can't believe you found a shop big enough to work in. Double the fun!

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  12. Nice table! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

    I LOVE that armoire. I just did a little wood box in French Linen dry brushed with Old White and I quite like the effect.

    Good idea keeping a record of paint colour mixes. I might try that too when I have some cans opened.

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  13. lord have mercy you are moving right along and it looks great where'd u get them lepoard shades? i need some bad!!!!

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  14. I got the leopard shades on clearance a couple of years ago at Lowes!!! They sometimes have very cool stuff~so always think decorator stuff when you are there for your paint or wrench or rake...lol!

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  15. Things look great like there moving along. I love the armoire!!

    Cynthia

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  16. Amy..there obviously is a tremendous amount of talent in your family....love the Union Jack table...he did a great job!....Looking forward to his post....

    I can't wait to go to go to the Annie Sloan booth...did not know they were going to be there..I am so very excited to meet so many talented people at Haven...!!
    Oh, and love that armoire too...looks terrific!!...

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  17. Oh my god! Colin is awesome! He did that table himself? How cool is that... !
    I love hearing about the behind the scenes... and it IS fun to have return customers like your friend who bought the leopard lampshades... gay guys are the best... totally awesome, and they sure know how to rock some style!
    I think i may die over that vintage fabric on the metal chairs... if i were at your shop i would sooooo buy those. I have a weakness for chairs in general, but the metal garden chairs are so hard to resist.
    Can't wait to read Colin's guest post... he has been such a huge part of all of this, and i'd love to hear about it from his perspective!

    Cindy

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  18. Ms. Amy,

    I have been following your blog for several months now (as well as your Pinterest boards) and have gotten lots of ideas from you. I have even been inspired to redo our dining room in a "Frenchy style" and found some beautiful linen fabric at the thrift store to use as my jumping off point. I wish that I lived closer so that I could visit your shop, but alas, my partner and I live in Birmingham, AL.

    I haven't commented on a post yet but this one inspired me to do so. I loved the fact that you mentioned one of your male customers and the fact that he is gay. Thank you for acknowledging a member of our community in your post. :-)

    Hugs from the Deep South,
    Clif

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  19. Colin's Union Jack table is awesome! But I'm wondering why some Americans are so enthralled with the flag of the British empire? Hmmmmm ... ;-)

    Cannot wait to read his blog post!

    So good to hear your store is doing so well! Congrats!

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  20. What makes that table good is that it's not painted perfectly. So much better with the smudged lines.

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