Wallpapering the armoire doors

 Tuesday found me back at the shop after the nice weekend...

I finished up the custom painted bedroom bureaus and 

now have the waxing to do....but this morning I needed 

a change of pace and turned my attention to the armoire 

I have been painting the color French Linen in Chalk Paint™. 

The inside of the cabinet was going to need a face lift

 and so I turned to a roll of leftover wallpaper~

 I matched the wallpaper up to Annie Sloan™

 Louis Blue Chalk Paint™ and hatched a plan.

This paper was leftover wallpaper from my dining room china cab.
I loved it then and I love it now!

 I painted the outlines of the doors with the Louis Blue, and

 then cut out wallpaper to fit the interior of the panels.

 However there was a tv that once lived in this armoire 

that the owner accommodated by cutting a hole in the 

back of the cabinet...it was designed for clothing,

 not electronics...Anyway I had a plan for that too.

 I papered a piece of cardboard to cover up the hole...and once

 it is filled with the vintage bedding and draperies

 it should kind of disappear~

 But wallpaper doesn't want to stick to cardboard...

so for now it will have to do, but I will figure out another way.

I got a big load of white chenille spreads and 

linen dust ruffles~all perfect for the summer

beach house guest room! Next time I will show off the old linens, ok?

 Trying to get things priced and set out on tables~

like a lilac ticking pillow case! 

 A few pretty vintage table cloths too are new to the store, this one is linen,

with purple, pink and red garden flowers on the border.

Colin and Justin

 Son number one, Justin, came by to see my store 

and told me if this shop was in Boston,

people would "gobble up" my things! 

It was so nice to hear!! He lives in 

a very trendy high rent district~

and my shop would fit right in he said...

 It was so nice to see him, and he loved my store!

 And he likes to goof on me too...

 We had a few laughs and a nice long visit and 

then he went back to his life in Beantown.

So if you are in the Boston area and you are looking for

 some Annie Sloan™ supplies~specifically her world famous 

Chalk Paint™ Decorative paint~then come on 

by Maison Decor at 50 Summer Street, Malden Mass. 

 You will very likely catch me in the act of wallpapering walls 

or cabinets, or painting furniture or stitching up a slipcover!

Garden elements

 The weather was beautiful this weekend~

and I had both Sunday and Monday to kick

around the house and the yard. It was a laid back 

weekend and we all worked together getting some much needed

chores done...then it was time to take some pics

and have a glass of white wine with blueberries.

Join me for a quick tour of our simple country style garden.

When you arrive you come to our old granite steps~

 This fellow is a great dog statue that we found on a Craigslist trip 

and we had to negotiate with the husband to bring him home.

He looks pretty real from the street~

After you get by our watch dog, you will see the gravel walk 

that Colin just weeded! I HATE that job!!

And beyond is our table and chairs set on the lawn and behind that 

sitting sentinel on the wall that hubs built is the garden house I made.

 This year I have a few new plants that I am excited about~and most

 things seem to be doing well, like the bank of knock out roses.

Pretty pale periwinkle blue delphiniums are just starting to pop~

 The bleeding heart bush is apparently loving where I 

planted it as it has covered the old urn and has a ton 

of little dangling heart shaped blooms. 

 The pansies will do well as long as they are in the shade...

 I planted three large alium bulbs last fall~the Dr. Suess of  flowers, I love them!

Have you ever looked at one close up? Really amazing!

 The bachelor buttons repeat the purple colors...I love purple and pink in the garden.

 An old wheelbarrow is mostly hidden by the catmint~

Colin joined me outside in the early evening~

it was too nice to stay indoors!

Tobey didn't want to get off the porch stoop~

 Dillon is recovering from some surgery on his ear. His ear puffed up

 and was swollen and sore~

its like a hematoma and they have to cut it open and

 then stitch it all shut...the worst part is when they 

are going under the anesthesia.  Happy to report he is doing well.

 Hope you all had a nice Memorial weekend~hubby was off on his new Harley!

He drove it up to his dad's grave to share it with him~his Dad died young at age 62 and 

I know hubby misses him a lot.

 A pretty indoor arrangement looks even better when it is outside! 

I love these roses~and never would have thought

 to mix red roses with pink and purple...

It sure is pretty~!

linking to

Favorite on the First at the Polo House

How to Shabby Chic your dark furniture

Turning this standard kind of new bedroom 

furniture with a dark mahogany finish

into a shabby chic set is what this post is about today~

I start with Old White Chalk Paint®.

Well actually, I scuffed it up first with a sanding block

 as this finish was super shiny. 

Then I wiped it down and started painting. 

I always paint around the hardware first if I am going to

 paint the hardware~if you are removing the hardware 

to keep the original finish you will find it easier~

but in this case I will be wiping away some of the paint from 

the hardware when I am finished...so I used a small 

brush to get in the nooks and crannies first.

Then I use a nice flat brush to cover the rest

 of the drawers and nightstand/bureaus.

Then I go back with a second coat and hit inside the 

nooks and crannies again. I use a small foam roller for

 my second coat and then finish with a 

quick top coat using the flat brush again.

 Here is the chest with one coat~it looks like amateur hour,

 but remember,  thin coats are better than  thick coats all day long...

Here is the second coat~nice and perfect looking. 

Beautiful Old White! But not shabby chic enough~

so lets get to the distressing~I like a light distress personally.

(See my new alarm system on the wall!!! 

I feel much better having this system in place~!)

 Here is the distressed finish~I take a damp cloth and rub 

off the areas I want removed. This is the beauty of using 

Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan™! 

You can take as much or as little off as you like.
EDIT NOTE: many asked if I wipe off the paint while still damp. In
this case I did it after it was just dried. You can do it while it is still moist,
just take care to not remove too much as it is easier to remove while
moist than dry. Either way it beats sandpaper in my book.

 Then I rub off the hardware until I am happy with the look~

 And now it is ready for its 

coating of soft clear wax. I will do one coat

 on the entire piece with two coats on the top, 

and a light sanding in between~

I am still working on the bigger pieces.

 Here is the daddy chest....that's gonna be a lot of painting!!

 Now it is done with its two coats and I am working on the mommy chest~
all of these pieces will not even use up one can of paint!
So if  you are hesitating because of the cost, remember that 
Chalk Paint® goes a lot further than latex does!!

 Colin is one of our painters at Maison Decor,
and might be even better at it than his mother!

So that is the latest from Maison Decor! 
Hope these tips help you with your projects.

A Gardener's Retreat with Pier One Imports

Have you been to Pier 1 Imports lately?

I'll admit I hadn't, so when I got this opportunity to do a review on

their outdoor furniture and accessories to create an outdoor space,

I was happy to see that they had so much to offer,

in all different styles for many different tastes,

and at great values for helping you achieve

your perfect outdoor room.

Come see what I picked out to create my perfect outdoor room!

The space that I wanted to turn into an outdoor room for myself

was this narrow side deck right off my kitchen hallway.

It's a space I'd like to use more often, but with the narrow width I

had to consider my options carefully.

Mr. Maison Decor power-washed the deck for me while

I went shopping at Pier 1 Imports in Woburn, Mass.

I had a wonderful time with Stephanie,

the manager, who helped me pull together

the elements I would use to create my new outdoor room!

I came home with a few large boxes and several bags and started unpacking.

This wonderful outdoor clock and thermometer in a

copper verdigris finish makes Tobey look tiny!

I was excited to see the finish on this clock, as it picked

up the colors in the floral umbrella I had selected.

Its soft sea-green background won me over. Isn't it pretty?

It was also the perfect size for my narrow deck.

Pier 1 Imports has the most amazing selection of umbrellas.

It was hard to choose, but I fell for this color.

The big clock got mounted on the side of the house.

In front of it is a darling metal floral and bird garden stake.

Lots of cute and elegant yard ornaments can be found at the store.

My outdoor room plan was to create a gardener's room~

a private space with all the things that I love.

I love gardening, so giving my room a garden theme

helped me define what would work in the space.

At the end of a long day of weeding and planting, what better spot

to relax with a nice glass of wine or pink lemonade?

I planned to put this gorgeous pedestal lantern with a tin roof

on my tabletop, but I liked it more on the ground next

to my urn and potted plants.

This lantern reminds me of a birdhouse~so sweet!

Look at these chairs! Can you say French?

When I stepped into Pier 1, these chairs won me over immediately!

They look so much like traditional French flea market chairs.

However, the finish is a composite that can

stand the weather nicely here in Boston!

The washed grey color looks great with my decking,

and this will would last a lot longer than any wooden chair!

A tasseled outdoor pillow from Pier 1's vast selection

repeats the pretty floral pattern.

Many of my favorite garden accessories were

gathered up to create the ambiance I

was hoping for. An antique wire garden stand,

stacks of terra cotta pots, an old cement statue and

pots of pansies and boxwoods all served to complement

the wonderful outdoor furnishings I found at Pier 1 Imports.

Create an outdoor room that speaks to you~you'll be glad you did!

EXCLUSIVE OFFER! For all my readers, go here

for a $10 coupon towards a $50 purchase at Pier 1 Imports.

Then visit the Pier 1 Imports website, www.pier1.com,

and select 3 outdoor products you think could be on your

“must-have” list for this summer and tell me why!

Leave your comment for a chance to win a $100 Pier 1 Imports gift card!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/23 to 6/22.

Be sure to visit Pier 1's brand page on BlogHer.com, where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!