Annie Sloan's new video~its a wowser!

Tuesday is a busy day in the shop as it is the first day 

back after two days off~

I have lots of shipping to do~~all of you that ordered your 

gilding waxes will be getting that 

very soon!  But I always try to get in my creative time at the shop too!

I have an upcoming Advanced Techniques class and 

I started preparing a few 

smaller sample boards to see which combinations I like best....

in the meantime I have Colin preparing a video for my shop and this is an excerpt photo

from some of his tape.  After I finished doing some 

of the Advanced board I stumbled  across Annie Sloan's newest video!

You just have to watch it~she is so inspiring to me...

I love watching her, and I feel like I am her mini-me over here in the US~

(haha~a real micro mini-me!!)

But neverless, Annie is my muse~watch and see why!

Read more »

Updates~dogs, lake furniture, gilding wax and life!

The chair that I used Chalk Paint® on in my shop is now in my dining room.

  I loved how they came out so much I couldn't sell them...and I also

 wanted to see how a painted leatherette chair with wax would 

stand up to daily use.  I'll tell you what~not one spot of wear is 

detectable!! Mr. Maison Decor sits on this chair everyday and

 it is amazing to me how great this paint stands up.  So if you 

have an old ugly faux or real leather chair you would

 like to update, consider the Annie Sloan treatment!

 The Gilding waxes arrived in the shop~

I have to say I am soooo excited about how these work

to transform objects into things of elegance.

From furniture to wooden boxes to metal items,

a dash of these waxes goes on like velvet and it stays right 

where you put it...it won't come off!

Now if you add a little too much,

just take a bit of clear wax to erase, 
or use a bit of mineral spirits on a cloth.
Gilding wax is always applied as the last step,
after you have waxed your piece.

 The silver leaf gilding wax looks pretty on greys and blues~

 The Renaissance Gold looks nice on deeper toned neutrals or bold colors.

 I like the Empire Gold gilding wax for pastels and lighter neutrals~

 King Gold gilding wax is the middle of the road gold tone that works 

on just about everything.  I added it to a sample board I made using 

the Annie Sloan craqueleur product.  I will be having an Advanced Techniques

 class on August 15th from 6-9PM and these are some of the products we will be using.

 Still working on my custom clocks~I always get curious to 

see what colors people order.

Then I think and wonder what their homes look like~

 This color is Annie Sloan's Chateau Grey~not to be 

confused with gray!! Its a pretty antique olive toned green.

Its on its way to a new home as we speak...

 My apprentice/son is becoming a more skilled painter than his mother!!
 He is really good at getting the paint down just right.

 Look who stopped by my store this week~my little grandson Kingsley!!

 He is my son Brandon's chihuahua.  I babysat him 

for a week this year and now he is my best friend.

 I asked him kindly to pose on the needlepoint stool and he granted my wish.

Of course his daddy was compensating him with treats for his good behavior!! 

He only bit one person that came in the store!!! 

Haah! It was really just a nibble....no stitches required.

This morning I stopped by my favorite picking spot on the way to work and look what 

the guy had saved just for me...he yelled to me as I pulled in the lot, "Amy I got somethin' for you"...

and I have to say I was thrilled to see this! Its a beautiful vanity and mirror (the mirror is leaning against the ground but is mounted up on the top of the vanity). 
 It is going to be stunning when I am finished with it.

and you can bet your bottom dollar I will be using gilding wax on this baby!!

Then later in the day I got a call to say my left bid on this cottage lake furniture

 was accepted, so I am super excited about this coming to my shop!! 

It came out of a New Hampshire lake house....it has carved leaves as pulls,

 and hand painted roses on it....to die for!! I LOVE this!

I'll get better pics next week of it to share.

I plan to add my furniture pieces to my online shop at www.shopmaisondecor.com

I have heard that many people are having success shipping pieces and I want to join in the fun.

So look for my furniture inventory to appear soon. I am working on the Boston store details and it is really taking a lot more of my time, so I apologize if I have not been able to see what is going on in the blogs of many of my favorites~but I find I am once again waking up in the middle of the night trying to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together for this next chapter.  Exciting but a little bit stressful to try to do it all....and as we all know, NO ONE can do it ALL!!! 

Read more »

French poem lilac dresser~

 This old dresser got a romantic frenchy makeover~

A paint job in Paloma Chalk Paint®, followed by a stenciled french poem,

 some Paris Grey dry brushing, a little distressing and finally a wax job.

If you see dressers like this dark beast, you imagine the possibilities (endless)

when you look over your Chalk Paint® color chart and decide what color is best.

 I am on a Paloma kick right now~I used it in my last 

workshop and I was inspired to use it on this piece.

 Here is the plain Paloma base coat.  Sadly you can see that

 there were spots of bleeding on the top of the 

dresser if you look closely...so I had to cover it with 

Zinsser Clear Shellac and repaint the top.

 Then I stenciled the french poem across the top and the drawers as well~

 With a lot of my pieces I like to add depth by

 dry brushing another color over the first steps

before I am ready to distress or finish it with wax. I used 

Paris Grey here....the Paloma and Paris are gorgeous together!

 Ooh la la~

 Its all ready to go to someone's guest cottage or daughter's bedroom~

 In the meantime a couple of pieces were dropped off for custom jobs~

these two Ethan Allen tables had seen better days.  The customer

picked out Provence! I have never used the provence except in workshops

and it might just be my new favorite color!!! 

Colin and I are working on these pieces and they will be going home 

at the end of the week and will be in a room with chocolate brown sofas.

Can't you just imagine how perfect they will look?

To Purchase Poem Stencil 

or 

Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan 

please visit us at 150 Main Street, Reading, MA 01867

or shop online at 

www.shopmaisondecor.com

Read more »

I'm opening another store in BOSTON!!

 This is the big news I have been working on~

there is going to be a Maison Decor Boston!!

I knew I wanted a second location and one morning I woke

up and it just hit me that it had to be BOSTON!

 I started looking around for a storefront and I had a 

few things that I wanted, like a good location with walking traffic

as well as on street parking so people can run in and shop. 

 This tidy diamond in the rough

was just the ticket for me.

 Mr. Maison Decor is headed towards the shop,

 which is right next to the lamp post with the green 

SOWA flags.  SOWA means South of Washington Street, 

and it designates an area that is very up and coming~
its hip and artsy and super popular! 

Lets take a look inside the shop~

 Its half the size of my Malden store, and more than twice the rent, of course! 

I am working on the lease with the landlady right now, and she seems

 as nice as my Malden landlord! Inside there are very high ceilings, 

one wall of exposed brick, a kitchen sink (!) right in the middle 

of the store (great for paint brush cleaning), two large walls 

of unfinished plywood that I intend to white wash, 

as well as doing the same to the wood floors.

Its industrial chic now... but its about to become French Industrial Chic!!!

 A nice retail window box for displaying 

painted furniture and hanging chandeliers~

 Can you picture a linen or burlap style kitchen sink skirt here? And painted cabinets?

 I was just ecstatic!!! I got the approval of the landlady 

to paint my exterior facade in one of Annie Sloan's colors~ Florence Chalk Paint™!!

 Its a great teal green color that will look fabulous with the forest green window casings.

 The steps might get a stencilled riser...so many ways to call attention

 to the newest store on the block.  I have to get creative as it is not ideal for signage, 

so window signage and color are going to be my tools of choice to 

get the word out to the neighborhood in a classy but whimsical style.

 After meeting the landlady we walked two blocks

 and had dinner at Gaslight.  It is a lovely french restaurant, 

and this is the same room Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz 

filmed a scene from a movie they did here last year~pretty cool!

 French bread, french plates, french food~and a couple of drinks were in order!

 Now I bet you are wondering why on earth I would want to open another store 

when I just opened my first one....well it all has to do with this 

remarkable Annie Sloan Chalk Paint™. I have the greatest faith in the growth 

of this company based on the product itself...and then there is territory to be claimed....

just like when the settlers went out and staked their claims.  

The most adventurous got there first, right?  Well I wanted Boston, 

and I needed to stake my claim!! A big reason why Boston is 

so appealing is that I want to grow my own company, Maison Decor,

 and I want my family to join me in this endeavor~

so with all that, I am proud to announce that my son  Justin, 

 will be operating the Boston store. 

 He has lived in that neighborhood for years and it was the 

perfect choice for all of us~so wish us luck!! 

Read more »

Prettiest chair in the world, gilding and french fabrics!

 In my shop I have the prettiest chair in the world.

Seriously~

 Its an aqua green needlepoint chair in a very pretty chair frame!

 This chair doesn't need a paint job~its is straight up gorgeous

 and in near perfect condition.  The pretty legs have cute caster wheels.

It fit in the store so nicely~then I noticed a trend....

 I guess I love pink and aqua green~

 Any kind of pink and green will do for my taste~

 Like the peachy pinks and the celery greens~

 All the better when they are mixed in with petal pinks and aqua greens too~

 Pinks and greens are so fresh~

you see this combination in rose bushes and flowers all the time.

 More pinks and aquas~just love it. Anyway I got a nice response

 on the gilding waxes yesterday.

I had a big response in the store today too!~ 

I was absolutely clobbered with customers today,

and they were all there for my Annie Sloan™ supplies!

 So to answer about the gilding waxes, yes I will be carrying

 them and shipping them as well.  I hope to get them

 in soon and will put them up on www.shopmaisondecor.com

as well as announce it on the blog.

 The other thing that is quite exciting to me is the Annie Sloan™ 

exclusive french fabric line.

All made in France or Belgium~I will be highlighting the 

patterns and colors soon on the blog.

Of course I will be offering custom pillows and draperies to my shoppers~

but that's not all on the horizon for this "little store that could"...

.I will be sharing my big news next week with you right here!

Read more »