An Average Day at Maison Decor

 There is no way to know what a day will hold for me

 when I walk through the shop door~

and yesterday was the perfect example....I was in the back room

 trying to get at some bills and some shipping orders from the online shop

 and answering emails when a customer walked in~she had a snazzy hat 

on and a pink tweed coat and had an arsenal of samples.  

The beautiful wallpaper was hers~and I loved it as soon as  I saw it! 

It was a water colory classical floral on a 

pale aqua background with all of my favorite pastels.  

 Sandra and I got along famously as we seemed to share a love 

of the same stuff~she found me through a round about 

way via the web~she wasn't an Annie Sloan shopper...

she was a Shabby Frenchy kind of girl who was enamored 

of my little shop...as a matter of fact I had seen her with her nose pressed 

to the windows the day before when we were closed,

 but I was in such a rush to get into Boston with a shipment on my day 

off that when I went out to see if she wanted to come in for a peek she was gone~

 Sandra liked the pretty handpainted antique bed~

She seemed enamored of the latest piece I had finished too.

After some brainstorming and color talk, sharing mutual favorite websites

she vanished like Cinderella with a promise to be in touch.

 Today she called and after taking the time to digest 

all things Maison Decor she put in her order.

1. French Blue Sideboard with the Mirror that was hung above it~

And one French Gilded sofa in Antoinette~! 

Yes I had finally decided to part with my signature sofa

as it takes up precious store space....

so you won't be seeing this much longer.

 It was a pretty addition that set the tone, 

but I must use the space for more function than just form...

Hey~this pretty little tree~...it came from Costco in a red plastic bucket.

I used spray on adhesive and wrapped a French script fabric scrap around it

and voila~instant french rustic chic~!

 Hey, this is another very cool trick for at home 

or if you have a shop...do you want a great little sound system? 

Plop your iPhone with Pandora playing into a

 metal paint bucket like this from Lowes.

You will be amazed at how marvelous the music sounds!~!!! 

Its fantastic! Try it!

 I am all jacked up about the new Annie Sloan WORKBOOK. 

Its just very cool~so I have a dedicated area to create with it 

and inspire my shoppers when they pop in. 
This neat little cabinet is done in Antoinette and Graphite
and I drew an inspiration sketch for the design in the WORKBOOK~
 I am also getting ready for 

back to back Sunday  Workshops! 

This coming Sunday is my Fifty Shades of Gray 

with one opening left.  All of my workshops have been sellouts 

as soon as they get posted so if you are considering taking a class, 

sign up promptly! I am sold out for December and January and 

will be scheduling February in December.  
Note: I had one spot open up today for my Dec 9th INTRO class~
signup online or call the shop to book it!!

I did just list a WORKBOOK workshop which 

is a two hour class for $85 which includes the WORKBOOK. 

 You can see more details at the online shop 

www.shopmaisondecor.com 

and click on Instruction/Workshops.

 I will be getting out 4 custom painted Mora clocks 

within the next week too~these are 

big sellers in my shop and make wonderful gifts.  

They are online too~

 Also a photo shoot around this French bed 

I bought this summer at Brimfield is happening

soon featuring Annie Sloan's fabrics~

then headed into Romantic Homes magazine!!

 A new addition to our extended family is this little charmer~Sylvia!  

Justin got a new dog with his GF Madison~she is a Schnoodle 

(mix of Poodle and Schnauser) and Justin said she is like

 having a real live Teddy Bear~! I can't wait to meet her!!

 Of course there is always the painting that is going on at Maison Decor~

both in Boston and Malden.  Justin and I take on custom work

 and we paint pieces for the shop~he has a talent that

 I intend to share further on this blog...he's not just a shopkeeper!! 

 Setting the scene for the Fifty Shades of Grey~

if this class is a hit it will be offered again in February.

Do you want to learn about color mixing and 

extending the range of colors to give yourself oodles of options?

Do you want to incorporate cool finishes with metallics and pearl? 

 Then this is the class for you!

I'll be in the thick of the paint this Sunday with my students~

helping them create their  next masterpiece!

Grey Painted Furniture, the WORKBOOK and My Dining Room Returns!

 Colin is painting a sideboard in a custom french grey color mix~

I added two colors together and he got to the painting~

Its coming along nicely~

This piece was really a great looking piece that I got at auction. It is extra long

and isn't terribly old~maybe 30 years....its solid cherry and normally I might have thought twice

about painting it but it had a deep scratch along the top. So after a bit of Elmers Wood Filler it was ready 

for a pretty paint job.  Stay tuned for the final results...but lets just say I am loving it so much I am tempted to take it home with me and switch out my great looking bombe chest~let me know what you think.

My dining room, taken as I was setting the table yesterday.

That bombe chest at the end is just where I am considering 

doing the switcheroo with this piece. All opinions are welcome!

There is not a lot of room between the chest and the head chair

so I was thinking the narrow sideboard might be a better fit.

So if I was going to switch I want it to be the right color~and to get to the color that I wanted, 

I used Annie Sloan's WORKBOOK to do help me out.

  I love this image from a magazine showing rustic frenchy blue doors~

this color is kind of what I had in mind...and Paris Grey is not quite right. 

So I mixed up some Louis Blue and Paris Grey and recorded it into my WORKBOOK

so I will never forget it and have a pretty record of the whole process~

whether I keep the piece or not~I do LOVE this custom color.

(Inside look at a press release from the WORKBOOK~)

You can buy this WORKBOOK only at Annie Sloan retail outlets 

as well as my online store by clicking here.

I am excited to offer a WORKBOOK session class

that will be on a Saturday for 2 hours and you can read more about that 

class by clicking here.  The WORKBOOK will be included in the class!

This is a page in my WORKBOOK  I dedicated to the lovely

 purpley greys~ and that wonderful Normandie Toile....

yummmm....but back to the painting!!

Look at this marble topped table with the standard cream and gold

paint job from the 70s....argh! I had a vision for this piece,

well I actually have a pair and am painting them up in a dark grey

and will list them for sale when I am done!

 Basically I started with French Linen all over~two coats.....

followed by a Graphite wash.

See how dark it looks when I am actually applying it?

But see how light it is when I rag it off? 

You won't believe how fantastic it looks~

I will post the finished pieces in a few days...

but right now there is so much to do, 

and I got to back to it!!

PS Fifty Shades of Grey class 

is this Sunday Dec 2 from 10-2

I have 2 spots left~so if you want to join us with color mixing

and using metallics and cover the bases with all things GREY

call the shop to sign up!

781-324-0701

Faded Roses Slipcover and whats new...

 This is the time of year many of us want to spruce up our home

for the holidays~and these little chair slipcovers can really give 

a chair a whole new look for very little fabric and effort.

Before
This old french chair needed a pick me up!
I decided to use Annie Sloan Faded Roses fabric
 from her European Fabric Collection
to create a cottage style easy slipcover. 

After
Its flirty and feminine and has a vintage French feeling.

I basically made a pattern to follow the shape of the cushion 

but made a 6" skirt by hand pleating it around the

 front of the cushion~underneath is the boxed part of the cushion.

 I give myself about twice as long as the area I want to cover

 with the ruffled skirt and then just fold it as 

I sew it along the edge of the cushion part.

 Annie Sloan Faded Roses is one of my favorites and 

I think it was perfect for this cane backed french chair

 that I use in my shop store at my check out desk.

If you are interested in Annie Sloan's fabrics you can purchase them
only through Annie Sloan stockists~so that would be me!
My online store carries this pattern here.

 I was in the Boston store over the weekend 

and did a little Christmas decorating~

I took a few pics for the online shop catalogue too.  

 This set of antique pool and billiards balls and rack 

was sold right away to a gal in Miami who read 

on my blog that I had picked up a set at auction. 

She hadn't even seen them yet~

so I sent her a few snaps and she loved the set.

 I have to admit they are pretty cool looking 

and look wonderful in the dough bowl!

 This old scale that is black and crusty will be listed in the online shop too.

 Its illegal to use it though...hah! Only for Family Use~~strange!

 These beautiful dog bookends have yet to sell so I will 

put them online too~some things you just can't figure

out why they don't sell...and these are one of them.

 Another lady sent me an email asking me to bring in my 

blue porcelain chandelier to Boston as she might like to buy it~

and sure enough she took it home with her last Sunday!

So don't be shy about asking me to shoot something into Boston or vice versa 

if its more convenient for you and you are serious about it.

 Justin finished up this French Bombe chest in Emporer's Silk with dark wax.

It is an updated look to a traditional French piece and perfect for the holidays.

 We have a lot of pops of red right now

in the shop conjuring up the feeling of Christmas!

 A big ole bench is on mark down at $289~solid oak church pew.

 My cousin Kate stopped in to see me Sunday  at our new shop. 

We have spent many many Thanksgivings together~

so many of our childhood Turkey days were spent eating 

at the kids table~!! She was one of 6 and I am one of

 5 so we had 11 kids and we always had a blast!

 Her dad was an athletic director of a private school 

and we used to use the gym after dinner and have volleyball games 

and play squash etc...it was always a treat getting together with them. 

I'll never forget the time one of her brothers (who will remain nameless)

spiked the ball over the net and hit Grampa right in the head 

and knocked him out of the game.

Oh yeah, we were a competitive bunch!

 So while you all are getting your dinner menus planned 

and polishing the silver I am stuck at the shop...ok,

well I will have half of Wednesday off so I  

can clear off my dining room table and set the table with 

my purple transferware and silver and this year 

I think I will use some of the blue opaline wine glasses~!

We will be open for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday~

hope to see you in person or online at Maison Decor,

wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

(Click here for our store holiday hours)