Painting the latest auction pieces and our February classes

 Oh we know Christmas is coming....but we have a lot to do around the shop~and it really doesn't leave us much time for doing much of any Christmassy stuff at home.  Like last night we finally got our tree.  It was icy rain and dark outside when Mr. Maison Decor and his 10 year old and I went a hunting for our tree.  I think the lady at the tree stand was so happy someone came as she mixed up a cup of hot cocoa for the little guy while we had the entire tree farmstand to ourselves!!  I guess everyone else had already bought their trees, and probably decorated them too. At any rate, we found the perfect tree and brought it home to our dark lifeless house....I blurted out "How about we put up some lights outside?"  "Now?" was the response~and it wasn't from my husband. But in the end we deemed it a good idea to keep decorating for Christmas in the cold rain~and before we knew it we had the house railings and front door decked out in white lights! It was so cheery and we were frozen to the bone...we dashed inside and pushed the button to our fireplace (nice to have modern conveniences even if I SAY I prefer a real fireplace) to warm ourselves up.  A cup of Eggnog and soon we were trading stories of Christmas' past~all in all a nice holiday moment.  

But today I am back in the store and tonight we will decorate the tree with Colin's help~I will have my camera to chronicle it all and hope to share it here later this week!

Little touches in the store remind us of the season and that

 I am happy and grateful for all of my blessings this year~

the store and its success, along with the willingness of the boys 

and my husband who all make this operation a reality from day to day.

 Today Colin was busy unloading our shipments of Chalk Paint 

and Milk Paint and finally we got to pick a project to paint.  

We also had this beautiful bed to wax and finish off for a client as it has been SOLD.

 Colin is a great painter now and loves working 

with the Chalk Paint.  He used Graphite on this

simple country spool chest.  

 The turned spool details and the big wooden knobs give this piece its personality.

 Graphite is the perfect color too~and it will get a light distressing 

and head into Boston as the demand for smaller chests and

 anything in Graphite remains high!  The price on this piece 

will be very reasonable so I don't expect it to hang around for long.

 I decided to get going on the console table 

and planned to do it up in Ironstone Milk Paint.

 Milk Paint is so much different than Chalk Paint~

its drippier and you need to pay attention to the consistency of the paint 

so you don't have dribble marks.  This piece is half way done...

as it dries it will self distress and reveal what parts are

 going to chip up and chunk up and fall away!  

Woo hoo~lets see what this piece will do.  I love surprises!

A great block front desk needs a paint job..

.the auction house said it was a vanity 'cause it went 

with a bedroom set...but I am not so sure. 

You could use it as a vanity, but it looks quite like a desk to me.

 Our shelves are restocked again with every color including 

sample sizes and we have tons of wax so 

come on in and rest assured we have what you need.

 Everything comes to Malden first, gets sorted out

 and then boxes are set up for Boston and Colin will run them in~

this goes for the furniture too.  Everything comes to Malden first...

 Another exciting project that I cannot wait to do

 is this beautiful Jacobean buffet...it came out of a house

 with this mirror hanging above it.  This style mirror is my favorite!!

 Pretty right? THe sideboard is going to get the Shabby Chic treatment 

in Old White.  Soft and pretty and elegant in white...

all the details will scream "look at me!!" after its painted.

 You will catch us painting for sure if you pop in this week~

its not the busiest time to sell paint for projects at this time of year, 

but I have been surprised to see what is selling~

I was asked to create these:

Gift certificates! 

I sell them online at shopmaisondecor.com and they are good for everything!

My Workshop classes are selling out as usual too~

I just listed the February classes with two dates for the "Everything" class 

(that's what I call the Annie Sloan Introductory class). 

You can sign up online for that as well if you want to secure your spot.

In the meantime Colin just finished this chest and 

left to pick up Tobey at the groomer. 

 He badly needed his Christmas haircut...and so do I!! 

I am going to squeeze in an early appointment tomorrow~

as we have a family party tomorrow night at Colin's dad's house! 

 Until then~stay merry and bright!