A new sign, our first workshop, and life with dogs

 Our first week at the new store flew by! We weren't sure what to expect because we didn't have a sign yet. We still kinda looked like we were the Northside Liquor store.  There is a glass canopy above the store so we couldn't just throw a ladder up there and remove the old sign. We needed a cherry picker truck, and that is one truck my hubby doesn't happen to have. I wasn't going to rent one either, so we just had to be patient. The phone rang at the store and the sign girl said they were enroute to install our new sign! Justin, Colin and I were all in the shop and were pretty excited to get this thing up!

 The truck with our newly designed sign laying on the flatbed. 

We decided to use a stylized version of an antique upholstered 

chair in addition to the lettering that imitates the 
lettering I use on this blog header.

 We are in a brick building set back from the street and have private parking for 30 cars.

  A glass canopy overhangs the front of the building

and we like putting some furniture out front underneath.

Right next to us is a women's workout gym, and at the other end 

is an established hairstylist that has been here for a long time. 

It seems this location is going to be ideal~we are close to the highway 

and convenient in that aspect and we also have a lot of women

 coming in to see what Chalk Paint® is all about! 

 For example~Colin has been getting quite a few pieces finished

 in the shop, and this antique sideboard was done in Paris Grey.

 We like to use dark wax on Paris Grey Chalk Paint.  

Its very rich and warms up the coolness of the grey.  

Some pieces we whip out the gilding wax to 

enhance the details like this sideboard.

 Really pretty! Colin is getting masterful at his painting and waxing I think!

 Here is how we apply the gilding wax~most often we use our fingertips. 

This is King Gold Gilding wax and we offer it at our online store. 

I am still on the first container and I use it alot!! So a little goes a long way.

 We have tons of painted samples in the store, and this sample 

was the one that inspired the sideboard paint job. If you are undecided

 you can come in to our big long table and go over our sample collection

 to see what appeals to you. Bring in your pillows or wall paint swatches

 or whatever you need to help you make a color decision.

 We had our first workshop today in the new space as well. It was during the workshop that the truck pulled up and installed the sign.  Two ladies painted formal chippendale chairs in Napoleonic Blue for a modern take on this old style mahogany chair. One of the ladies is putting them in her new home in the kitchen (the chairs were her mothers) and her friend helped her by painting another one~so she only has 4 left.  One gal had a cottage table she was doing rustic finish in Arles, the golden yellow color. This was coat one~in the background is a classic chippendale style mirror getting a makeover.  

 This is the kind of stuff I do in my house...I climb up on chairs and paint stuff. 

Do you do things like this? After 3 hours all the projects were finished~

and the painters were happily on their way home with their completed projects.

 Another one of our recent additions is this vanity/desk mirror set

 in a beach glass colored combination paint job.

 Getting a chance to look around and see different styles and colors

 and feel the finishes is one of the things we offer at our shop.

Betsy Speert came by and blogged about her visit at the new shop!

Click here to see more.

 We are working on our wall of antique and vintage mirrors~

I really love old mirrors. I love them when they are cloudy

 or have some of the silvering damaged, I think they add 

so much personality to a space. 

Mirrors are almost always the right accessory for a room! 

After the class I left early to head home and do laundry and wash some dropcloths and prepare a roasted chicken dinner. The guys were on their own~I asked them to 

send me a fun photo for the blog and this was the most acceptable one I could publish!

Business has been great and we are so happy to be in our new location! 

Running a business is filled with guessing and making decisions

 that you hope will pan out in your favor and while you never know, 

we are thankful that it appears to be the right one for Maison Decor.

So while the guys are still in Reading at the store, 

I am getting this blog off while the chicken is in the oven.  

I fed and walked the dogs~did you know that Justin and his girlfriend Madison 

live in the apartment we have in our home now? 

That means Sylvia lives with us too. 

She is a little mischievous girl...likes to "play" when the older dogs 

Tobey and Dillon have no interest. she likes to chew paper, 

chew laces off shoes, rip holes in hooked rugs...all that kind 

of good puppy stuff.  I swear as I am writing this very sentence 

I look over and she is chewing on the living room hooked rug!! 

GRRRRR!

Who Me???

Tobey would rat her out in a second if he could talk...

but the piece of paper on her mouth tells all. 

That was from an hour earlier when she was in her paper shredder mode...

now I guess she wants to get the carpets. 

So with that I am signing off!