Holiday Decorating All Year Round

I spent part of yesterday at my daughter's house babysitting for the little one.  She is in the midst of her holiday decorating and commented that she had the perfect Christmas house - a bright green and white kitchen, a gold living room with plaid rose and green chairs, and a rose and apple green family room.  One of her girls has a deep pink bedroom and the other aqua with pinks and yellows.  All that is needed is the tree and accessories and the whole house is sparkling with Christmas cheer!  I had sewn for her two rose and green plaid tablecloths for the larger than usual crowd expected Christmas eve and was delivering those as well - so she is almost all set!

I also noticed this wonderful symmetry in many of the holiday settings shown in the December issues of decorating magazine.  I follow a favorite Arkansas designer and blogger, Tobi Farley, link and through her found the magazine "At Home in Arkansas".  One article featured another designer Cynthia Smiley, who has a lovely home all ready for the holidays and, again, all she has to do is add some decorations.

Cynthia Smiley's Holiday Kitchen

My own home (and taste) also provide good foundational colors for the seasonal decorations with a lot of reds in my formal areas and an apple green master suite.  I also have a number of great refurbished chairs available on-line that would provide a good basis for a cheerful holiday house all year around - link to on-line store!

Chairs for a Holiday House All Year Around

Holiday Decorating - Including My Pieces

Sunroom Tree in My Home

I am excited to get the holiday decorating issues of the various magazines I subscribe to - seven have arrived over the past few days. I will be scrutinizing each and every article and photo for inspiration.   We have mostly finished our decorating and have installed two full-size Christmas trees this year - one in our "sunroom" and the other in a cozy corner of the red dining room.  The place feels magical, particularly at night.  

Dining Room Tree

Although I do get Better Homes and Gardens magazine, I am always impressed with the Better Homes and Garden website link.  It is one of the ones that I do not find irritating to get multiple updates during the week - they are always interesting and inspirational.  (The other website updates I like is for Real Simple - great ideas and recipes link).

Recently, I found a link to living rooms with holiday decorations on the Better Homes and Garden site - each bright and unique - many different approaches to decorating for the holidays.  I reviewed several with the idea of inserting some of my refurbished pieces and could easily imagine it.  I would guess this comes under the category of "more value for less money" since my pieces are reasonable, American-made and well constructed, and support green decorating - a nice combination!

BHG Living - Two of my Neutral Chairs

BHG Living Room - Two of my Red Chairs

Sharing - Writing Blogs by Colour Me Happy

I have now been writing this blog since February of this year and am close to 5000 "views" from all around the world - this is fun and kind of exciting.  The original recommendation to do a blog came from a friend who is an exceptional painter and has been a successful writer for many years.  I asked her to recommend some ways I could add to my marketing efforts for my "little green refurbishing business".   She immediately said - start a blog and keep it going!  One of the challenges is to find new and interesting ways to keep it going without being TOO focused on the original intention which is selling my refurbished classic upholstered furniture on-line.   I have found a number of themes that I have woven through my blogs that have led to finding fellow bloggers - which is very inspirational.  There are creative people out there with thousands of followers and multiple topics.  One that I have been admiring is "Colour Me Happy".   link.  As suggested, the author is a "color expert" but weaves that interest into many topics - all well developed and displayed.  This is one of the best blogs I have found to follow and mimic.

She offers three general recommendations for writing design blogs - which is probably a good description of my type of blog:

a)   Be bossy (but in a charming way).  People research and follow blogs to get answers to investigate and get answers to questions.   So, express your opinion and help others find solutions.  I have been extensively checking out "Annie Sloan Chalk Paint" blogs to get advice on using the famous paints and found them immensely helpful.

b)  Define your aesthetic as best you can.  Being "wishy-washy" on blogs does not create followers or readers.  Sometimes it takes a while to understand "your aesthetic" but writing helps you achieve that.  I find that I have a definite decorating style (more eclectic than traditional) and writing the blog and following others has helped me develop a clearer sense of that style.

c)  Don't try to please everyone.  The beauty of blogs and the mass communication that it supports is that there are sites and resources for everyone.  The article suggests that you define yourself (your product/suggestions) and stick with it.  It also suggests that you should promote what you like and post what appeals to you.  That's what will bring people back!

 

I have found her blogs to be particularly useful and in honor of the sentiment that I should please myself and be a little bossy - I am showing some classic pieces I have that I think are just wonderful and would love to find homes for ... in the spirit of a little self-promotion and clarity about what I like!!  These are elegant and would fit well into a well-edited eclectic setting!

You Choose Fabric Sales - Before and After - An Update

Several months ago I started selling "You Choose Fabric" upholstered furniture on eBay.  I regularly get comments and questions from potential buyers indicating that they love a particular piece but would need to have it in another fabric in order to use it in their decor.  So, I started showing the "before" pieces with some fabric options and a price tag that included custom upholstery work by the masters at my local Song's/Lee's Upholstery shop in Norcross, Georgia.  Here's an analysis of that effort and a status report.  I have sold three items in the "You Choose Fabric" category and show before and after below.  I have found it hard to sell this way and conclude one or more of the following:

• It is hard for people to visualize how a piece of furniture can be transformed from a not so great "before" to a wonderful "after" piece of furniture until it is complete.
• People often don't know what they want until they see it - then it either is a "YES" or a "NO".  I have had a lot of questions and on-line discussions with potential buyers who are not able to make up their minds about whether they want to go ahead with a particular fabric even when they clearly like the piece in question and are somewhat clear about fabric choices.
• Even if I have a buyer and a willing collaborator, they are nervous about the outcome.  I have had to say that I will not require them to buy the pieces if they don't really like the results.  Fortunately all around, this has not yet happened.

It is easy for me to list the "You Choose Fabric" options so I will continue to see to sell some pieces that way but I am not finding it as easy to do as I had hoped.

Here are some great transformations:

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Adventures - Including Some Beefs

I know I've already posted today but couldn't resist sharing my more recent experiences with the famous Annie Sloan Chalk Paints.  I am almost finished with my first piece and ready to bring it to my upholsterer for a redo - I tentatively selected a really nice heavy plaid fabric (from famous local designer closing business sale) but am a little concerned that it doesn't look sufficiently "French".  It does, however, match well with the finished paint.

Finished Chair with Tentative Fabric Selection

My overall assessment:   It is definitely a more uneven, "chalkier" (really!) finish than latex or spray but does have an interesting look.   I still don't know about the wax.  I put on two layers - all the youtube videos and blogs I researched advise putting on thin layers - letting dry (up to 24 hours) and buffing.  The interesting thing is that the wax can itself tells you almost none of this - particularly waiting to buff.  If you were trying to follow only instructions provided by the company, I'm not sure you could do this.  And here is my beef - WHY would the company itself not provide better instructions for the VERY high cost of this product - maybe even a sheet of tips and techniques instructions in each can?  Evidently, there is a $25 book I can buy to get some of those.  The other thing I've concluded is that the reason this is called a "girl's paint" (patronizingly, I think) is not because it is so easy and messy-free to use but because most men I know would not spend hours (at least) checking out blogs and videos to get information about how to use this product.  And, we all know, men would not spend $25 on an instruction book and actually read it!!

Enough of my rantings.  I never give up on anything so I started project number two today - a country French style (American made) chair and somewhat mismatched ottoman.

Pieces I am about to Refinish with Annie Sloan Paints

Since I have concluded that the first coat is really mostly a "primer" type coat, the painting process did not take as long.  I had planned to take the cording off to get to all of the wood on the chair but it proved to be pretty tightly attached so my upholsterer will have to struggle with that - and hopefully not too much paint will come off or be missing.  Having finished the first coat,  I notice an interesting phenomenon that was slightly present on the first chair but is very pronounced on this piece - the paint dries in a crackle-like finish.  I'm not sure I dislike it, it just wasn't planned and I doubt if I could do it if I wanted to .... interesting!  I will have to investigate to see if this is unusual and why it may be happening.

See Crackle Finish on Painted Piece - After One Coat

Project Number Two - After One Coat

In Praise of the Vintage Look

Recently, as I was working on my painting project (see prior blog), I found an article in the newspaper I was using as a drop cloth entitled "The Vintage Look is Increasingly Trendy" by Emily Weinstein of the NY Times.  In it, she talks about the growing popularity of the handmade, the old, and the authentic.  She laments, to some extent, the fact that the major furnishings retailers such as Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn and West Elm are featuring new items based on vintage designs which of course makes them much less individualistic and authentic.  The market for vintage does seem huge.  In traveling several weekends ago to the Scott's Antique Market's monthly extravaganza in the Atlanta area, I was amazed at the number of people both exhibiting and actively buying - obviously in quest of that which is unique and authentic.   This brings me to my own quest for the well-build American vintage upholstered furniture pieces that I seek and refurbish - and that I sell throughout the country.  I hope that a comment made in the article is accurate:  "... the style's popularity has been a decade in the making, and won't be fading soon"!

Vintage French Chair in Silk Plaid

Vintage Cane-sided Wing Back Chairs (sold)

Vintage (60's) Club Chairs

My First Attempt at Using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint - FINALLY!

Setting up my Supplies

I have had a series of blogs about Annie Sloan Chalk Paints http://www.anniesloan.com/.  First, I was convinced to use the  paints at a designer's garage sale over a month ago.  Then, I visited several shops in at attempt to buy the costly but evidently magical chalk paint (and waxes).  Finally, I ordered the chalk paint online from a shop called Cottage Attitudes in Alabama link to shop email address.  Vicki, the proprietor, has been a great contact.   The shipment arrived the next day!!

So, today I am using the paint for the first time.  It's a dreary Sunday morning here in Georgia but the temperature is mild so my garage is a perfect spot for the work.  My sweet husband helps set up the chair to make it easier (and less stressful on my back) to paint.  There are almost NO instructions on the can including drying time, minimum temperature to use in (suggest not letting the product freeze), or much about application techniques.  I choose a French style chair I had picked up several weeks ago that has a dirty wood finish with hints of black as my first project.

Chair to be Refinished

Detail of Wood Finish

Even though the instructions do say that cleaning the woodwork is not necessary, I cannot help but use my favorite wood-cleaning product (Goof-off) to take off  surface dirt and oils.  My rag comes away almost black so I am glad I took this step.  Next I opened the Old White Annie Sloan Paint can and stir.  It is as smooth as silk and has the consistency of heavy buttermilk!  So far so good!

I use a 1" nylon brush and it takes about 40 minutes to do the first coat.  The label does suggest that only one coat is needed for most applications.  I am studying the finish which is doing some interesting things and it does look like an old French style finish.  It is not quite as smooth as I would like and, with no prior experience, I am not certain whether the waxing step will take care of some of that.  I think I will apply another coat and see what happens.

After One Coat

One thing that is surprising although I had been told about this - the paint has no odor that I can detect.  One seller told me that you can use in in your kitchen and clean up at the sink!  Well, that's something to think about if the weather turns colder.  More later on this subject!