50 Shades of Grey . . .

 No, I'm not talking about the sexy book that everyone I meet is talking about, I'm talking about the vast array of different paint colours I have tried in my quest for the perfect shade of grey!  I have been on the hunt for this perfect shade of grey for years!  I think I've tried them all.  French grey, blue grey, shale grey, pale grey, silver grey etc, etc, etc.  I have finally found it!!!!!  At last.   It's an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint mix of Paris Grey with Louis Blue.  It is THE ONE!!!!

So now that I've found it I've been itching to paint something in my home in this colour (I've already painted half of the furniture in my shop in this mix!).  One piece in my dining room which is open to my kitchen was crying out for a make over.  I've had this lovely French style Armoire for years, lovely but bland and in serious need of a spicy transformation!  Up to recently it had a pink toile hanging behind the chicken wire but I have built up a small collection of various white pieces and I wanted to display them so thought this was an ideal piece to paint in my new favourite colour.  Here she is - a little drab and decidedly unsexy!

The problem with displaying white on white is that everything kind of blurs together so that nothing stands out.  Bland!  Then I saw this beautiful dresser (below) on my good friend Loi's blog Tone on Tone.   Not only is Loi's cabinet divine but the dark background inside the cabinet makes the white pieces stand out so well which got me thinking about my own piece.  Loi is the master of display (well actually Loi is the master of many things, interior design, gardening, photography . . . but it was his mastery of display that inspired me here!) for more inspiring display ideas and general all round inspiration you can check out his blog here.

Loi's Cabinet

You can see here my white cake stand is lost against the white background - time for some paint!

I opened a large can of Paris Grey (1litre) and mixed in a Sample pot of Louis Blue (100mls) and gave it a good mix.

I then gave the Armoire two coats of my perfect grey . . . (sorry for bad photo - took on iphone in dark - left camera in shop!)

When the grey paint was dry I then got a small brush and applied some Annie Sloan Old White chalk paint on the raised carving on the Armoire to make the detail stand out.   The minute I started painting the raised moulding the details just came alive, I hadn't realised how pretty it was!  I just dabbed a small paintbrush in a tray of paint and wiped most of it off the brush and then wiped the brush along the carved areas as I wanted  the beautiful grey to show through. 

When the Armoire was dry I then started waxing.  I wanted an antiqued finish so I used Annie Sloan clear and dark wax.  I first applied clear was all over the front of the piece.  I used a large Annie Sloan waxing brush, brushing on the clear wax on the flat bits and using a 'stabbing' action on the mouldings to get the wax in to the nooks and crannies.  Then I got some old lint free cloths, in this case old muslin squares (from baby!!) and I wiped the clear wax in to the paint taking the excess off as I wiped.   Now I getting somewhere . . .

When I had finished applying clear wax to the front section of the armoire I started applying the dark wax.  I used a mixture of 1 part Annie Sloan Dark Wax and 1 part White Spirit.  Mix these together well, mashing the wax in to the white spirit with an old fork.

Then barely dipping the brush in the mixture I applied in small sections wiping away the excess immediately.  You need to work quickly with the dark wax wiping as you go. 

Again, I used a "stabbing" action to apply the dark wax to get in to all the nooks and crannies.  Then when you wipe the wax off you leave the dark wax in the crevices which give a lovely patina to the piece.

I applied the wax in small sections working my way around the piece.

Here you can see a close up of the moulding, isn't it pretty?? completely lost when the whole piece was white.

Work in progress . . .

Rose detail . . .

 

 Close up of the difference between a piece finished in dark wax (on left) and clear wax (on right)

 the full piece antiqued on the left . . .  so you can see the difference . . .  In some areas I put a little too much dark wax on so just got a cloth put a little clear wax on it and wiped off some of the dark wax until I got the right colour.  When finished I then applied a final coat of clear wax all over the whole piece and wiped off the excess with a lint free cloth.

 AFTER . . .

The finished Armoire . . . from drab to . . .  something with a little more va va voom!

 As you can see my white pieces look SO much better against the grey background. 

I love that I can also now see the pretty details on the carved mouldings. . .

I had great fun arranging my French white dinnerware!   I cut a few hydrangeas from the garden (Hydrangea Limelight), I love hydrangeas - do you?? 

 I've also painted a few other pieces lately but haven't finished waxing them yet??  Yes, a few of them are in various shades of grey!   And no, I haven't read the book - . . .  yet . . .  have you?? what did you think??

Sharon
xxxx

La Vie en Rose Boutique

La Vie en Rose, our new shop is now OPEN!!!! Yaaaaay!!!

Here we are on the morning of the opening, tired but happy!   The night before we opened we were still unpacking and labeling stock until the 3.00am.  Our good friends Jan and Jamie (a big thank you to both) were there too and we couldn't have done it without them.   The next morning despite having a shop herself (a beautiful ladies clothing boutique in Kinsale called Jane) Jan arrived to help us finish getting the last few bits in order and did the wonderful window display - what a friend!!   Jan's husband Paul also came around putting up some pictures, clocks and then took some photos - thank you Paul!  Here we all are just before we opened the doors . . .

From left to right: Jan, our eldest son Aran, Dylan (Jan & Paul's son) Paul, Me and my husband Niall.




This is Diva's cafe owned by the lovely Shannen right beside our shop (the white one)!

It was a stunning day, sunny with bright blue skies.   There were people waiting outside to come in - our first customers!! 

Jan's lovely window display . . .

We still had some things to finish in the shop but decided to go ahead and open anyway rather than delay the opening.  Since opening a week ago we now have finished (putting up some lighting fixtures and hanging more mirrors etc - so more pictures to come).

I asked Shannen from Diva to do some nibbles and a punch and she prepared some delicious platters and made a gorgeous Sangria!!  Here I am pouring some sangria for a customer . . .

In the background in this picture you can see a metal wall plaque with the words 'Keep Calm and Carry on' - that's what we did all day, as although it was SO exciting, we were a little nervous aswell!

A silhouette lamp next to the home accessories - as you can see there is a definite rose theme throughout the shop!!

The shop has had a great first week and we've got a lot of positive feedback from locals and customers which is great!  We actually managed to have a glass of sangria ourselves and here we are at the front door toasting our new venture.

We've done a lot more to the shop since it opened and promise to post more pics soon!!

Again, a big thank you to Jan, Paul and Jamie for all their hard work and also a very big thank you to YOU - all my readerrs, followers and my lovely new customers for all your support and comments, it's greatly appreciated.

Sharon
xxxx

Spring Living Room

Welcome to my Living Room!

Come in!  This is the view from the hall.   I did a lot of work out in the garden yesterday but then it started to rain :(   You know what they say - God invented rainy days so that gardeners can get their housework done!!  So, I moved inside and started Spring cleaning.  Yes, I know I'm a bit late with the ole Spring Clean thing but between one thing and another I haven't got round to it!  Anyway, better late than never!!  So, I started on my Living Room and gave it a thorough de-clutter and clean.   Now it's much better!

I can't believe it's taken me so long to get to this room!  I really wanted to give it a little makeover so it feels fresh and Spring-like.   You can check out what the living room looked like when we first moved in and what it looked like at Christmas, by clicking here.  The photos I took at Christmas are so dark but you can make out what's there!   Out went the rug and mismatched photo frames.  I also put my faux fur throw (which I love) away until Autumn.  This room feels so much lighter and airier now.  This is the view into my new office - the making of which you can read by clicking here.  Double doors into office open . . .

. . . and closed . . .

To add a little Spring colour I treated myself to a new hydrangea and zinc metal planter.

I also bought these new cushions for the couch - they were a bargain buy - 7 or 8 euro at Penney's (Primark)!!  The couch is from Ikea.

Love my new hydrangea . . .

The roman blinds are inexpensive ones from Argos . . .

If you read my Easter Sunday post, you'll know that I recently bought a mirror for over my fireplace - problem is it doesn't fit!!! so we have do a job on the fireplace - more about that later!  At the moment, I have this piece of original art which I love which is unusual for me as I generally like more traditional pieces.

The strange beige strip around the hearth is a rubber bumper so that little baba doesn't bump his head!!

 

 

This is my office chair I bring in to the Living room on occasion . . .

 A French candelabra and framed postcard . . .

 I love these French metal round tables - they are so handy and easy to move around the house when you want a change, I have them in this pale French grey and also in black . . .

 

My treasured white marble lamp!

 

 Spring means baby herb plants, I like to have a few around the house - this is rosemary.

 

 
One of the things on my 'to do' list is print and frame lots of photos and create a gallery wall somewhere - I've done three so far - at this rate the wall should be done by about 2020!!!  From left to right - photo number 1 - Niall and myself (hate myself in photos - I'm just not photogenic), photo number 2:  my eldest son Aran on the day of his graduation - isn't he handsome! photo number 3: Niall with our baby Criostoir - I love this photo of Criostoir laughing!!

It's really amazing what a good clean and de-clutter can do to a room.  I actually enjoyed doing it too!  I put on my Amelie CD (from the film Amelie) and flew threw it in no time! 

I really like my new cushions too - love a bargain!

 

Curly metal photo frame . . .

 

 I always have a few books on the coffee table and swap them out from time to time.  On my coffee table at the moment . . .   

Pure Style by Jane Cumberbatch

At Home with White by Atlanta Bartlett

French Home by Josephine Ryan

Farrow & Ball The Art of Colour by Coleman & Addeo

 

And that's it!  Hope you enjoyed the little tour round my living room!  After all the cleaning and de-cluttering I think I'll be taking it easy for the rest of the weekend!  Now, I think a nice cup of tea, my Easter egg -  haven't eaten it yet!  and the film Somethings Gotta Give!  yes - that sounds like the makings of good Saturday evening!  : )

 Enjoy your weekend!

Sharon

xxxx

ps - just reading over this before I hit the publish button!  phew - it's a long post - congratulations if you made it to the end and your reading this : )