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

The Upstairs Bathroom

This is my upstairs main family bathroom which I have just finished - well almost!! 

Not that I had too much to do as you can in this before photo from the estate agents brochure - the bones are all there, just some cosmetic finishes!  I loved the bath, fittings and tiles so it was really a matter of painting.  When it comes to colours in my home I love soft, muted tones.  The more faded and subtle the better, so the red had to go!  I only 'do' red at Christmas!

So, I just painted this room - Farrow & Ball Off White on the upper part of the wall and Farrow & Ball French Grey on the tongue and groove paneling on the bottom part. I ADORE Farrow & Ball paints, I have tried other paint brands but nothing compares to the matte finish of F&B!   I really wanted this room to be calm and serene - somewhere warm for indulging in a little pampering and taking long, hot, baths.  We also put up the shower rail although looking at it here I think it would look better in a dark brown/black metal like the table - I don't think I've ever seen one in that colour though - have you??  I suppose I could paint it . . . The roman blind is from Ikea.  The shower curtain with a linen -ey fabric layer is from B&Q.

The flowers are scented stock and are soooo heavily scented - divine . . .

You must be really tired of seeing this mirror, as I've mentioned before I have two of them - I love them.  Now, I have one in my office which you can see from the Living room and this is the other one which was in the downstairs bathroom but I just moved it to here as I put another mirror in it's place  Show you pics of the downstairs bathroom soon!  Anyway, this mirror is staying here as I think it suits the feel of the room and fits perfectly into the angle of the ceiling.  The upstairs of our house is in the eaves so we have a lot of slanted ceilings - which I love as they're cute and add much needed character into our new build house - though difficult for mirror and furniture placement!

The dressing gown and matching nightdress are 100% cotton perfect for Spring and Summer!  They were another find at Penney's (Primark).

Below some artwork to dress the walls . . .

I think these two framed floral botanicals are so sweet!  I found them in a charity shop in Edinburgh, Scotland when I visited for a weekend a few years ago.  They were only £1.50 each!

I found this print in a framemakers in Cork city, I went in to collect another print and while waiting spotted this piece.  I couldn't get over how similar the boy in the painting is to my eldest son Aran when he was that age and the woman looks a bit like me!  The resemblance is uncanny!  It's as if someone captured one of our strolls in the woods with their paintbrush.  I love how the light falls through the trees . . .

Below is a little something I put together for Valentine's Day for fun!  It's a portrait of Darcy (Colin Firth) that I scanned and printed from a magazine!  The frame is a very heavy iron piece that was actually a broken Christmas decoration that I found in a bargain bin in a department store - I knew it would come in handy!!  My fascination with Pride & Prejudice and Jane Austen will never abate - I'm a hopeless romantic . . .

The marble vanity unit is an antique given to us by our Aunty B!  We were talking to Aunty B at Christmas and she had heard that we were doing up the bathrooms in an old world/vintage style and she said to me, "I have one of those old fashioned marble vanity units for you but I don't know if you'd be interested in it . . . "   Interested??? Did the woman say marble? old?? of course I was interested!!! I told Aunty B I would take it before I'd even laid eyes on it and two weeks later it travelled from Dublin to Cork in the back of our car to come live with us.  I think it's happy here!   I love it - the beige marble is streaked with cream and the wood is a lovely warm dark brown.   It's not ideally placed in the bathroom, I'd prefer another two foot between it and the sink but I love it - so it's staying!!  I also love that it was a gift from our wonderful sweet aunt - Thank you Aunty B!!

The wooden box with the cute clasp was a presentation box of wine we received as a gift many years ago!  I use it as a jewelry box!

The heart shaped soap and the scented linen bag are all from Mathilde M a french soap company.

This is a scented (lavender) ceramic piece with a cherub detail and a cute little bow (from Mathilde M).

This room is very still, very quiet.  When the blind is down, the sunlight filters through washing the room with a soft glow . . . it's my little place to unwind and relax.   A rose scented candle, a few drops of lavender essential oil in the bath and a little glass of wine -  heaven!