The following green and wood chair is the only one left from our original kitchenette set when we first moved in back in 1997.  I rehabilitated the tiled top table to match our new kitchen decor. It turned out folk artsy and is happy back in the warm kitchen ( I had both these items outside, under our covered patio, for years).

I decided to paint the chair legs light blue and the chair seat and spindle back, a creamy white. It informed me it wanted to feel light and happy, so I stenciled a flower burst in the middle of the seat. I like to transform pieces with political debates, news pundits ranting and sports in the background for some reason. Painting the stencil in uplifting bright yellow and the light blue made it just a tad different from every other stenciled seat in the world.  I added a trio of smaller flowers in the front two corners. I distressed only the legs a little bit so we could remember the original green. What a joyful place to sit! The chair is airy and works pretty much in any room of the house with its whimsy.

I never knew I had such a sense of humor or do you think the furniture is laughing at me?

My friend K handed down a coffee table to me many years ago. She had sewed up a cushion to place on top so it can be a bench too. I have been using it at our entryway, covered by cloth that goes with our decor more. Here you see our shaven Cappuccina atop the fabric and photo bombing. The table has good, heavy bones, completely made of hardwood with curvy legs and carved detail all around four sides.

After going up to the mountains, I realized we could use a bench in our bedroom. The platform bed is so high, I need to sit on the floor to tie my shoes. The cushion is sage green which will go excellently with our bedroom setting; walls of a sort of olive color, bedspread in gold, cream, sage and burgundy.

The table is naturally weathered and distressed from all the wear and tear over the years. I believe it originally belonged to her parents and they are in their 80’s and she inherited it when she moved out in her twenties and she is now in her late 40’s.

Needless to say, when a piece comes into your possession, it must tell a story in order for you to want to up cycle it because it is a lot of work and you sort of obsess over it. For me, I need to take my time to figure out where it will be most happy, what colors it wants to wear and what finish it is dying to try out and change into – sort of like a human makeover. The piece must speak to me and sometimes it is not that communicative or speaks a different language or I am just not listening well enough… so, I give it some time, I marinate, I focus and eventually, we are able to confabulate.

The coffee table/bench very much wanted to live up in the mountains and after taking measurements, it looks like it will fit in nicely right under a set of windows. Color-wise, I took my cue from the cushion and I knew it wanted to look worn and loved. You just know. Here it is in my TV/den/Workroom sans the cushion which is headed up next time I visit the mountains (this piece is so solid it is too difficult for me to take up by myself).

I antiqued, distressed and crackled the top, gave it a dark wax finish and buffed. Voila! I hope it will be happy in its new role and second act.

I will share what we accomplished in seven hours on Saturday at Peinture with lots of direction and well thought out planning. Colors were selected, we worked in pairs and steps had to be incrementally layered atop others. All our pieces were waxed and buffed at the end by our own hands as well.

Not anyone’s artistic productions looked the same, even though we all had the same everything, because everyone’s touch is different. That is what makes a handmade item so unique. It is a stamp of your expression via a subconscious road that melds with the wood and the paint and your hands and your brush and your rag and your special touch and perception in this world.

Starting from the top left with the bluish trim piece. Technique learned – Dark color washing using AS Louis Blue and dark wax.

The brown wood is stained with a mixture of AS paints to create an expresso finish on raw wood. We then added more depth with dark wax. Techniques learned – Mixing colors and recipes and staining.

The chair leg was first painted in AS Scandinavian Pink then after drying, we added a layer of AS Versailles. Techniques learned – Two color distressing and before waxing and after waxing distressing and different tools used. We did the top in “before” and bottom in “after” then waxed it all up at the end of class.

The yellow slats look and feel like barn wood. We used AS ochre and Technique learned – Rustic Matte Crackling. I got to try two because supposedly I messed up the first one ( see how it is wavy? – it’s supposed to be straight and like raked with ridges). I learn best when I make a mistake.

The dark blue trim is AS Old Violet (MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE COLOR IN THE SERIES) technique learned – Gilded waxing. I used brass, old gold and King’s gold. Probably my favorite thing to do EVER!!! Can anyone say “Bling?”

The wide grey floor base moulding is done in AS Paris Grey (one of AS’s first colors and just beautiful) with AS pure white which has no pigment really. Technique learned – Dry brushing. We also learned to make it look like linen fabric with a weaved look but I decided not to (that looks better on a flat piece anyway). I liked that my practice section simulated driftwood.

The next technique and top right plank that looks like snakeskin but was supposed to look like old wood painted over and over over time, is my version of Frottage, an Old World technique, using three different colors and lots of manipulation with different papers.

Bottom left is also one of my favorites, a textured stencil technique using AS Duck Egg Blue as a base and AS Olive and Cream for the stencil. Then we dark waxed it so it look aged. Loving this look.

In between the stenciled side and the decoupaged side, we taped it and then at the end of class just peeled off the tape and dark waxed the raw wood so we learned the technique of how to tape off and what to do so not to bleed the paints plus what dark wax looks like on just plain raw wood.

And last but not least, one of the longer processes and techniques, the craqueleur over decoupage and then antiquing it. This was a standout piece and involved but loved it. We used AS Chateau Grey as our base at the beginning of class, we decoupaged and learned the correct way of cutting, etc. as soon as the paint was dry and we had moved on to other pieces, then we did step one of the craqueleuring before lunch and let it dry. Right before the day was done, we added step two and dark waxed.

I’m exhausted just explaining this class.

I Played with Annie Sloan paints and learned techniques from a certified AS stockest. The paint has only been in the US for five years and it has been selling like wildfire and getting increasingly more popular, especially with interior decorators, up cyclers, and flea market flippers.Only a few trained and specially picked store owners are allowed to stock the product. I have made my own chalk paint, tried other brands and I can safely say there is nothing like AS paints and her soft waxes.

The workshop rules.

The workshop, or ATELIER for us francophiles, is at the back of the shop.

In the foreground is the instructor’s (who also happens to be the owner) set up and this is just a small slice of the workshop tables. It was lunchtime and I sneaked in a picture. My pocket book is on the right with pink and green stripes. There were eleven of us and about  a dozen techniques to explore and experiment with.