Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

I had been reading a lot about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  It's not cheap ($40 a quart) and they don't offer a ton of colors but it has some real advantages - it requires no preparation, it doesn't smell, and a little goes a long way.  When I checked their list of "stockists" I found that I could buy it not far from here - at Luxury for Less in Ponte Vedra Beach.

To prove the "no preparation" part to myself, it tested it on a 20 year-old Target stool that I had been wanting to paint black.  The stool originally had a hard, shiny finish but damned if two coats of the paint didn't cover it completely.  I loved that I didn't have to sand or strip before I painted - you just get out the paint brush and start painting.

The paint is designed to be used with Annie Sloan Soft Wax (not cheap either!) - you let the paint cure for about 24 hours and then wax the finish.  I love the wax too!  It is so soft and unlike some other expensive wax, it doesn't stink.  In fact I went quite crazy waxing every piece of furniture in sight.

So.....I have these railings on my stairs that I've hated for 20 years - they just scream '80s.  The hard, shiny finish clashes with my rug and the furniture on the landing.  I did some research on what I'd have to do to stain them a better color and it turned out to be more work than I'd consider - strip, bleach, restain, refinish...no.  Then I thought about having the railings removed and replaced with simple black wrought iron.  That would involve finding someone to remove them and probably repairing drywall and paint.  And, some day I might do that.

But, in the meantime, it occurred to me that this might be a perfect place for chalk paint.  For $40, what did I have to lose?  If I didn't like it, I could always go to the iron railing plan.

I checked the paint swatches and Annie Sloan Old White is the perfect complement to Benjamin Moore Linen White.

The before and after:

    
I'm so pleased with the results!  Even though it took three coats, I used less than a pint of the paint.  They're "curing" right now and tomorrow I'll follow up with a coat of wax.

Rainy Day

It was a good day to organize photographs - some going back to the '60s.

Den Bookcase

To match the new pillows, I changed some of the accessories on the small bookcase in my den.  I finally found a perfect home for some Japanese fishing floats I received for Christmas last year.  And I was able to add a vintage globe (ca 1947) and some glass insulators.  The glass insulators are all from Whitall Tatum, where my grandfather worked.

Den Pillows

I decided the pillows with black trim did nothing to complement the coral and white pillows and that they would look better with solid pillows in a deeper coral.  No problem to make them, right?  Wrong.  Coral is a very difficult color to match!  I looked at every fabric and sample at Calico Corners and Boca Bargoons and I found one special order that was close...name of the color was Persimmon.

Then I pulled out an old swatch I had clipped at Boca Bargoons a few years ago and I like the way it looked.  Fortunately they still had it as well as a deeper shade of the same aqua.  I whipped out that sewing machine and got to work.

I love the way this looks (and I discovered the pillows look better with narrower flanges) but many of the black accessories in the room looked too heavy.  That set off a re-accessorizing frenzy.  Fortunately, I got pretty lucky at Marshall's.  It also inspired me to perform an overdue tchotchke purge/reorganization!

Tulips

Suddenly available in Publix and not that expensive....I'm surprised at how much I enjoy having fresh flowers in the house!

Cooking Area Complete

Will from Creative Cabinet Refacing finished the cabinet work around the new range and microwave today...so nice to have that project done. The cabinet above the microwave has turned out to be a good place to store kitchen linens which leaves me with an empty drawer in the bottom cabinets. Hmm...how to reorganize that space?

Microwave Hung

Not surprisingly, the opening for my cooking appliances was not square. This has happened with blinds and new countertops too. So, one spacer at the side will need to be reworked. That should be done along with the doors over the microwave next week.