Swoon Interiors

interiors that make your heart skip a beat.

Have you heard of chalk paint?

There’s a lot of buzz about Annie Sloane Chalk Paint goin’ on …

 … I’ve heard things like, “it’s the perfect paint” and “no fail” for painting furniture. The wood needs no sanding, no priming, no preparation, NADA! 

Check out some of these pieces that have been painted using Chalk Paint.

It’s perfect for giving furniture a painted French or Swedish look with lots of patina. The colors have been inspired by European 18th century furniture and have been made bright and rich, but you can easily mix any of them to be softer and lighter with the addition of Old White.

The Annie Sloan website says that the paint is also very quick drying, so you can finish a project in one day.
After painting, you are supposed to apply a clear wax with a brush and then, if desired, a dark wax to mellow the colors and give it an aged patina.

So, I have a little desk and hutch in my office that is a bit dinged up and is stained a dark brown. I have been wanting to paint it but have been a little intimidated about the amount of sanding, striping and priming it would take.  I think I have found my answer!

Because this is produced in the UK, there are very few retailers who sell it on this side of the pond. And there are only 3, in fact, in Illinois! Carter’s Cottage Interiors in DeKalb has a website where you can order the paint directly.

After much deliberation I chose French Linen for the outside and Louis Blue for the inside of the hutch.

I can’t wait to get them and experiment.  And so, until then, I will just say …
… To Be Continued!

Happy Halloween

Hope everyone has a great Halloween and that your kids get lots of your favorite candy in their bucket of loot. (That you can steal  enjoy after they’ve gone to bed, perhaps?)
We’ve got a Bears football player and a Pirate at our house.
What’s your recipe for a great Halloween?

My little gallery …

I finally did it.

If you read my post, Creating Your Own Gallery Wall, you may remember that I have been collecting pieces to create my own art gallery-inspired wall. I recently had a few things reframed and yesterday I decided that they have been languishing up in a spare closet for too long. So I got out my hammer and nails and got to work.
I’m really happy with the results.  It’s just a mix of things that make me happy … travel and nature inspired, Venice, Paris, a vintage postcard here, an old map there, a childhood sketch of mine … 

It didn’t even take all that long … I roughly laid them out on the floor in the layout I wanted, hung the two largest pieces first then played around with the rest.
I see this wall right when I step out of my bedroom in the morning and now it makes me smile.
It can also be seen from our main living area as you look up the staircase.

To read about some of my favorite examples of gallery walls and my sources for great art, click here.

Back with more black …

This is kind of a Part II to last week’s post In A Black Mood, featuring a variety of lovely rooms painted black.

Over the weekend, my friend Julie sent me pictures of her beautiful black master bedroom and I just had to share.

I think it is so, so elegant and I love that she kept things simple with white bedding and black and white curtains. The black walls give it depth, warmth and drama.

I love how her furniture looks against the black walls too. She used Tricorn Black by Sherwin Williams. Such a lovely “cocoon” don’t you think?
I also came across this gorgeous living room in the latest issue of House Beautiful. Again, everything else in the room has been kept simple and neutral, yet the rooms still feels quite dramatic.
Designer Patrick Sutton suggests Benjamin Moore Iron Mountain in a semi-gloss and to use metallic accents for a “black-tie” dressiness.

Finally, more black-spotting … I have been seeing a lot of black window panes lately and they kind of make me swoon.  I think they give a room and sort of historical feel and are an especially nice way to frame a lovely view. I love something so unexpected. Most people never give much thought to the color of their windowpanes.  Do you?
House Beautiful

Have a great week!