Pallet Wall

We've been hard at work on our new retail space at 

607 Vintage Marketplace

I have to admit, this is BY FAR my favorite space EVER...

I love it even more than our retail store

I can't wait to share lots and lots of photos with you! 

Our first project was a pallet wall

We planned on doing a pallet wall in our space in Tarpon Springs,

but then Kenny was in a motorcycle accident

and we went the quick and easy route instead

(paint!)

I didn't want the warm honey tones that pallets sometimes have

I wanted soft whites, greys, etc...

I used a variety of products to achieve the look I was after

Liming Wax from Amy Howard at Home

worked wonderful on the pallets that had a more pronounced grain

For the other pieces, I diluted the following:

Bauhaus Buff One Step Paint

Custom mixed greys using One Step

Remis Grey Toscana Paint

Pompeii Grey Toscana Paint

Here's a sneak peek...

we're saving the finished product for our "big" reveal

once our space is staged...

Don't forget...if you're local,

 the GRAND OPENING

is Friday, August 15th! 

Overcast

It's raining buckets today in "sunny" Florida

The skies are grey and cloudy

The perfect day to introduce you to our newest Real Milk Paint color

OVERCAST

This little wash-stand has the sweetest details...

Doesn't the detail at the top remind you of waves?

We opted for a slightly cottage/beachy vibe

(watching the clouds roll in at the beach in the summer is always AMAZING...

and those memories inspired this piece)

OVERCAST is the perfect grey, in my opinion...

mid-range, not too cool, not too warm

not too dark, not too light

as Goldilocks would say, "it's just right"!

We dry-brushed a bit of watered down white milk paint to provide a beachy feel

and add some contrast

As always, milk paint distresses naturally and beautifully

The outside might look old and distressed

but inside, the drawers are minty fresh and clean!

If you haven't checkout out the new colors from Real Milk Paint Company,

we encourage you to do so...and thanks for stopping by!

She's got Legs...and they are Orchid

We've been SO busy lately!

For starters, I have new colors I have NOT even opened!

I know! I can hardly believe it, either...

I took a bit of a breather the past two days,

focusing not on custom orders or clients, but on a few things I wanted to work on

just for the sake of doing it

The beauty of spring rarely strays far from my thoughts, however

and its lush beauty certainly influenced my color choice

This little cocktail table started out pretty great

How much do you LOVE those long, curvy legs?

It seemed the perfect candidate for 

Amy Howard Home's newest One Step Paint color, ORCHID

This was a really quick project...but I love the finished product

clean lines, simple finish, spectacular color

Here's the finished piece

I wanted to draw attention to those killer legs,

so I applied Amy Howard's Silver Leaf

(no Bole, just Size and Leaf)

Working on this piece today was a great way to quiet my mind

and just focus on creativity and beauty

How about you?  

Is painting simply a means to an end for you, or is it your "me time"? 

I also dipped my brush into one of the new Real Milk Paint colors,

MINTY FRESH

but that's another post!

Toscana Powder Paint

It's no secret that we LOVE to get our hands dirty

with new products...

particularly when the products AMAZE US

We've been consistently thrilled and impressed by 

Amy Howard Home's product lines

(and the bar was set PRETTY high...we don't impress easily!)

One Step wowed us

then, the Lacquer Sprays...

so of course, we could NOT wait

to get our hands on Amy's Casein (milk) Paint...Toscana!

Amy's artisans create INCREDIBLE finishes using this paint, along with some ancillary products

(photo courtesy of Amy Howard Home)

We figured we'd break you in gently...

and show you a project using JUST the Toscana paint

(we'll be offering classes on how to use all the Toscana products in March!)

Toscana is quite simple to use...if you've used any milk paint before, this is much the same

you mix with water 

(we LOVE that the container has enough room to add water, seal, and shake to mix!)

We prefer our paint a bit on the thick side, so we start with a 3/1 ration of paint to water

adjusting as needed

The piece we selected was solid wood, and we did NOTHING to the existing finish

(old stain and some sort of clear lacquer)

The biggest obstacle to success with milk paint is in selecting the proper piece...

this is NOT the paint we'd select for shiny finishes, laminate, etc

So anyway, we mixed it up, and applied in a very haphazard, sloppy manner

sort of squishing it in here and there instead of brushing it smooth

The finish you see took three coats

We love the variations of texture and color!

For even more patina, we used Amy's Antique Glaze

which is very thin and light

(translation: EASY and FORGIVING)

It really brought so much depth to the finish 

without dramatically altering the lovely, soft shade

Once dry, we sealed with our favorite Carnauba wax

Toscana is available in a lovely selection of colors and retails for $20/8oz

We are SO terribly excited to be travelling to Memphis, TN in a few weeks

to meet Amy Howard and the rest of her team

A bit about Amy Howard, in case you didn't already know!

Her company, Amy Howard Home, has been around for almost a quarter of a century

(they are most definitely NOT new to this!)

The paints we retail, and the finishes you can achieve with them,

are the very same that have been used on Amy's gorgeous reproduction pieces

For some inspiration, visit 

Amy Howard Home 

and of course Amy Howard at Home

Thanks for stopping by, and happy painting! 

Kenny and Michele

Spring Break in Mexico?

Our style is hard to pin down...we love so many...

French, Gustavian, Mid Mod, Farmhouse...

Spanish/Mexican is definitely something different for us, though!

Great lines, right? 

And we LOVE the rustic vibe it's got goin' on

We thought about painting it white for a nano-second,

but decided to honor the heritage of this Mexican import

We used five different shades of blue and green milk paint

and a rich, tomato red inside the big drawer

 We applied layer upon layer

not waiting for each layer to completely dry

so the color variations flow into one another

 The milk paint, as usual, did a spectacular job of chipping...

 We used Antique Glaze from Amy Howard Home 

applying multiple layers (it's a watery glaze, very subtle and build-able)

once that dried, we sealed with carnauba wax

This combination REALLY made the variations of color stand at attention!

 The colors remind us of the ocean...ranging from deep blue to aqua, turquoise, and green

We left the chair in it's natural state, 

only adding a bit of stain to add depth to the wood

The metal rivets along the back have been highlighted with shades of green and aqua

to mimic weathered copper's verdigris finish

Rustic and loaded with character, patina, and charm...

this desk is the perfect piece for a neutral room...

can you imagine all that chippy goodness

 coupled with the warm wood of the chair

in an all white room?  

Yes, please!

You can find this charming desk set in our Etsy shop

Black Tie Affair

Remember that great Henredon suite we bought last week?

All the pieces sold right away except for the tallboy...

she just didn't have room

We really love the clean lines

The French Provincial curves are still there, but it's not at all fussy

so we opted to work with that 

playing up the masculine and feminine

Wondering what paint we used for this rich, silky black?

It's MILK PAINT!

(and you thought it was only for a chippy, rustic finish!)

We wanted a little "somethin' somethin' "

so we cropped a stencil

(from Royal Design Studio)

to fit the drawer face

We're quite pleased with the final look...

The stencil on a single drawer makes a statement without drawing too much focus

from the piece itself

You can find this in our Etsy Shop

Crave-worthy Color

I feel like we haven't painted in ages...

so we were quite pleased to be able to steal away a few evenings

and work on some fun new pieces...

Here is a little sneak preview...

the blue on this piece, Cobalt from Real Milk Paint Co

makes me so very happy...it's almost electric, it's so vibrant

just my speed!

Are seriously, how much do you LOVE all that chipping, 

cracking, and leathery texture?

It's divine

Kenny fought me so hard about using this color on this piece...

but clearly he caved in and has been working on it for nearly two weeks

Now that it's about done, he LOVES it....

like, he wants to keep it

Of course, we are not keeping it...but it's completely amazing

 and I can't wait to share it with you!

I chose a smaller project, 

because it's hard for me to get a lot of creative time lately

My "day job" has been keeping me pretty busy

Not sure if you can tell from my photo, but I mixed up the most gorgeous coral!

The robin's egg blue interior is another custom blend,

and I'm surprised by how much I love the two together...

of course, all that gilding doesn't hurt AT ALL!

Watch for these pieces soon in our Etsy shop!

As always, thanks for dropping by 

Michele~