Paper Street Market

Our friends, Sean and Celesta

are the proprietors of the coolest shop...

Paper Street Market

Now, you might assume we love their shop because they are our friends...

but we became friends AFTER we fell in love with their shop

because the shop,and the owners, are awesome

Paper Street Market is hard to describe...

it's like a hodge-podge collection

of things you didn't realize you wanted

but now MUST have

A super cool, hip collection of vintage goodies...

Things you're unlikely to see anywhere else

Eclectic and fun, the merch at PSM 

doesn't take itself too seriously

 A giant S for Stiltskin Studios!

Mixed in with painted pieces

(drive around back and you'll likely catch Sean painting...

most pieces never even make it to the sales floor!)

PSM also stocks the full line of CeCe Caldwell Paints

Lucky me, I won a quart of paint on FB

and today, I claimed my prize...

Emerald Isle

If you find yourself in St. Petersburg

make sure you swing by PSM

You'll be REALLY glad you did! 

Not close?

You can follow them on FB

Tell them a little birdie sent you :0)

Easily Distracted by Bright Colors and Shiny Objects

Does this ever happen to you?

You're walking around HomeGoods

and you spot a pillow, or a lamp, or a rug...

something that sparks an idea

Soon, you're designing a whole room around this piece

except, it matches NOTHING in your house

and would involve a complete over-haul

I'm craving color in my life!

So I go home, empty handed, to ponder

But when I get home, I realize I really love my rooms

Yep, they are neutral and soft

but it's soothing

and so, I do nothing...

until it happens again...and again. 

Clearly, I'm drawn to color!

Today, I stopped in to a little shop to check out rugs for a client

and there, on the rug rack, ON SALE, was this:

Too bad it's got that yellow on it, I said to myself

The design is gorgeous, the grey is wonderful, 

it even has the creamy white I want

I kept looking at rugs, and then I found this one:

It's pretty, but I don't love the black...

I kept going back to the yellow and grey one

Which of course, got me thinking!

Why not? My living room walls are pale grey, 

my couch, chair, and ottoman are cream

everything else is either grey, cream, white, or wood

Some hits of yellow might be a refreshing change!

I can visualize a few new pillows with yellow in them

added to my already-too-many existing collection

 I especially LOVE this idea...

I'd trade the burlap for softer linen

but it's cute and whimsical and perfect

 I do love Cherry Blossoms

Maybe a bit of yellow here or there

by way of fresh flowers

I'm even pondering repainting this piece yellow!

Crazy or Genius?  

That remains to be seen, I guess!

Fantastic Journey

wow, has it really been almost two weeks since my last post?

What a slacker I am!

We've been wrapped up doing lots of custom work

as well as some interior stenciling on walls and such

Really feeling motivated to get something new 

done and photographed!

Speaking of new...

I'm really itching to try some new, different things!

 

It's no secret I love chalk paint and French furniture,

but I feel like I'm tripping over it at every 

antique mall and vintage marketplace

(chalk painted French furniture, that is)

500 on Etsy alone!

That is a LOT of painted french dressers!

 I was in a cool little shop

we used to be vendors in

 and I literally lost count of 

how many chalk painted dressers there were!

(75% of which were either white or duck egg...)

Yes, they were lovely

but it's beginning to make me yawn a bit

Over-saturation, if you will

I spoke with one of the vendors, 

who noted everyone was suffering 

because there were just too many of the same items 

One artist can't paint French Dressers fast enough,

so another vendor starts doing them, too

and then another...and another...

why not, they sell, right?

Or they did, 

before the entire shop was full of them!

And because of the wealth of chalk paint available locally

(ASCP, CeCe, and Maison Blache are ALL here in town)

the competition to "score" great Frenchy pieces has gotten insane

I find we are now competing with friends and even family...

people who learned from us

(it always starts as

 "I just want to paint a few of my own pieces at home, can you show me how?" 

and ends with an attempt at a business...

it's THAT addictive...

you run out of your own things to paint 

and have to start selling off stuff because you can't walk through your garage!)

Critical mass...we've reached critical mass

How is one to stand out in a sea of sameness?

By doing something different, of course!

So watch for some crazy colors,

some different styles...

that are all still "us"

but hopefully not everyone else! 

Here's a glimpse inside my head

(figuratively, of course!)

BE INSPIRED

How about you?

Can't get enough Shabby Chic, Frenchy neutrals

or ready for something different?

 

 

Bringin' the Drama

Do you recall this dresser?

You can't tell from the photo,

but she was in ROUGH shape!

Thankfully, all the details were intact,

as was the lovely hardware

The back, however, was missing.

Yep, gone. 

After many hours of repair,

she was ready for paint

Isn't the hardware amazing? I love it!

We painstakingly (because I paint like a drunk...straight lines aren't my thing!)

painted all the details in rich gold to highlight the turquoise and aqua paint

 TaDa! The finished product...

Now, to tackle the matching nightstands!

They are in even WORSE shape

but they'll be gorgeous soon enough!

This tallboy, as well as the nightstands,
can be purchased through our Etsy Shop