Introducing Some New #LocallyAustin Artists Featured at Our Shop

After a busy Spring and equally busy Summer, we’ve been delighted to take on some new local artists. If you’re not familiar with our Shop & Studio location, we feature many lovely gifts and finds for the home and lifestyle. Over 80% of what we offer is local to our region in Texas— whether locally-sourced vintage or made new from talented artists and makers! We’ve GOT to support our artist and maker community… as creators ourselves, we live and breath the importance of that and hope to pass that appreciation on to you!

Here are some of our newest artists to join our ranks:

Lisa Chow Art

Hailing from Houston, Lisa creates whimsically-geometric prints and originals with pastels, soft shapes, and glitter. Lisa works with watercolor as the main base and then adds on other mediums, for a ‘minimal yet maximal’ effect.

Amanda Love- Love Studio Ceramics

Amanda Love focuses on ‘micro-batch’ handmade goods for whimsy and everyday use, living here in Austin. While Amanda also creates goods like mugs, plates, and serving bowls, she also creates fabulous air-plant holders (pictured above), which we mainly feature right now! Look forward to even more goods from Love Studio soon!

Clif’s Woodworks

Clif Hisel, of San Antonio, takes each piece of salvaged wood that he finds with care— he only works with woods ethically sourced from natural falls or necessary cuts due to damage (ie; he doesn’t cut down trees for his craft). From there he creates one-of-a-kind bowls, from woods such as Black Jack Oak, Pecan, Mesquite, and even Pistachio! Wow, look at that grain…

Audrey Jahanian- Little Green Press

Little Green Press is Audrey Jahanian, located here in Austin! Audrey creates lovely prints from watercolors that are full of depth. She focuses on using only compostable and recyclable materials for her processes, which focus on mainly printmaking but also include bookbinding, mural work, and drawing. We feature a selection of her botanical and constellation prints in-store.

And there you have it. This doesn’t nearly cover the artists we already have been featuring, so please visit us for the full scope! xo

How to Apply Efex Flexible Mouldings to Furniture (To Be Painted Over)

In the last couple of months you might know that we started to carry Efex Flexible Mouldings, which are downright ahh-mazing. They’re flexible, lightweight silicone mouldings that can be applied to furniture, decor, walls and architectural accents, and much more I’m sure. There aren’t many tutorials that we could find out there, so here we are, with great tips composed with a complete transformation of a furniture piece alongside!

We started off with a quite traditional, rather boring piece:

Our idea was to play off the existing design and go in a more neoclassical direction. Now, here are the steps we took to apply Efex:

1. We cleaned our piece, then selected our Efex designs and measured the spaces on the furniture to plot out the layout.

2. We traced the silhouettes of the Efex shapes to make sure they could stay aligned during the glueing part of the process. Tracing is very important if you want your Efex shapes to look even and aligned!

3. We applied contact cement to BOTH the backs of each shape, as well as within the traced shape on the surface of the furniture. These Efex shapes cannot merely be glued on with regular Elmer’s or wood glue— they work together with the contact cement. Basically, the cement dries for 15 minutes on each side, and then when you place the shape down, both cemented sides bond to one another. That way they are on there firmly and won’t budge!

We recommend cementing outside the lines of the traced shape as well, just a little bit, because when you press the silicone Efex down they may flatten and widen out a tiny bit. This ensures that you don’t end up with gaps and loose edges. Make sure you don’t skip areas on the backs of the actual mouldings either. We carry the DAP Weldwood at our Shop & Studio alongside Efex, and we love the small bottles because they have a brush attached to the inside of the cap (like a nail polish bottle) to make life easier.

4. We pressed down each shape, aligning it as best as possible to the traced area and contact cement. A great suggestion is to press just the middle of the shape down first and work outward, because once the cement sides are bonded to one another then it’s very difficult to lift the shape back up. Starting from the middle allows you some wiggle-room (pun intended!) to shift the shape a bit if needed where it hasn’t yet bonded. That being said, it really was not difficult at all to make sure they got on there correctly. Our students and customers agree so far on that as well!

5. We went about finishing our painting technique up right over top! We used layers of Chalk Paint® global Paris Grey, Graphite, Tilton, and Napoleonic Blue. We also used some Modern Masters® Pale Gold on certain areas. We also did a specialty faux stone effect on the top— now THAT DIY tutorial will be for another day!

6. We added Chalk Paint® Black Wax around the Efex mouldings to enhance their appearance.

Check out our finished project! We couldn’t be happier with the quality and look of the Efex mouldings that we chose. We also replaced the knob with a stone one, to go with the faux stone effect in the top.

10 Small Yet Impactful DIY Decorating Changes for Smaller Budgets

We’re clearly all about DIY and home interior upgrades here. When we work with clients directly or advise our DIY students and customers, budgets vary highly. Some people are working on higher-tier renovations, and some live in rentals that they are just trying to make feel more like home. For those living in rental spaces, completing home improvements might be limited to changing up furniture paint colors and adding exciting new throw pillows as accents, versus being able to re-paint cabinets or front doors for home-owners. But trust us, as we’re current renters ourselves, there are tons of upgrades that one can do that are accessible price-wise and mobility-wise.

Here are some ideas we’ve put together for anyone on a smaller budget or living in a non-permanent space, which are all are under $200 for the average price range involved:

1) Paint your furniture to elevate your space, to make various styles feel more cohesive, and to just plain-old change up your scheme. ($45-$198, not necessarily including the furniture itself— this depends on whether you’ve owned it already or not.)

Whether you’re on a budget, have a varied collection of hand-me-down and thrifted furniture, or just love hunting older furniture with good bones, you CAN make your pieces feel updated and/or more cohesive. It’s great that these days we can find decent furniture in lower-cost ranges, including free (heck yes curb-side finds!).

images from Annie Sloan (left and center), and Farrow & Ball® (right)

With Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan, there is little to no prep involved to get your furniture ready for painting other than cleaning them well. The bonus is this paint can be worked with indoors due to non-toxic properties and no to ultra-low VOCs, so it’s especially great for those of us who don’t have a garage or outdoor space to work in. Plus you can paint over basically any material (wood, plastic, you name it) and re-create any technique and look that you see.

Follow our FAQ guide on working with Chalk Paint® (the one and only!).

images from Shed Eleven (left) and Annie Sloan (right)

2) Create removable decoupaged drawer liners for kitchen, bathroom, or other cabinets for a secret pop ($25-$68)

Many rental situations come with less than ideal kitchen cupboard and drawer interiors, like old peeling liners and gunked up stains. Such is life. However, drawer liners are a classic fix to this situation! What’s fun is that you can create temporary drawer liners that have a bit more design pop to them these days. First find some cardboard (a great way to recycle, you can find free boxes off sites such as Craigslist) and cut pieces into the dimensions of your drawers. Then decoupage your favorite wrapping paper, napkins, wallpaper, or even fancier handmade papers such as from Paper Source to the cardboard. Then you can insert them into the bottom of the drawers once dried. If you move out, you could even reuse them in your new kitchen or bathroom if the dimensions are the same (or cut them down in size).

Don’t forget to smooth bubbles in the paper out as you go, and to finish the paper with your decoupage medium or even a more water-repellent medium in case the liners need to be gently cleaned.

image from Blue Eyed Yonder

3) Add metallic gilding wax to the trims of collected frames for a gallery wall. ($11- $40)

Gallery walls have been in style for a while, and for good reason— they do serve multiple functional purposes. Large-scale artworks can be pricey, and so a gallery wall creates a large-scale scheme made up of multiple smaller parts; and a gallery wall is the perfect way to display your collection of cards, photos, prints, and more, to fit any style. A budget-friendly way to do this is by collecting frames from thrift stores and yard sales first, and then alter the frames (if desired) to be more cohesive together— because, let’s face it, if you’re collecting multiple frames from all over the place, their designs probably won’t match (although that could be a style unto itself, but that’s another story). Making them all the same color or appear to be the same material can be done in a glam way with GILDING WAXES.

Gilding waxes are magical. Choose from a few different shades, and simply apply the wax over your frame material. Hang the frames once dried. Check out this great guide from Apartment Therapy on how to decorate your gallery wall. You can rearrange your frames anytime, including if you move.

images from ehomedecorations.com (left) and Thomas J. Story via Apartment Therapy (right)

4) If you rent and have a landlord that is very encouraged by you making tenant improvements or will do rental reimbursement after ‘improvements,’ inquire about painting a bathroom vanity, or even an accent wall. ($70-$150)

Not all landlords do this, but if you’ve lucked out, use tenant improvements to your advantage. Take on smaller-scale improvements first, such as painting a bathroom vanity or painting an accent wall, and see where that takes you. Some landlords or agencies might have you re-paint a wall back to their choice color upon moving out, but if it’s still a worthwhile project for you and your space, this can work wonders! And if you own your home, this is a more budget friendly way to start repainting your interior.

Check out these lovely inspiration photos with projects done in Farrow & Ball® Paints. A gallon of F&B paint typically covers way more than other premium paints out there, has more color depth, and literally cannot be matched at other paint stores. They are also no to ultra-low VOC and non-toxic in formula, so F&B paints are ideal for any home, especially for smaller spaces and rentals. For walls, check out the dead-flat Estate Emulsion for low-traffic walls, and matte Modern Emulsion for high-traffic walls like in kitchens, entryways, and bathrooms.

images from Farrow & Ball®

5) Update and/or add fabric items, including painting upholstery and dying or stenciling fabric with Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan. ($15-$150, not necessarily including the cost of the furniture or decor items themselves— this depends on whether you’ve owned them already or not.)

Add curtains for privacy and decorative effect! Add a cool stenciled pattern to revive that old jute rug of yours! Dye or stencil inexpensive pillow covers! Working with Chalk Paint® has benefits that we’ve addressed many times in this blog, but who knew you could also paint and dye fabric with it? You absolutely can. Read this simple-step blog from Annie Sloan herself on dying lace curtains to look chic as ever (you know, ones that you can find at every single flea market, yard sale, and thrift store).

images from Annie Sloan

You can even recreate painted upholstery on worn out chairs with fabrics from linen to leather (just know that this isn’t necessarily a project suited for every single upholstered piece, but chat with your local Annie Sloan stockist like us for the best advice). Hometalk has a great before and after blog post on painted upholstery with Annie Sloan.

image from Hometalk

6) If you have a patio, balcony, or yard space, paint all the various styles of collected plant pots into a cohesive color collection with Chalk Paint® . ($25-$50, not necessarily including the cost of pots themselves— this depends on whether you’ve owned them already or not.)

We’ve collected so many pots over the years with various patterns, colors, and materials. Some were found for free at the curb, and some were acquired in other inexpensive ways (don’t get us wrong, you can certainly splurge on a new pot from the hardware store or your favorite ceramicist). However if you want to tie them all together, a great way to do so is paint them all in one color for a seamless look, or mix and match complimentary colors and patterns with paint.

Chalk Paint® , again the solution for almost everything, can be used outdoors. On porous pots, you don’t even need to seal them since heat and sun will bake the clay of the paint into the pores. We enjoyed this post by blogger Nicolette Tabram on her pot-painting journey, and you should read it too.

image from Nicolette Tabram

7) Change the hardware on one or a few of your furniture pieces or cabinets. ($15-$85)

This is perhaps one of the smallest yet most impactful changes one can make without changing the finish on furniture and cabinets themselves. If you rent, keep and store the old knobs and pulls and just change them back when you move out! We here at Silk & Sage especially love the unique knobs and pulls from Anthropologie, however there are plenty of fun and budget-friendly hardware sources out there.

BONUS IDEA: change out a light fixture if you feel daring enough (and ditto, reinstall the old fixture when and if you move out).

image from Anthropologie

8) Lovingly placed plants work wonders. ($0-$75)

Choose plants that work with the amount of sunlight you receive as well as your lifestyle. Seriously, doing so will not only change your space but will also elevate your mood. If you have a green thumb, you don’t have to buy new— just watch for plant sales and browse Craigslist including their ‘free’ section, because people often let go of plants that they think are dead but have plenty of life leftover once revived with patience. Don’t forget to choose pet-friendly plant options too! Check out Apartment Therapy’s Indoor Plant Finder Guide and Guide to Indoor Plants for Small Apartments.

image from POPSUGAR.

9) Add more storage space wherever you can with good-looking DIY shelving. ($15-$65)

This is a perfect change or addition on a couple fronts: shelving adds character to your space as a design element while offering nooks for your other decor items (picture frames, crystals, books), and shelving adds more practical organization and storage for limited areas such as small kitchens.

First measure the space where you want the added shelving to gauge the best dimensions for the shelving itself. Then cut a wood board (or multiples as needed) to the correct size— most hardware stores or lumber warehouses will do this for you for no to low added cost. Then either paint, stain, or oil the shelves to fit your design scheme. Attach to the walls sturdily by resting the shelving on cool brackets (we love these from Anthropologie) or making hanging rope ties. Don’t forget your level, measuring tape, and screw anchors!

images from Anthropologie (left) and Annie Sloan (right)

10) Add a mirror to a smaller space to open it up— a tried and true solution! ($15-$195)

Home owners and renters have incorporated mirrors into their style scheme for almost any reason (do you really need an excuse?), and when used correctly, a mirror can open up smaller rooms and spaces. Just pick and choose your favorite style per your budget— and if you need to change up a thrifted or outdated mirror frame, just paint it or use metallic gilding waxes.

Isn’t this mirror from West Elm just dreamy?

image from West Elm

These are just ten of many possible changes that can make your space feel more personal, no matter if you are renting or can’t expand yet on all the changes you want to make in your home right away. Some of these price ranges may vary due to the depth of your project, what kind of painting techniques you may do, etc. Also, please note that we are not affiliated with the links, retailers, and blogs provided other than with Annie Sloan and Farrow & Ball® . The other links, retailers, and blogs are just some that we have been inspired by and felt we should share with you too!

How to Open the New Chalk Paint® Litre Tin Lids

Hello! Happy February. Our 2019 is in full swing, how about yours? Part of our new year has been an introductory to the updated packaging for the new Chalk Paint® litres. Have you tried the ‘global’ Annie Sloan paint yet? In case you’ve missed it, Chalk Paint® recently got a tiny update on the amount of clay in the formula, and therefore will be a little bit thicker in feeling going forward. We’ve been LOVING how creamy it is, and dare we say we didn’t know how it would ever possible for Chalk Paint® to get any better than what it’s been (since it’s so dreamy)… but it has. Our students and customers have been loving the update too.

The other part of that update is that the large tins will be transitioning over to litres from quarts, so you’ll be getting a tiny bit more bang for your buck as well. Opening the litre lids is a little bit of a learning curve, so we decided to highlight the best ways to open the lids without mangling them. All in all, they will be easier to press shut with just your hands going forward (instead of hammering them shut, eek).

Opening the tin

• Ease the tin opener between the top of the lid and the edge of the tin.

• Apply slight pressure and lift upwards.

• Turn the tin a few degrees and repeat the motion. You will feel the air tight seal break and hear a “pop” noise.

• Continue turning the tin until you have covered the whole circumference of the lid before attempting to pry the lid completely off.

• Be as gentle and light handed as possible.

• Following these steps will prevent the lid buckling or damaging the tin.

Closing the tin

• To secure the lid after use, set in place on the top of the tin.

• Place both palms on the lid and apply pressure down until you here a “pop”.

*The Wax, Lacquer, and Chalk Paint® tins are all the same, so you can use this method with every Annie Sloan tin. All metals are susceptible to some bending and denting if not handled gently.

If you haven’t made it to the ‘new’ formulated colors yet, visit us to get a quick painting demo to try it for yourself!

Happy Painting :)

What are the Differences Between the Three Chalk Paint® Whites?

Happy New Year and welcome back everyone. We’re moving into our 2019 with all the best intentions, and are getting some awesome new product additions in-stock. Some are the new Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan colors… which includes a ‘new’ white— the color ‘Original’ which has been included in Annie’s European collection for some time now and is just new to us. We’re thrilled to finally have it though!

Due to the fact that ‘Original’ has some creamy, warm undertones, and that the global ‘Old White’ has thus always been a bit cooler than what we’ve had in the USA, Annie has now adjusted the ‘Old White’ to be consistent with the global coloring as well. So what are the differences between the three Whites now, and what do they look like? For starters, we always have waxed samples at our Shop & Studio for you to view in real life, but here is a fabulous educational diagram:

While there is not much difference in the new colorations versus the old, we definitely suggest you visit us to see samples in-person. If you’re trying to paint a piece to coordinate with some other previous whites, you may find that the ‘Original’ is the most similar to what your old ‘Old White’ used to be and may coordinate best.

Another major plus in ensuring the colors are 100% consistent throughout the globe is that there’s been a small update to the paint’s consistency as well. We find that the paint is even more luscious and creamy. Pop in for a demo with the new paint as well!