What to Choose for Your Next Project- Annie Sloan Paints

Today we’re sharing a short but informative compilation of how to choose the best Annie Sloan paint for your next project! If you haven’t heard yet, Annie Sloan’s new Satin Paint and Wall Paint have finally reached us in the US, and we are fully stocked. We absolutely love these new additions as they create a full ‘story’ for your spaces when combined together with Chalk Paint®.

Now, how are they different from the original Chalk Paint® and how do you know which is best to use for your projects? Firstly, while there are some colors repeated throughout all three paint lines, there are some only featured in the new collections or are even exclusive to the new collections (yes there are some gorgeous new colors NOT seen with Chalk Paint® before!). But as for choosing based on what your surface type is, where it’s located, and what your final look wants to be, see our lovely simplified chart below:

For square footage coverage:

• Chalk Paint® covers 150 SF per tin per coat

• Satin Paint covers 118.4 SF per tin per coat

• Wall Paint covers 387 SF per gallon per coat

Aaaannd, that’s it! Stay tuned for more projects and blog posts featuring these great new paint additions. In the meantime visit us at our Shop & Studio to see samples in-person and to shop all things paint (you can shop online with us too of course, but it’s more fun to see your faces).

Visiting with 'The California Collection,' Farrow & Ball® x Kelly Wearstler

One of the bright spots of 2021 so far has been to introduction of Farrow & Ball x Kelly Wearstler ‘The California Collection’ into the offerings made possible by F&B paints. Maybe you’ve been following Kelly through the design world, or maybe she is a new name to you. Regardless, her collaboration with Farrow & Ball for this line has resulted in effortless yet sophisticated colors that not only work together as a ‘family’ but also fit in well with other colors in F&B’s current collection.

Let’s visit each of the 8 colors in the line:

Faded Terracotta- an apricot-toned earthy pink

Salt- a very clean and bright white that pairs well with cool colors

Citrona- a vivid ‘lemon’ color pop

Stoke- a warm brown-based grey, hence it pairs well with warmer colors

Palm- a bright ‘mint’ that can pair well with darker colors as well as bright, clean whites

Hazy- a cheery, clean pale blue

Sand- a stunning neutral that can pair well with both yellow or red-based colors

Tar- a very soft black that has some warm (almost brown) undertones

Each color has been carefully considered and can fit lovingly in homes across the globe, no matter one’s style. For sampling, F&B only makes samples of this collection as pre-painted sample cards at this time. This collection is available in the interior finished only (Estate Emulsion, Modern Emulsion, Estate Eggshell, and Modern Eggshell). Visit us to see colors in-person and to purchase sample cards!

Home Improvement Project Idea: Painted Fireplace Surrounds with Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan

Hey there, 2020 sure has been a wild ride, and we’re here with our first blog post of the year. Good gosh. Like many of you, we have been spending increasing amounts of time at home and assessing every nook and cranny for ‘improvements’ to pass time and stay in our own space. Sometimes these improvements are purely based off changing style preferences, and sometimes are crucial to the overall state of certain rooms and structures.

One such project is changing up fireplace surrounds and mantles! Whether wood, tiled, or stone, they can be painted to varying degrees and styles. That’s great news because here in Texas, some of our stone fireplace surrounds are looking seriously dated. Instead of ripping out the old tile or stone, painting them up can be done in a weekend (or even shorter)! Here are two easy-to-knock-out painted fireplace surround ideas:

Complete Overpaint (Solid/Opaque Coverage, Over Tile and Possibly Even the Grout; Works Well on All Surfaces)- Chalk Paint® will cover both porous and slick-glazed tile, and certainly the grout as well (if it’s the wrong color, if it’s dirty, if you want complete-coverage and a knocked-back look). To paint, clean the tile first with a gentle eco-friendly degreaser (like Krud Kutter), nothing sudsy, rinse, and let dry; for porous tile, you may want to add 5-10% water to the paint to make it soak in very well, and for slick-glazed tile you may want to wait an extra long drying period between paint coats to prevent ‘double processing’ the paint (instead of a couple hours, wait several hours or even overnight between coats to allow an extra great bond to the tile). Apply as many paint coats as you’d like for desired coverage. You can certainly seal the paint, and Soft Wax often works best, just make sure that the surround doesn’t get too hot if a fire is lit!

Project featured from a Silk and Sage custom-work client, done with Chalk Paint® in Graphite with solid coverage, followed by Clear Wax

Washed Effect (Transparent Paint Coverage/ Showing Some of the Base Material and Color Through the Paint; Works Best on Porous Materials Like Unsealed Tile and Stone, and Dry/Raw/Worn Woods)- To create this effect, choose your Chalk Paint® color (white and grey washes are extremely popular these days due to being so neutral BUT you can do color washes too!) and dilute the paint with water between 50%-80% water (depending on how transparent you want the paint layer to be), and mix paint and water up together very well. Make sure your surface is either degreased or at least make sure none of the stone or tile is crumbling or degrading, brushing off dust and soot. Apply your paint wash with a good natural brush, working in sections. If you want to remove some paint from certain areas and reveal some of the underlying texture and colors, wipe some paint wash away with a lint-free cloth. If wiping away, a great tip is to keep a spray water bottle handy nearby and spritz the washed areas before wiping them, especially if the wash is absorbing and drying into the surface quickly. Add more layers once dried if you like! And again, you may certainly seal the surface when done.

Project shared with Silk and Sage courtesy of customer, J.M., done with Chalk Paint® in French Linen as a more solid base coat followed by a wash with Old White

We love these looks and hope you do too! We are constantly asked about such projects year-round, and always receive lovely status updates on how everything has turned out and lasted over the years. Another way to incorporate this look into other spaces of your home would be on tiled or stone backsplashes too (not inside a shower or constant wet spaces however). If you try this type of project then drop us a line and let us know how it’s turned out! Continue to shop with us using our no to low-contact options to maintain our health during these times.

Happy painting, stay safe and well, xoxo

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.