Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you have probably heard of Annie Sloan chalk paint – every blogger writing about decorating seems to have tried it and is raving over it.  The good news for all of us in the South East of Ireland is that Eclectic Interiors in  Castlecomer is stocking it now and is also going to be running workshops on how to mix and apply the paint.

Annie Sloan Colours

What makes Annie Sloan chalk paint different to other paints? Well, it is environmentally friendly, has low odour, is very easy to work with, dries quickly and what is especially handy is that it sticks to virtually anything and doesn’t require a primer or undercoat. The colour palette is inspired by European painted furniture colours from the 1700s and you can also mix your own colours, adding wax to add a distressed effect and to protect the piece.  Shabby Sweet Tea describes the paint and waxing process in this blog post. I love the picture of this Antibes Green taken from the 2 Friends & 2 Cities blog.

Entry Table painted with Annie Sloan Antibes Green paint

Selina at Eclectic Interiors has been painting and upcycling furniture for years in her workshop at Castlecomer Estate Yard.

Alongside painted tables, wardrobes, desks, beds, tables and chairs are many pieces of  antique furniture and smaller antique accessories.

Selina will also be running workshops showing people how to paint with the Annie Sloan paint and full details will be up on her website once she has decided on dates.

Have you tried Annie Sloan paint yet? I have a couple of pieces awaiting some work so I’m looking forward to giving it a try.

I popped into Sasha’s (of Farm 21) house today for the first time since they moved in last June. Having helped her choose the paint colours and wallpaper, I was really looking forward to seeing the house. Sasha was great to work with last year, keen on bold colour and with such a light filled new house, it was a dream.

Unfortunately my camera seemed to be slightly out of focus because the photographs I took are slightly unfocused. Sasha will be getting professional photographs taken at some point soon so I only took a couple in any case to share with you. Apologies for the quality of the photographs but I hope you agree the house looks fabulous and I’m so looking forward to seeing it professionally photographed.

One particular feature I loved was the inclusion of these little wooden ‘door windows’ in most of the rooms – quirky, a lovely size, giving a sense of an old house – Sasha mentioned that one night her sister in law was staying and woke up to find the spare bedroom flooded with light as the May moon was at the right level to shine in the open small window. The colour is this room is fabulous too – Designers Guild Moss Green paint.

The Designers Guild Leopold Marine wallpaper in the Living room is fabulous, they have installed a sliding door and wallpapered it too.

At last my energy levels have returned to what they should be and we have eventually commenced decorating!  We had a slight problem with the tiles on the floor of the downstairs loo but I will reveal that story when it is finished and I have some pictures to show you.

We’ve started on Kate’s bedroom.  I have given in and am letting her have pink walls in the hope that having to sleep within pink walls for a couple of years will eventually steer her in the direction of some vivid teals and greens which look fab with her red hair!

So, it is going to be Designers Guild’s Petal on the walls.  I had thought about getting full length eyelet ready made curtains but our windows are very wide, over 100 inches/250 cm and the 90 inch curtains would be too skimpy and I couldn’t find anything I liked in the 106in.  Then, I reckoned she’s be putting toys/storage under the window so decided to go with Mulberry Walk fabric.  We can’t do roman blinds as it is to the front of the house and would look naff from the outside so made to measure curtains it is but just to below the cill.

Mulberry Walk curtains

The Mulberry Walk has just enough green in it to keep me happy and enough pink for her so all is well

She has decided she has outgrown her homemade castle bed.  I have an antique oak single bed – headboard and footboard but without the irons – that I bought at an auction over 10 years ago and we have never used it.  So the plan is to paint it and Brian will connect it somehow to her bed.  And we will finish it off with some Mulberry Walk bedlinen.  I’m also going to let her choose some of the Mae fabric wall stickers when they arrive – all in the name of research, you understand!

We started painting it yesterday evening and the children were painting the lower edges with 2 tiny little brushes and some paint in a jar and they did so well and enjoyed it so much.  Okay, they wouldn’t win decorator of the year but I gave it the occasional brush stroke to brush out the harsh edges or any excess and it was fine.

Pics of the actual room coming up soon then – hopefully!

Designers Guild paint can now be ordered from Garrendenny Lane Interiors’ showroom.  Lots of gorgeous colours available in Floor paint, Water based eggshell, Oil based eggshell and Matt Emulsion.

And I will soon be able to show you photos of some rooms in my house painted with Designers Guild paint! Do you remember my new year’s resolution whereby I planned to decorate a room every 6 weeks or so?  Well, I made that resolution when my energy levels were very high, I had just had 5 steroid injections in about 6 weeks in an attempt by my consultant to reduce my IGE levels – as a result, my eczema cleared up, my skin felt great, I was able to stop taking anti-histamine, I had loads of energy, I felt like I could take on the world. Unfortunately, having steroid injections regularly isn’t necessarily that good for one’s health and I have recently felt the results of having them wear off – in that, keeping the house, keeping a business going and looking after the kids seems to consume my energies. I did hack the tiles off the floor of the downstairs loo and Brian removed the loo and I painted the ceiling and then it stopped for 3 weeks – partly due to my low energy levels and Brian’s lack of sleep with cows calving but I am determined to get it done by the end of March.

I’m definitely getting old – I even fell asleep watching the Late Late show the last 2 weeks, while waiting for Jonathan Ross to come on!

Why not get a decorator in? I hear you ask!  Because I love decorating!  I actually find it quite relaxing and refreshing to spend an afternoon or evening painting – not so relaxing when it involves multi-tasking keeping 2 kids amused and getting them to bed I must admit but I do enjoy it. Having decorated a number of houses in the past too, I would consider myself a woose if I didn’t do it!  So hopefully I will have some pics for you soon.

I painted the front door of this house about 6 months ago and kept meaning to write a post on painting front doors so here it is at last!

I used Farrow and Ball’s Carriage Green, a fabulous dark green. Indeed, according to  F & B, they describe it as a ‘front door’ green. Do you agree with them??

Apparently, in Georgian times, red was a very popular colour for the front doors of Dublin as it was more durable!

The Doors of Dublin