Shiny Bright Studio

Last week I had a bit of a blitz on the studio, it is normally a bit of a tip and it seems we have just wayyyyy too much stuff at the moment. There are a lot of furniture"finds" waiting for paint, they are all stacked up at the back of the studio;

My *Finds*

the paint store was so full I couldn't walk through it and the office was so stacked with junk it was mad.
Then our sample storage was appalling...I had woodwork samples in sort of metal basket things that at one time I thought looked artsy, the baskets are funky but they don't do the samples any favours, they just scratch them.

scratchy display

extremely unsuccessful display

I have a big proper metal print display rack but it is ugly and full, how it got so full I don't know and it so needs sorting and I so need to throw stuff out but I cling to certain samples 'just in case' ...and why I need quite so many green metallic finishes samples is anyone's guess. The floors were cruddy and foul because of snow mainly...we had been wearing heavy walking boots that not only marked the floors but traipsed in more muck than normal but it was the only way to keep our feet warm during the cold snap.
We had a class coming up and we also had to clear up for the masonic meeting. Bet that confused you LOL. Our studio is the masonic lodge...every second Tuesday of the month while the masons are in season (which is now) we clear the studio floor and make it ready for their meeting. They have their formal meeting room upstairs and downstairs, where we are they have their food and open up their bar so we set it up a bit like a cafe for them.
So I scrubbed and  cleaned and sorted and chucked and chucked and did a little bit of painting and finally had a shiny bright studio

Ready For Class

Shiny Bright and Lovely

The display got a bit more sensible 

cabinetry samples

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Gilding samples

I have tons and tons of furniture that needs painting and lots of ideas but I decided to tackle and small and fiddly item that I loved when Gibson brought it home from an auction -  a little arts and crafts shelving unit.  It was fiddly...I took it apart and of course then you can only easily access one side of the piece but here it is all finished and displaying a few other pieces painted in Annie Sloan Paint. She shelves were painted straight over french polish (after a little wash and a sand) in Old Violet with Old Ochre on the ends. They were waxed with clear wax and then I used a spot of the rustic just to make it a bit *lived in*.

Old Violet and Old Old Ochre

Took me 2 hours yesterday following then masonic night to annihilate the gorgeous organisation

Pandemonium

All for a good cause...lots of sample making going on and I'll post about those soon.

Would you like to try out some instant makeover paint - Annie Sloan Chalk Paint? Virtually no prep, no priming and lots of fun. Phone for acolour chart 01764 684324 as we have a winter cheerer offer of £15.95 a litre and lots of discontinued colours on SALE at £13.50