Annie does it again!

If you have not heard about Annie Sloan and her wonderful books and line of paints, waxes and lacquer.  Her paints hit the US market in July of 2010 and it is quite the rage amongst professional and DIY painters.  Everything that "they" say is true.  You don't have to prime before you use it.  It looks like real French(laden with lead) lime paint although it is completely green and low VOC, miraculous!  And the colors are perrr-fect.


For most people here the French look that Annie has made famous and attainable never gets tired.  New Orleans is a city FULL of Francophiles.  This chalky painted look works well with the architecture and the few pieces of furniture that you have inherited or acquired from your Mother In Law.  I would say about 80% of my clients come to me to get new furniture or built in cabinets to look old, flaky and crusty.  Needless to say since I found this paint last summer I have been using it way more than visiting my friends at Helm.  


Another wonderful little bit about the paint is that it is distributed through out Northern America from New Orleans by Jolie Designs! 


I have used this paint quite a bit since I have discovered it and have been guilty of NOT posting my before/after photos.


The most recent time that I used it was to make some improvements for a young family in a craftsman cottage.  They have outgrown their digs but they are making it work until they bust out of it completely.  The last project at their home to tackle was this fireplace, mantle and built in bookshelves around it.

Before

After

Annie saved the day once again!  

If you have taken a look at Annie's colors the backs of the bookcases are painted "Paris Grey."  This color just might be the world's most perfect grey, not to drab or industrial and perfect at any time of day.  The mantle, columns, cabinets and shelves are "Old White" with a little glaze faux dirt and some of Annie's signature Soft Wax(don't get me started on this stuff,  I could do a whole post on paste wax alone, an obsession sickness of mine).  

I even painted and marbled(with Annie's paint and some raw pigments) the ceramic tile surround and hearth surrounding the fireplace.  I wanted to offer the client a low-cost way to "live" with that tile since they spend a lot of time in this room and the hunter green ceramic tile wasn't cutting it.

I promise to be better about taking before/after pictures!  The power of paint is endless, I am confident that I can show you that!

Getting back into the game in Big Easy Style!

This year I resolved to get back into the game on more fronts than just one.  As I ease back into work post-baby I decided to review some of my favorite books that I got as gifts from Santa this year.


I am a painter by training and trade but those who know me well know that books, interior design, New Orleans and watching Mad Men are among my favorite hobbies.  Lucky me that I received big, easy STYLE: Creating Rooms You Love to Live In by Bryan Batt, all four favs rolled into one book!  I own lots and lots of books directly and indirectly related to painting, surfaces, interior design, architecture...the list goes on and this book is in my top ten favorite books and I'll tell you why!


Bryan Batt is not only an actor and the author and creative mind behind this beauty but he is also the owner of the New Orleans store Hazelnut.  This store is known not only for it's famous owners(Batt and partner Tom Cianfichi) and charming gifts but also for it's custom made New Orleans toile(in the form of fabric by the yard and gift items) designed by Bryan Batt and Sonia O'Mara.  The toile features beautiful drawings of the St. Louis Cathedral, a street car driving by St. Charles Avenue, a French Quarter balcony, a river boat floating down the Mississippi River and a peek into a French Quarter courtyard.  This toile is the endpaper and makes a great first impression to a book stuffed full of beautiful and unexpected details.

Not only does Batt point out to the reader all of the unique resources and designers New Orleans has to offer but his main purpose for writing the book is taking risks and acquiring confidence in "feathering" your own nest.  He says, " How we decorate the spaces we live in is an opportunity for us to express our individuality, and when there is synergy between a home's great style and it's owner's personal flair, it is nothing short of divine."


As an aesthetic person my favorite points in the book were not to be afraid of color, the creative process of design, creating your own personal collections, mixology, and making space for real functional living.  On every single page Batt offers how New Orleans and his experiences growing up here and visiting various homes has shaped  and inspired his tastes. I must say I feel the same way, New Orleans has everything to do with my interest and love of anything painted.


This book is really a must for those who enjoy these types of books.  New Orleans is known for its grand mansions of a very specific and very formal style and it is also known for its secret french quarter hideaways.  This book shows a completely different side of the city's interiors.  Most of the interiors shown reflect the personal style of some of the New Orleans' great creatives.  It is really fun to flip through and get a not so serious view of the insides of some of these quirky, old buildings that we love down here.  I have included a few of my favorite pictures from the book.

This is the home of Sally and Richard Edrington, interior design: MMR Interiors.  If you follow Melissa's work, this home has been all over the blog-osphere, and for good reason!  In a land where "greige" is the norm this home is completely saturated in color and pattern, very true to the client's personality and indicative of Melissa's work.

This is the home of Gretchen Howard, fellow decorative painter and local artist.  This hue is amazing, and completely unexpected.  I also love the mix of objects on top of this dresser as well as the wonderful "nest" by Khaki Foley.

 I love the sun bleached tortoise shell and gilded Klismos chair, a nice surprise before you head into what seems to be a very formal dining room.

This is Bryan Batt and Tom Cianfichi's New Orleans home.  Wonderful colors and textures: old, new, shiny, matte, natural and man made..all in one room and working very well together.  The thing I like most of about these two rooms is that they don't take themselves too seriously.

Bryan and Tom's home. Again, brave use of color, very functional and not too serious.

Whatever their style is, I feel like all of my clients love "crust"!  I love the color of the crust on both this desk and chair.  The collection on the walls is reverse gilded art glass made by Laurel Wilder available at Hazelnut.

Wonderful painted piece!  I included this because it is a great idea for an otherwise mundane piece of furniture.  This style of furniture seems to pop up often in resale shops and could be saved with a fun tortoise finish.

Love the colors and finishes here.

How clever?  This panel came from Karla Katz's shop and was repurposed into a mantle.

This is the mural from Bryan Batt's childhood home.  Painted by Elizabeth Hadden.

All photos by Kerri McCaffety and then scanned by me, I know they are not perfect, sorry.  The book is available through Crown Publishing, go run and and get it today!

Brilliant Collaborators

I started a new project last week with a designer that I adore but only work with a wee bit, so when she calls, it is always a highlight for me.  


To help me with her vision she lent me Suzanne Rheinstein's new book At Home: A Style for Today with Things from the Past.  If you read other design blogs and the few remaining design mags I am sure you have seen Suzanne's Manhattan pied-à-terre  which flanks the cover of her book and the pages of Elle Decor.  The designer I am working with lent me the book to look at a silver finish for a ceiling that she asked me to work on but of course, I cannot stop looking at this mural, every time it crosses my path:

All Images, Elle Decor

Instantly I was reminded of Zuber Wallpaper!

James Andrew in the Zuber Showroom, New York 
Grisaille “Les Courses de Chevaux” 

However, the scale, depth of the tone-on-tone colors and dimension tell your eyes that this is the hand painted work of a real talent, Bob Christian.  I did some searching and found a podcast of Suzanne on the Skirted Roundtable where she describes Bob as one of her frequent collaborators; she describes him as "genius."  "He doesn't do straies," Suzanne says "you go to him for the special things that make the space."  Their collaborative inspiration for this mural was 18th century sepia toned wall paper.  Since this apartment was once a duplex with lots of angles and weird areas she couldn't hang her art on the walls, and she had to have art.

Bob in his Savannah, GA studio

Bob Christian has been painting and working in the decorative field for 33 years and it shows.  He is widely known for his painted floors which I am sure you have seen as well.  They are so understated and beautiful.  To me, it is often a misconception that quality decorative painting has to be bold.  Bob's work is a perfect example of that.

Elle Decor

Not sure of publication, I think Southern Accents

Bob Christian currently resides in Savannah, GA but  began his studies in decorative painting in New York with John Rosselli.  John is most commonly known for his eponymous antique stores in New York and Washington, DC.  

This is from John Rosselli's bio, you can see why I had to include it: "Originally trained as a decorative painter, John has a special affinity for painted finishes. He feels that the artistry in a painted scene or hand-applied surface creates a connection between the craftsman and owner that elevates a piece of furniture beyond its functional value. The artifact creates a relationship, and through its choosing becomes an element of the new owner’s personal story."

Disclaimer: I often get onto tangents when I research these posts.  I research one topic, and find out some other tid bits(re: John Rosselli, had no idea his first career was decorative painting) that I find interesting even though they are completely unrelated to the topic at hand! 


Some facts about Suzanne Rheinstein and her career:
She was born and raised in New Orleans.  Her mother worked in and eventually became the owner of an antiques store on Joseph Street.  (Does anyone know which one it was?) She was educated at Tulane and received a degree in English Literature.  She started her career in research and journalism.  Her first employer was Hodding Carter, a pulizter prize winning editorial journalist who was a fellow at Tulane at the time.  She later went on to produce documentaries and talk shows in Washington, DC and later in her long time home town of Los Angeles.  She quit her life of journalism when she was seven months pregnant with her daughter and a few years later opened her shop in LA called Hollyhock.  She says it is her love of diligent research and growing up with an antiquarian mother that eventually brought her to design.