Home Help: 28 June
During the 1980s, Jocasta Innes’s book Paint Magic was the decorating bible. It showed how to marble, stipple and generally create a palace from a pigsty. And now, after two decades when smooth paint finishes in muted colours were in fashion, the late Innes’s rather more homemade and individual style of interior decoration is back in vogue.
Annie Sloan, who has concocted a range of lovely, chalky paints, has updated the look to give it a 21st-century feel. Her book, Colour Recipes For Painted Furniture, shows how to turn a charity-shop find into a very smart piece.
Mixing paints, applying varnishes and sanding down surfaces is an imprecise science and, rather like cooking, needs adjusting to taste. So, it’s always worth experimenting with Annie’s paint recipes on a scrap piece of wood first.
Annie used to teach courses from her Oxford studio but now can’t keep up with the demand, so she has trained more than 40 of her paint stockists to teach decorative paint finishes. She discusses the tools you’ll need in her book, some of which can be bought from Decorating Direct – www.decoratingdirect.co.uk
Jocasta Innes was very into stencilling patterns on walls. The Stencil Library – 01661- 844844, www.stencil-library.com – in Northumberland, has a huge archive.
Computer printing has advanced so much that you can scale and print images that can be applied to furniture, though Annie advises using a laser printer, as inkjet models can blur the image.
Paint rollers with an incised pattern can be used to decorate walls more cheaply than wallpaper. American supplier Rollerwall – www.rollerwall.com – will ship to the UK. Annie will also be selling them in Britain soon.
Colour Recipes For Painted Furniture by Annie Sloan is published by Cico Books, priced £14.99
Annie Sloan: 01865-247296, www.anniesloan.com
1. The faux marble table top is down to a clever paint effect
2. Transform an old chest by styling the drawers with different-sized stick-on letters
Main image above (from left)
1. If you are keen on stencilling, look to The Stencil Library
2. Create classical French style with gilding – this mirror was formerly an armoire door
Email your design enquiries to Hugh St Clair at homehelp@lady.co.uk
Annie Sloan, who has concocted a range of lovely, chalky paints, has updated the look to give it a 21st-century feel. Her book, Colour Recipes For Painted Furniture, shows how to turn a charity-shop find into a very smart piece.
Mixing paints, applying varnishes and sanding down surfaces is an imprecise science and, rather like cooking, needs adjusting to taste. So, it’s always worth experimenting with Annie’s paint recipes on a scrap piece of wood first.
Annie used to teach courses from her Oxford studio but now can’t keep up with the demand, so she has trained more than 40 of her paint stockists to teach decorative paint finishes. She discusses the tools you’ll need in her book, some of which can be bought from Decorating Direct – www.decoratingdirect.co.uk
Jocasta Innes was very into stencilling patterns on walls. The Stencil Library – 01661- 844844, www.stencil-library.com – in Northumberland, has a huge archive.
Computer printing has advanced so much that you can scale and print images that can be applied to furniture, though Annie advises using a laser printer, as inkjet models can blur the image.
Paint rollers with an incised pattern can be used to decorate walls more cheaply than wallpaper. American supplier Rollerwall – www.rollerwall.com – will ship to the UK. Annie will also be selling them in Britain soon.
Colour Recipes For Painted Furniture by Annie Sloan is published by Cico Books, priced £14.99
Annie Sloan: 01865-247296, www.anniesloan.com
1. The faux marble table top is down to a clever paint effect
2. Transform an old chest by styling the drawers with different-sized stick-on letters
Main image above (from left)
1. If you are keen on stencilling, look to The Stencil Library
2. Create classical French style with gilding – this mirror was formerly an armoire door
Email your design enquiries to Hugh St Clair at homehelp@lady.co.uk