Guest blog for Oak Furniture UK

We're delighted to be featuring as a guest blog on Inspiring Interiors for Oak Furniture UK.

You can read what we have to say here

What happened when a chalk paint skeptic tried out a chalk paint powder?

We use Websters Chalk Paint Powder to upcycle an old table

Chalk paint. You either love it or hate it. Or you’re indifferent to it. Whatever. At one point or another, we’ve fallen into all of those camps.

We’ve used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and found it quick and easy but, more often than not, we’ve used it and found it a right faff – with a bobbly finish and a need for lots of post-paint work which kind of cancels out the paint’s ‘no-prep’ selling point.

As a result, we’ve been reluctant to try other chalk paints. We’re constantly told that Autentico is good, but we can’t shake that Annie Sloan feeling.

So, when we were approached by Websters about trying out their Chalk Paint Powder, we decided it was a great opportunity to shake off our chalky fears and see if we could be converted.

You wouldn't want to get caught at customs with this sample pack...

Websters Chalk Paint Powder has been available in the US for a few years now and has produced some great results from American upcyclers. See websterschalkpaintpowder.com/just-bragging/ for a really inspirational gallery.

Now it has hit the UK and we were among the first British furniture painters to give it a try.

The idea is a simple one. By adding the Websters Chalk Paint Powder, mixed with a little water, to any emulsion paint of your choice, you create your own chalk paint.

Like chalky porridge

It's a bit like creaming butter with sugar

We used Rock A Billy Blue from the Crown Vintage range, following the easy-to-use instructions to quickly create our own chalk paint.

This is fun!

All mixed up, nice and smooth

The paint became slightly thicker, but there were no other noticeable differences once mixed – no colour change, no lumps or streaks.

Our subject was a table we’d picked up the weekend before and were just itching to paint. The base and legs had been varnished many many years ago and, under normal circumstances we would have sanded them back before applying a coat of primer, then our chosen paint.

Our next victim

In the spirit of all things chalky, we instead just gave it a once-over with sugar soap to remove any grease, dirt and dust, then went straight on with the paint.

The first coat went on with very good coverage

The adhesion and good coverage were immediately obvious and before we knew it the first coat was done. We’d wondered beforehand if one coat might be enough – and it wasn’t a million miles away, but we decided a second coat was in order.

The second coat went on as easily as the first, with none of the annoying bobbling that has sworn us off chalk paint.

With both coats done, we simply added some Annie Sloan Clear Wax and then Dark Wax before lightly distressing with sandpaper and a scraper. The distressing was easy, as the paint came away easily, but without any chipping or flaking, allowing us to control exactly how much or how little of the wood we wanted to reveal.

On goes the clear wax, which darkens the colour slightly

The fact the paint comes off quite easily does mean that if we were after a clean finish we’d probably still want to sand the wood first, but, for a distressed finish, painting directly onto already varnished wood is fine, and on a less varnished piece the paint would probably adhere better anyway.

It’s safe to say we were really impressed with the Websters Chalk Paint Powder – not only did it go on well and give a good finish, but we had loads left over – it really does go a long way.

The finished table - though we've since decided to paint the top, too

Try it for yourself and let us know how you get on. In the meantime, you can Like Websters on Facebook  or follow them on Twitter @WebstersChalk

What we've been up to lately

Ok, so it's been a while

Yep, it’s one of those blog posts where the author apologises for not updating for so long, so sue me.

We’ve been busy, you know. We’ve been wearing our Paper Plane hats (note to self: get some Paper Plane hats made) selling cards and prints both on and offline. Who knew that Christmas cards could take up so much of your time in October and November?

Paper Plane's best-selling party drinks cards

We’re now selling our PP range online at paperplanedesigns.co.uk, relovedvintageinteriors.co.uk, notonthehighstreet.com and etsy as well as in the real world at Vintage Betty and French Grey Tales (and a couple of exciting new stockists in Stamford and Rutland to be announced soon) and also at the awesome Lollyrocket Shopping Event, organised by the whirling balls of energy that are Hayleigh and Michelle from Lollyrocket. You should check out their website – especially the candles, which appear to be selling like hot, um, candles.

So, yeah, we’ve been doing our PP thing, while trying to learn about how Etsy and notonthehighstreet work.

We’ve had loads of very helpful advice from a friendly bunch of fellow sellers including Newton And The Apple, Bread& Jam, Bookishly, Megan Claire, Tanya Garfield Jewellery, Becka Griffin, Zoe Brennan and The Green Gables – which is a little bit exciting in itself because we’ve always looked up to these people (still do) and can only dream of emulating their success and talents. It’s a bit like being 12-year-old girls who’ve just talked our way onto One Direction’s tour bus, feeling like utter imposters, only to find that, despite being super-huge megastars, Harry, Niall and co are a lovely, welcoming bunch.

Reloved Vintage is still very much alive and well, though. As well as her regular commission work, Laura’s found time to produce two brilliant chests of drawers (her best work so far, if you ask me) – now she just needs to find the time to get them both listed for sale with a full range of photos.

You can see one, Percy, here.

It's Percy!

Oh yes, and we bought a van! We really did! It’s a Toyota HiAce and we had to travel two and a half hours each way to get it, but it was well worth it. Now we can take on bigger jobs we previously had to turn down – and maybe we can squeeze in a big buying trip to France some time next year…

We only went and bought a van...

There’s just room to say that if you haven’t subscribed to our newsletter yet, please do – we’ll be sending out an exclusive discount code for subscribers only very soon.

Meet Paper Plane

We've been a bit quiet lately, furniture-wise (although tonight we're off to beautiful Harringworth to collect a wardrobe we've been asked to paint) and this is why... meet Paper Plane.

Paper Plane is our new business, specialising in prints and greetings cards, but with the aim of moving on to a more diverse product range as the business develops.

Laura had been itching to put her design skills to use, inspired by awesome people like Bread & Jam, Newton and the Apple and The Happy Pencil - and with my bordering-on-the-unbearable penchant for puns, we decided we could probably scrape enough ideas together...

Initially, we're selling via our new website and through the Reloved Vintage storefront on notonthehighstreet.com, but we've also got a small selection of products in two of our favourite shops - Vintage Betty and French Grey Tales.

We'll be adding more new designs to our range when we find a moment in between our full-time jobs, running Reloved Vintage and, y'know, managing to feed, bathe and dress ourselves.

If you'd like to give us a hand (and maybe even help us make the leap to doing this full-time, gulp) we'd love it if you shared any of the cards or prints you like on your Facebook, Instagram or Twitter accounts. Or, if you have a shop and would like to stock any of our cards or prints, just drop us an email.

Red Lion - mission accomplished

Reloved Vintage helps with dining room redesign at The Red Lion pub in Stathern, Leicestershire

Last month, I told you about our exciting project with The Red Lion in Stathern, Leicestershire.

Now, after getting through many sheets of sandpaper, several tins of paint, a whole load of varnish and a lot of hard work, the job is complete and the pub looks great.

The Red Lion's dining room before...

 

...and after!

On top of stripping and repainting all the dining room’s tables and picture frames, we were asked to act as design consultants for the whole project.

The owners had already decided on the general colourscheme and flooring they wanted, and Laura was able to make suggestions on which paints would best compliment each other for the walls and wood paneling.

We also suggested a shelf of food and cookery related books – and provided a few vintage pieces to add a little more rustic charm to an already beautiful room.

We’re delighted with how the room looks – the decorators and flooring teams have done a superb job and the owners, Ben and Sean, brought their own ideas to the table and have come up with some really great, eye-catching talking points. Everyone at The Red Lion was a delight to work with and we wish them every success for the future.

It’s a great pub, with amazing food – we very highly recommend paying a visit.

We're going down the pub

Reloved Vintage helps with interior design of Red Lion in Stathern

We’re delighted to tell you all that we will be spending the next few weeks on an exciting new project with one of our absolute favourite local businesses. We’re helping The Red Lion, in Stathern, Leicestershire, with the makeover of its main dining room – which means we’re going to be stripping and painting a LOT of tables!

The dining room. Photo courtesy of greatfoodclub.co.uk

As well as reloving the furniture, we’ve been asked by bosses Ben and Sean to help with design aspects of the room – our first ever job as interior design consultants!We’re so utterly chuffed to have been asked to get involved. The Red Lion, in the beautiful Vale of Belvoir, has a Michelin Bib Gourmand and is the sister pub of the Michelin-starred Olive Branch, just up the road from us in Clipsham, Rutland.The whole project should be finished by mid August and we can’t wait to show you the finished results.