giving "Maison Blanche" a whirl

Hello everyone!

Well, I have just been painting up a storm this last week - my little man Noah started Kindergarten! Before school started, I didn't really have any hope for this freeing up any time, because my 2 year old Liam is still home with me. Boy, was I wrong! I guess when you aren't busy determining whose turn it really is to play with Captain America this time, and refereeing every last second of every last moment, you can actually accomplish some things. So hooray for Kindergarten! You can see in the photos below, the boys are also quite happy with the new changes. :)



Awww.

Anywho... so I was really excited when I heard about the "Maison Blanche Paint Company" and their new line of chalk paint, "La-Craie" (which translates to "the chalk" en francais.) Always one to try out something new and add another tool to the proverbial shed, I decided to give it a whirl.




Super cute, right? I'm a total sucker for nice presentation. I got crackin' immediately and whipped up this little pedestal table using "Creole Orange." I got solid coverage in most areas with two coats, but I did have to brush a third on the top just for completely opaque coverage. The same seems to hold true for lots of chalk paint in my experience, so Maison Blance definitely measures up.

(side note: table top stenciled with "Donatella Damask" from Royal Design Studio. OMG, go there now for the most fabulous stencils you have ever seen.)





Next on the "to-paint-with-my-new-Maison-Blanche-paint" list was this little dining room table. I scored this baby at a yard sale a couple weeks ago and I was drooling just approaching it....you know that feeling...

Your eyes meet.. (ok, projects don't have eyes, but just go with it)
Your heart beats a little faster...
The adrenaline kicks in...
You quicken your step...
You assess who else is around and could be a threat to your potential treasure...
You try to appear uninterested, so as not to let the homeowner smell your desperation...

Yeah... admit it.
You know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

Unfortunately for me, I knew no matter what price they named that it was all over...that they would get it from me, because I had already named her. That's the first rule about "strays," you know - you never name them or else they become your pet. But I loved her, and her name was Alice.



Thankfully the price was right and I was able to snap her up. The sweet old man who owned Alice asked me if I had a guess how old the table was.  Always the smart aleck, I said "Oh, hmmmm... I would guess at least 10 years old, right?" He looked shocked and sad that such an ignorant lass was buying his table and told me "Honey, I bought this table at a yard sale 45 years ago. This is the table my children made cookies at...make sure you take good care of it." He kindly pointed out the flaws and I told him I was going to fix them, change her up a little bit and find her a good home.

I knew that bright orange varnish had to go, so first things first, that was stripped off. Then for the legs, I used the Maison Blanche Paint in a color called "Cobblestone." I loved the yummy greigey-ness of the color. Not really beige, not really grey...just soothing and beautiful.




Alice has seriously gorgeous gams, right? *wolf whistle*




I did two light coats of paint on this project. Had I not been distressing, I might have done a third, but it wasn't necessary. The sample size allowed me to do THIS WHOLE SET.

The distressing went really well - I lightly hit all the areas I wanted to accent with a 220 grit, and voila. Shabby deliciousness.

I am in love with the scalloped edges on the skirt of this table. I mean, really? WOW.

 

Hope you enjoyed this week's transformations!

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Here's some handy dandy links for the items I used in this post.

Maison Blanche Paint Company

Retails for $38.95 /quart
Samples are $9.95 each.

Maison Blanche Color Chart

Find a Maison Blanche Retailer

Royal Design Studio
Donatella Damask Stencil