Annie Sloan and "Going White"

Hello Everyone.

This is met with a tired but a gently spoken voice.....a voice that is working hard on a mission that is both spiritual in quest yet physical in nature. The results affect my spirit which is calling for pristine, purity, simple, clean visions and beauty and lushness everywhere. I had the beauty but the purity and pristine feeling was missing but is now going to come from the frequency of what I call "Going White". I have always loved white but it was not part of the possibilities of my nomadic life. Now that it appears that I'm "settled" whether or not I wanted to be here, I am and the need to nourish my spirit and soul beckoned for surroundings that nourish it. My venture into blogland last year also took me into some of the most  tranquil homes and beautiful spaces, places where women who love white use it almost exclusively in their homes and who have graciously taken photos of their sacred spaces.......gorgeous and soothing places they've created.
I saw it was indeed possible not with a need for money, or new furnishings, or renovations or anything, but just with the color of White alone. I pray this frequency of "White" emanates out into the world too.

After doing my hallway after the fire,

 
 I saw the feeling there that I had always wanted, and so I knew it was necessary for me to extend on that feeling and expand.
The Lill white netting sheers I bought from IKEA I hung in the hallway have helped a great deal to create that feeling so well and I have lots of them. Some I hung in the porch too.....love it!

 and on the front door which I keep open often for breezes but keep it covered with the sheer......an ethereal barrior from my world and the outer one....

I spoke about my bedroom makeover here, and how that sparked the need for continuing with the Whitening improvements which fed my spirit, onto the rest of the house. The living room was begun today.

On the way back from IKEA to pick up a TV stand I even got the housemate to choose colors for the kitchen. All I did was ask...."if you could see colors you like in the kitchen what would you choose?", without the usual need to ask if he heard me he responded right away.....He said ''an antique or old white and a very pale green''.....I figured he was taking inspiration from a set of bowls I have on the shelf of a lovely creamy white and a pale sea foam green....and together they look beautiful and everyone remarks on those bowls sitting there. When I got home I imagined/played in my mind with those colors in the kitchen and got excited about it and my excitement is contagious even for reticent spirits LOL.... he could see the beauty in his minds eye too. Now the entire kitchen will be those two colors. I can't wait. :D:D:D He even said he'd paint it himself!

We went yesterday to IKEA to pick up a TV Stand with cabinet to hide the DVD"s. This too will have to be painted which brings my painted furniture pieces up to seven. I bought some wood appliques to add onto it because it was entirely boring in structure :D, contemporary and dark brown......not for long ! LOL

Today the walls in the living room were painted by hired help! I never had hired help in my life, but the housemate did not want to help and so once the man was here and giving a price, he began to like the idea. I helped by talking him into doing nothing....and he liked it. :D Today, after he paid them and they left, and I bought dinner, I asked him if he felt it was worth it and he said definitely yes.....especially the knees were grateful not to have to do baseboards!

Today also I received my order of Annie Sloan Chalk Paints ordered from a company here in Florida Robyn Story Designs

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who were very helpful and pleasant and patient and informative and friendly and accessible....how nice was all that! Thank you Laurie! I ordered from her yesterday and received my order today! One day! I never experienced that either and I didn't pay for fast shipping only flat rate.I recommend her because she is the lowest price I've seen for the paints, $8.00 per quart lower than the first one I went to locally, and because Laurie was entirely accessible for questions no matter how silly or how many times the phone disconnected LOL and so she made me feel at ease with spending money.

In Going White in this house, I had to choose a bit more carefully than I have previously in my life. I never spent more than 2 minutes choosing a paint color, but usually less than that. This time I chose carefully because the feel of the space is what is important and not just the look. Choosing the white from an entire palette of whites and chips involved the housemate John as I spoke to myself out loud yet wanted answers from someone other than myself, so that left John..... and "we" chose one that would compliment the slipcovers, either blend with them or be a tone deeper than them. I actually preferred a whiter white but the slips determined the color. After I figured that out, I thanked him for his silent help! LOL.

When I opened the paint I got from Annie Sloan, the Old White is almost exactly the same as the white we just painted the walls which I was also using for painting a mirror frame. I compared them and lo and behold, of all the whites I had been looking at, and I didn't know there were so many! it was very very close to AS Old White. Ok. Fine. The furniture will blend in which is basically what I want, with some nice warm accents and Old Ochre is described as being about 3 shades deeper than the Old White. Nice. .

Here is a pic I found that shows the two colors together...AS Old White and Old Ochre ! But I'm doing the colors in reverse, the Old White will be prominent with the Old Ochre as accent

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I also got samples of "Coco" and my newest love in color, pink Antoinette.
I got the wax too because I was convinced it is necessary to "seal" the paint and keep it protected, coated and long lasting. Since I'm doing 7 pieces of furniture I didn't want to have all that hard work be wasted by the easy scratching of non sealed chalk paint. And I learned something....its not called "Chalk Paint" because it has chalk in it as I assumed.....not that it doesn't but its a proprietary blend and "no one knows"......but.it is called "Chalk Paint" because of its texture before it is waxed. I thought that was interesting.
I really didn't want to do the waxing, so much work for me, but the alternatives I was not sure about, and one was glaze, but what glaze would work to seal all my painted furniture and if that didn't work, would another sealant work? something non toxic?? Since I could not know unless I experimented, I did the simplest thing because I was tired of thinking about it for weeks, and that was just get the wax, do the "Annie Sloan System" knowing it works, and be done with it. So I'm in. I got a wax brush there for $10.95 and she threw in some chip brushes.

Tonight already, with the walls white and the mantle put back up, mirror frame painted, its beginning to have that serene pristine feeling.....the only darkness is coming from the furniture which will be lightened this week.
I will be posting about my progress, as this blogging about it makes it interesting as if I'm speaking to someone who is actually interested! :D. I will take pictures of the individual pieces, then with all of them in place in the room. The 'before' pics for the living room all came out blurry, terribly blurry but I will post a couple anyway because some kind of comparison is needed, but I apologize for not having a steady hand in these and not too much patience either.....I'm very "relaxed" about this whole blogging procedure LOL.....


Here are the before ones....apologies! sheesh dark too! well.....its all I have now. This is a charming place, it just had too much in the way of non harmonious tones....now all will be serene with Old Whites and Warm metallic accents of coppers and ambers and the beautiful things I have will all look like one happy bright family! That secretary desk there with the arch over it is an old Bombay Co. piece, and will be painted.

Below is one of the pieces going to be painted....probably the first......its the largest one. I'm going to paint the fish tank on top too....no not the glass as my housemate asked.

A Queen Anne side table, from the old Bombay Co......will be Annie Sloaned ......lol......painted......

A general picture.....of the living room.....the center table in front of the sofa you cannot see because it is dark will also be painted. It is an Asian table with intricate carvings in it.....will be much nicer to see once it is lightened.

The pale yellow walls with the border paper coming down. The grapes are going to be replaced with my new loves.....white glittery pine cones! LOL Which I spray painted today, the only "fun' I had today....

The mantle.......before........but.looks much improved now, not too much different but improved. Will take pics tomorrow.

Painted walls "Off White"

Leaving the inner wall on the fireplace wall gold, the housemate likes it. This wall is magical at Xmas time!!

I will leave you with a "pretty".....a single glittery pine cone hanging from my canopy.....alone but not lonely.

Thanks for hanging out with me today :D


sharing this with FRENCH COUNTRY COTTAGE

and with TIMEWASHED: Blissful White Wednesday