Colourful Shabby Chic

To me, nothing epitomises the 'French' look better than a palette of beautiful muted colours. Together, these colours scream 'shabby chic' in the most classy and classic way.

photo: http://www.classicaladdiction.com

These fabulous fabric covered buttons are by Amanda at www.amandajanes.com. She dyes and prints her own fabric and uses it to create gorgeous French themed pieces for her lovely shop.

Amanda Jane's fabric covered buttons

Annie Sloane has transformed these chairs using a range of muted colours, and the result is stunning:

Chairs by http://www.anniesloan.com/, home of Chalk Paint

Most people's idea of 'shabby chic' is  predominantly white or cream with a few pale colour accents. But you can get a more authentic French effect being braver with the colours. Furniture loves it! The table and chairs below are in Annie Sloane's Paris Grey.

Photo: http://www.fifichic.co.uk/

Lady in the Mirror

This beautiful Art Nouveau mirror was a lucky find at a local car boot sale. It was in a pretty scruffy state and was being used as a prop for a lady's unwanted jewellery. She seemed surprised that I was only interested in the mirror! I don't think she had even thought of selling it.

Anyway, it was love at first sight, and I have to say, I haven't been able to part with her since I found her. I can't bring myself to sell her in the shop. I now put my face on every day in this mirror, and she's peeking round in competition with me (she wins - hands down!).

Now some may say it's sacrilege to take an antique, and apply paint. Some like the aged patina of old bronze. But you couldn't see all those little bluebells around the frame or the beautiful daisies on the sides, so I went ahead and applied a coat of Annie Sloane's Original chalk paint. And I think it works.

Here is a photo of the original mirror:

See? Nowhere near as pretty!

I'm pretty sure this is a valuable piece of brass. It has a maker's mark on the base which I haven't been able to identify as yet. If you recognise it please get in touch!

That's the joy of car boot sales, you never know what treasures you are going to find!

This lady isn't for sale but I have lots of other lovely things in my shop that have been reworked and brought up to date. Please come and visit http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PaintMeNewShop

PaintMeNew Personalised Jewellery Boxes

Well the custom jewellery boxes are proving very popular! I've been taking orders from all over the world for personalised jewellery boxes for fiancees, daughters, wives, friends and a few ladies who just wanted to give themselves a well deserved treat.

This gorgeous vintage box was for a 10 year old 'cowgirl' on a ranch in Oklahoma. Mum was delighted, she knew what she wanted in her head and through a few emails her thoughts got translated into this. She said it reflected her daughter's personality perfectly. Aww...

This is how the box looked before the Annie Sloane Chalk Paint...

Here's another finished jewellery box commissioned by a very lovely guy looking for something special for his fiancee. There are some very romantic fellas out there, this shop is restoring my faith in romance :) He sent me the colour fabric he wanted and he chose a beautiful Liberty print from all the options I sent him back. He was delighted with the finished jewellery box and is making his own engraving for the back.

And here is how it looked before the transformation

Custom listings to buy one of these are on the PaintMeNew Etsy shop here : https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/127594311/customisable-order-large-shabby-chic?ref=shop_home_active

Come and find me on Facebook to see what other things PaintMeNew is up to https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paintmenew/525006694217041