Ugh, I Had The Address Wrong On My Grand Opening???!!!

Big Duh… that’s all I can say…

Today was the big day -  well, a baby kinda day – a soft opening of sort…   given the holiday weekend, and school starting next week, we decided to hold off any press releases until the week of September  12th… that way the money spent on marketing will be put to better use.

All in all, we were blessed today – with lovely company in the form of new and old visitors, beautiful bouquets of flowers, product sales, and…   an evening where we arrived home before 830pm!

Let’s catch up, shall we?

This is an old twin headboard (or footboard) that I found – I rolled it with 2 coats of Reclaim Offwhite ,   then sanded to beat up,  brushed on  a mix of Tea Stain  Glaze and Coffee Glaze and wiped off with a rag.  Done.  Next day hubster mounted the two 1/2 off Hobby Lobby hook things I found -

Re purposed Coat Rack!

An old bi-fold closet door I picked up at a garage sale for a few bucks… cut it in half and will mount this behind my eventual work tub – its a great drying rack for stencils…   added that In Your Words Lifestyle Phrase from Caromal Colours – you simply stick it to your wall, and use whatever paint you want to create your letters…  I used brown and blue textured basecoats-

the first of three most fabulous work tables that were hand crafted by Steve Larocca -  4 foot tables with locking casters,  and a storage ledge -  whoo hoooooo!   I’m going to Aurastone one in a black top to dress up the ‘design’ area – the other two can be decorated from workshop use -

Reclaim pieces -  a moo-cow mocha dresser that I need to doctor the spots up so they dont look so KIDNEY BEAN ish…. ,  then a Reclaim Licorice,  and a Reclaim Sage

All kinds of design books… great way to get ideas

Info on how to update your tired fixtures and accessories using Metal  Leaf and Metallics -

Think a workshop on Decorating Ceiling Tile with Stencils would sell?

Who doesnt love grease boards?  Workshops and demos, hopefully , will fill this baby …

This was last night…

This was tonight..  cabinet doors are hung -

last night -

Tonight- (sorry, blurry)

Displays-

Wall samples – where it all started

Aurastone finishes – offering custom tops on any of my or your furniture pieces-

Aurastone top -

Medallions, accessories, furniture – metallics can add that perfect touch -

Sign up for our Metallic Paint workshop  if you prefer doing your own finishes-

Simple Wall Finishes workshop -

We’ve come a long way in less than four weeks …

How poignant -saved a dollar made from day one – next to a special gift from an amazing friend -

If you’re in the Metro Detroit area, come visit our new store -

49972 Van Dyke Rd,   Shelby Twp  48317

If you’d like more info on the paints I use,  check out the following -

For more information about the Caromal Colours textured basecoats,  head here   distressing paints

For Caromal Colour makeovers

LET CAROMAL COLOURS ROCK YOUR world!

Head to my store   SHOP.FABFINISHER.COM   for all of your Caromal needs, as well as custom wood sample color swatches,  and perfect 8 ounce samplers of the Textured Basecoats – a great way to experiment with color combinations!

When online ordering, using coupon code PattyH in the coupon code area saves you money off shipping.

Repainting Caromal Colours Barnworn Finished Furniture…

That lasted two years…      our refinished basement furniture,  that is. (you can read about the first refinish here)

I’ve been thinking about all the furniture in my house, and what I’ll really want to keep when we move.  Our house now is bigger than I’ll want or need next time around, so no sense paying to move extra stuff that won’t fit next time.

This furniture I refinished a couple years ago, using Caromal Colours textured basecoat paint Chocolate and Cobblestone, would be something I’d not need again – except  it really is a nice large desk workspace -

and it has a nice compact storage unit

My high school age son has outgrown the desk in his bedroom

We got his Stanley youth bedroom set when Nick was a toddler.  I tried to make sure we didn’t buy ‘kiddy’ furniture -  hoped it would last until he moved away to college.

The furniture is in good shape, and I like the design – the headboad is full/queen size, and the nightstand is a larger version (I think it was called a Bachelor Chest) -

I like the chest of drawers next to the desk – but the desk itself is peuny in size,  considering my son is probably 5’8″ and still growing?

So my plan is to garage sale the desk and hutch, and refinish (Caromal) the remaining pieces so they are more ‘current’ for a teenage dude.

I asked him if he’d like to swap his desk for the bigger basement desk – he didn’t like that idea, said the color is ‘ugly’.    Bah.

I told him color isn’t an issue… the paint fairy lives here for geeze sakes!  So we proceeded to figure how just WHAT finish he would want.  His decision?  Peppercorn (black) over Pumpkin (orange)  like this-

(my mother:

Isn’t that going to be  like Halloween?)

Gotta love mothers!

Downstairs we went, to test out the color selection. My son was giddy, exclaiming ,

I get to be in your blog!

(he thinks the sister, two cats and dog get more face time…)

Over the edges of the cobblestone-chocolate furniture I brushed on Pumpkin -  (I’ll explain my madness later)

Let  dry.  Then I brushed over it with Chipping Creme

When dry, I painted the whole drawer with Peppercorn (black)

I have to confess,  the Peppercorn is my fav color… it covers like tar -

I get smart and realize my SON is right next to me, and of course, he wants face time

so I put him to work

Isn’t that ironic how he was also in the post two years ago? This desk is MEANT to be his!   After it was dry, I sanded to distress using 120 grit sand paper. The paint will dull and get powdery looking , but that’s okey – it will LIVEN up later…

Crack open the Toner,  a nice easy to use glaze/stain type product, brush it on then wipe it off with a dry rag-

Oh Nick, love your choice – total dude finish…

So my ulterior motive?  I think I can go right over his existing furniture real easy

- barely using any Pumpkin and  Chipping  Creme on the edges – because the original furniture is similar to that toned pumpkin color that will be coming through the black…  that way it will save me time and money, only having to multi layer (pumpkin, chipping creme, peppercorn, toner)   the green furniture -

Nick likes the finish – so it’s a go.  I’ll repaint this desk and shelf set with Pumpkin and Peppercorn, and will paint the headboard, nightstand  and chest as well, mostly using Peppercorn.    I don’t think we’ll be moving until end of summer so I have some time.

I point out, while we’re admiring the new finish, that he could use his furniture as one large chalkboard, since the textured basecoats work with chalk-

Then again maybe we should just nix the chalk idea…

Are  you unfamiliar with the Caromal Colour brand of paints?

Start here –   distressing paints

For Caromal Colour makeovers

To order  sample colors

ARE YOU READY TO GET CAROMAL’d?

When online ordering, using coupon code PattyH in the coupon code area saves you money off shipping, and you pay no tax (outside PA).

If you want to place an order, click on the  store button below.

Easy Paint Refinishing, No Sanding Priming Stripping…and Won’t Break Your Wallet Or Profit!

What’s the latest craze?   DIY friendly paints – CLEVER paints…

Paints that save you time and effort  -  by allowing you to paint over nearly ANY surface WITHOUT first having to sand or prime or strip…

YAY, you cheer… Fabulous!   Awesomeness!   Time is money,  and more importantly, to us women that work while also doing ALL the other things like having children, raising children, packing lunches, helping with homework, driving to soccer or baseball, not to mention  cooking and cleaning and grocery shopping and paying bills and…   saved time is PRICELESS!

I can skip all the prep steps, the paints offer finish choices galore, and the end result is a super hard, durable finish instantly…. so what is the catch?

These uber paints are NOT plain old latex, obviously.  So you’d expect that they are pricier than a quart of latex paint – the Caromal Colours Textured Basecoats retail for $32.50 per quart.

One drawback we finishers face, repainting cabinets and furniture for a living,  is trying to price a piece of furniture for resale with an attractive enough price that it will sell quickly.  The more our materials cost the more we have to roll into the price tag.   Same thing with jobs  – my goal is to have more profit come back to me for my time and effort, and less go out to the door to materials.

But consider this -  for those that use paints regularly, that purchase them to use on a job, or to affordably refinish an armoire so you can sell it on Etsy or Craigslist,  Caromal Colours offers Representative opportunities.

For as little as a $199  training fee, and about three hours of your time to learn about the company,  demo the products,  and create some pretty samples

you can be set to go as an Independent Rep for Caromal Colours.

And…  why would I want to do this?

As an IR you can purchase product 35% wholesale.  THAT, in itself, is reason don’t you think?

There are no inventory minimums,  so order what you need, but I guarantee once you get your hands on these paints, and realize the creative freedom they can offer you, you will be purchasing extra to sell to your family and friends.

Even better,  this opportunity will allow you other FUN ways to supplement your income – host a house party, or a workshop or demo – charge for your time  – I do and it’s a great money maker.   Show folks how easy it is and you WILL see orders.  All workshop profits are yours alone,   that’s another way to make some money,  a supplement to your furniture painting or finish business.

Email me or call me for more information on how to become an Independent Representative, or Certified Independent Representative for Caromal Colours products.

For those Decorative Finishers that will be attending this year’s IDAL convention EXPO  in Virginia, July 20-24th,  I will be there representing Caromal Colours.  Come see the paints in action at booth 410.  You are welcome to play!

Patty

313 318 6511

pattyhenning@wowway.com

Working On A Ceiling And I Hit A Snag…

When I worked up this ceiling bid I realized that it would be a little tight troweling the metallic plaster under the trim sections -

but I didn’t realize that it would be so tight a reach.   First I thought my bitty trowel would clear but it didn’t.   Then I tried my largest trowel with the tallest blade – I tried to work under the trim using the top half of the trowel – that didn’t work either.

So I improvised and used my blade and a plastic scraper-

gotta do what you can do… it worked like a charm-

Almost done troweling-

Glazing to add richness-

Step by step by step…  applying the metallic base to the trim so it can be glazed-

The modello install is next, I am praying for NO SNAGS!