DIY milky coffee plywood floors!

We desperately needed a new floor outside our pokey toilet and in Poppy's little bedroom. The main flooring in our living area is Jarrah planking but not being from Australia originally, I just don't have the sentimental attachment to the deep red hues as some do!

I am much more a fan of a lighter, softer, oak-like shade. I had seen a few DIYers laying ply-plank floors and wondered whether this might be an option for us too? Fast, cheap, easy.....

Little Green Notebook

 

A fire pole in the dining room

 

Shabby Creek Cottage

 

So I pulled up the nasty lino which lay on the area and the old pink carpet that was in Poppy's room. 

 

And took a visit to Bunnings to pick up some sheets of ply. Its a really good looking wood you know folks, very modern and clean and used in more places than you might imagine.

From this....

 

To these...hmm, tempted yet??

Lush Home

Houzz

Apartment Therapy

After buying the plywood, my builder to cut it into approximately 6 equal widths, to create a really chunky, wide-board effect.

 

Then he laid it down using a nail gun and glue to fix, a huge improvement immediately!

I knew my preferred white wash finish wasn't right for us in this high traffic area of our small home, with small people, so I went with a water based walnut stain all-over.
Knowing this would be too dark for the finished look, I let it dry and then mixed up 1/3 of paint to water using Coco Chalk Paint™ by Annie Sloan. 

 

This gave me a lovely rich, milky-coffee-with-grey-tones kind of colour (!!) which sank into the dark wood beautifully.

I then sealed the floors with a water based sealant and left it to cure for 2 days.

I'm really pleased with how the floors have come up. For a little bit of sweat, cash and time, I think they look great and they suit their purpose in our home perfectly right now.

I have a little more work to do on skirting and walls, so I will post some pictures of the finished rooms in a few days :)

 

Love me some mustard!

I love deep, rich, dirty yellow shades. Probably something to do with the fact that they lie firmly within the range of autumn hues that suit my own colouring. I think mustard is one of those tones that people seem to love or hate - you don't see it worn too often, but when you do, its generally done very stylishly and with a fantastic mix of coordinating shades!

 

Dorlydesigns.com

 

Plascontrends

 

Secret Look Society

 

Beingtazim

 

My neighbour and friend had these little old sad Queen Anne drawers which she had taken the beautiful mirror off already, she fancied a mustard shade to brighten up her lounge area. I cant emphasise enough how pieces of furniture like this that seem to have had their day (often covered in stickers from another life-time...) can be given a completely new and stylish second chance at life!
 

 

I mixed up a custom shade using Chalk Paint, decorative paint by Annie Sloan, blending English Yellow, Versailles and a drop of Primer Red.
 

 Ginghambuffalo.com

 

 

She had the really clever idea to hang the mirror on the wall above the drawers, keeping them together with a really contemporary twist! Makes me think I might like something in this shade in my own home too....

Graphite chalk paint™, painted floors

If you follow my Facebook page, and you will see that I painted our very small toilet floor in the gorgeous Graphite Chalk Paint, decorative paint by Annie Sloan.

 

Something had to be done with this silly room! We've only lived in our home nearing 5 years, but its almost as if the sheer ridiculous scale of this 'room' intimidated me in terms of decorating! I didn't know where to begin! I knew I didn't want to spend heaps of cash, as we still have three small children, so perfect new floors in the main loo in the house wasn't an option :(

Seeing as the tiles were rather offensive in the first place, I thought I'd have a go at painting them in graphite. Knowing that it would stick initially, I gave it 2 coats and then another 2 coats of a floor varnish, then 2 days to cure on top.

Whilst decking out this tiny room, I decided to paint the door in Greek blue (and give it a new porcelain handle) and paint the walls in Paris Grey.

 

 

Our next job is the floor outside of the loo (which has been a faux cherry wood lino, yuk). I will keep you posted on how the tiles are doing with all the family traffic. They are definitely a huge improvement and I'm loving the dark shade which draws your eye immediately :)

My time in Sydney meeting Annie Sloan!

I have just got back into Mum/wife/painter mode again after my fantastic stay in Sydney!

I was invited over to the Australian launch of Chalk paint™, decorative paint by Annie Sloan.

 

The launch venue was a beautiful interiors and antique store in Leichhardt called Elements I love. Meeting Annie and her team was fantastic, I was able to have ample time to chat to them all individually and discuss various topics including my artists in residents projects.

 

 

 

Annie demonstrated some techniques with her chalk paint, she has an absolute wealth of knowledge around paint and colour, we were all able to have a play too, whilst meeting stockists, artists, painters, bloggers and press.

 

 

 

It was my first time visiting Sydney, my friend and I had a beautiful few days meeting the team, staying in beautiful accommodation and seeing the sites!. 

 

 

I have come home feeling incredibly inspired and full of energy to complete more of my Painter in Resident pieces using Annie's' incredible paint and making her very proud!

Have you tried chalk paint yet?

Chippy white hall stand

I started these little drawers as one of my Painter in Residence pieces, but after my recent trip to Sydney and time spent discussing my projects with the Annie Sloan team, I decided against it. These drawers are very much my style, but I now feel that I need to push myself more when creating my six masterpieces in the next few weeks!

 

Using the leftover green ikat fabric from the little Coco chest, the sides are a modern and quirky surprise!

 The structure of the draws were very bad condition, so I made the decision to glue to the fronts of the drawers into place. Not really ideal in terms of storage, but only the owner would ever know and the top still acts as great, rustic surface area! 

I stripped the top back to its raw state, and simply waxed it to a gentle shine, a gorgeous little piece in a cottage or beach home setting?

Funky blanket box!

I forgot to take a 'before' shot of this little chest, but it was coffee coloured with a high shine varnish, desperately needing facelift! It wasn't antique, but I thought it had an interesting shape and lent itself nicely to the decorative Chalk paints, by Annie Sloan.

 

 

 

 

I painted two coats of Coco on the outer section, 2 washes of Aubusson Blue (half paint half water) inside the chest and decorated the inside of the lid with a beautiful pale green ikat fabric.

A fantastic small storage unit, perhaps for the end of the bed? This piece has sold :)

Aqua corner cupboard

I'm pretty sure that this corner cupboard is oak. It was very mid brown and unattractive and need it either lightning, or painting in my opinion.

 

The carving was very sweet and appealing, I decided a custom mixed shade of aqua be the way to go.

 

 

 

I added some very sweet little red owl knobs, which contrasted beautifully. It found its way to an artist on the south coast very quickly after I listed it, she had been looking for a corner piece for a long time! Perfect :)