Hi there, sorry its been so long, its not you its me...! Just a quick post today about the use of pews and benches with dining tables. I love doing this particularly in small spaces/kitchens etc because you can use a narrow table and a bench on one side (that fully tucks under when not in use) and pretty chairs on the other side maintaining the attractive look of a dining set without having to opt for a breakfast bar etc to save space!

If space is less of a problem a beautiful pew can be a fantastic seating option. I find they work best against walls and whether its a stunning reclaimed gothic church pew(sigh) or a painted mdf one they provide fantastically practical seating and (most importantly!!) another place to dislay pretty cushions that your husband never new you needed before(how did he not know!).

I have fond memories of being squeezed onto a pew with 100 other children(ok I do occassionally exagerate!) for parties and dinners as a child, my mum went through a pine`reclaimed` phase, unfortunately this involved getting rid of our inherited antiques and trawling shops and barns to find more modern furniture to replace them... however, I do remember the pew as being one of the changes I approved of!

For my `tiny` eating area (yes I do sometimes miss my grand dining room) I used an old church pew cut into a corner bench (with pretty cushions!) to provide flexible seating for our family, with a sweet vintage drop leaf table/trolley! My children are very happy with it, Oscar loves kneeling on the cushions and eating breakfast there and the table can be wheeled out of the way to hoover up the mess after!!

Anyway, thanks for reading and do remember to pop over to my facebook page if you want to say `hi`, i`m always on there and very happy to answer questions if your thinking about having a go at renovating for the first time!

XFiFi

Hi there, as usual I am blogging late at night when my brain is running away with me! I have decided to do some blogs organised into colours of Annie Sloan chalk paint since I spend most of my waking hours painting with the stuff! Even my 9 year old daughter talks in annie colours these days! Do forgive me if you are unfamiliar with these amazing chalk paints, you can find out loads about them including a great list of stockists on annies website anniesloan.com. This blog is is dedicated to my current favourite Country grey and I will do some on other colours I use over time!

     Country grey is beautiful neutral to add to your existing chalk paint repertoire and has a soft country feel to it thats just looks understated and classy or `quietly expensive` might be an appropriate desciption. I love the lack of yellowy tone in it and though everyone sees colour differently I would say it has more mushroom/taupe/beige tones to it though it will clearly look different on each screen! It looks good with other similar colours as well as whites and earthy tones, hessian, wood and looks fantastic in bedrooms as its a lovely calm colour, I have 3 pieces painted in it in my own bedroom including the cabinet in the bottom picture(yes I do have a bath in my bedroom!!)! Anyway just a quick blog tonight and hope you fall in love with it as much as I do, its a colour worth trying! Night night! xFiFi

Well, its nearly the end of 2012 and despite some major changes, (downsizing etc) in my life over the past year since I wrote my first blog...i`m re fueling(yes...cake and chocolate have been involved!) getting my energy back and am determined to keep moving forward in 2013. Its all any of us can do right now.. when I see so many people having huge stresses in the current economic climate, I put myself in check,stop feeling self indulgent and get on with it! My kids are well and happy, my husband is pulling in the same direction and frankly I think weve done ok this year, as I told my little boy recently- I still have all the most important things with me! Whether your looking to spruce up some existing furniture or buying for a new house there is so much that can be achieved on a very low budget to give your suroundings a boost. By improving the look of your bedroom/lounge/inherited mismatched furniture and knick knacks, even just rearanging your furniture to give your surroundings a new energy can be really uplifting at a time when few of us have much of a budget for luxuries!!! With some chalk paint(I use annie sloan as no prep work!) or even some left over paint from your basement/attic /garage(if its latex based you will need to prep!) its really fun to create a new(low budget) look to make you appreciate your space again,make it feel more relaxing/fun or luxurious! Old/vintage/modern chairs can be given a whole new personality with some coats of paint and pieces of fabric, they dont even need to match but if you are nervous at visualising how something will look you can try creating your own mood board by cutting out pictures of things you like that are similar in style and shape to what you either have already or can buy cheaply from charity shops/auctions etc. If a bold statement leaves you very nervous as a rule I generally believe you can bring unity to mismatched furniture by keeping the colours and fabrics the same even if the shapes are different as shown in the top picture with 2 different pairs of chairs which work well together (as the height is similar) and the colours have been kept simple and matching! I also think sticking to fewer colours can be more forgiving if you arent a fan of an overly `cluttered` look but are trying to give a modern cream/white room some character, you can then add lots of detail in frames etc but if you keep the colour pallette simple it will have a serenity even when being quite full of treasures!!(I personally love clutter though!!)

As you will know if you have been following my year, I do love welsh dressers and would like to point out if you keep an eye out you can find the basic woodchip variety from as little as £15/£20 and with one tin of paint(sometimes a lot less depending on brand/colour etc) you can create a fun back drop for your lounge/dining room and with pretty things, mismatched china etc you can constantly revamp the look with little hasle and expense, you can add lovely handles -glass or my favourite quirky vintage ebay finds!! Although it has got more popular the last few years vintage cut/molded glass jugs/decanters/bowls are great for displays and always to be found in local charity shops!! I will try to do a video over the coming months showing how to easily recover chairs seats pads and a few other basics though practically every tutorial you can imagine is on the internet these days, its great to find out just how handy you can be and what you can accomplish with a little paint and patience!! Revamping your space can really be a great start to your new year...Now I just need to cut back on the biscuit breaks!!

Wishing you all a prosperous,painty and fabulous 2013 XFiFi

   Hi there, well yet more time has passed and I have been meaning to get a blog post out there ...and the possibility of doing a christmassy one was just too tempting....chesnuts roasting on an open fire, shabby chic knick nacks and even more reasons to decorate...the smell of smoke in the evening air, I just LOVE it all!!

   I have been getting my shop looking festive with christmas tree and pretty packaging, it was only the end of september when the tree went up however my crafting friends on facebook where closing their christmas order lists already- so I had a great excuse to get it up early and set the `festive`shabby chic mood ...!

    I love doing table photographs with christmas displays on and here are a few i have put on my recent tables, notice I actually found a small shabby wood sleigh!! 

 I have been thinking about vintage inspired packaging this year and decided old fashioned plain brown paper works fantastically as a backdrop to pretty tags and old lace ribbons etc, you could even sew quirky old buttons on the ribbon or old charity shop brooches(the cheap kind!!) to customise!old piano music looks fab too!  Its amazing what you can find to reuse, with a little imagination to make beautiful and frugal wrapping, i have used offcuts of old wallpaper in the past which can look really expensive and is a great use of something that would otherwise probably just get thrown out!The great thing about beautifully wrapped presents is they make lovely display pieces in the buildup to christmas...as long as the kids don`t open them out of curiosity!

    Gorgeous tags can be created quite inexpensively with a stamp and luggage labels which can be soaked in tea or coffee if you want a really authentic `aged` look! My heart tags I confess where bought from

D`Epoca Vintage Inspired Stationery off ebay who do the most beautiful vintage looking tags and decorations...I just couldn`t resist!!!

  Well `have yourself a shabby little christmas`... XFIFi

 

 I`m sorry I have been shamefully neglecting you, I wasn`t even sure what to call this post and decided my life over the last 2 months can be summed up thus... I am always covered in chalk paint...annie sloan of course! And my kids dominate most waking hours...who are now back to school! My youngest has started `big boy`school so that has been quite an event. I can`t tell you how proud I felt when after going to collect my smart little school boy I arrived to find what can only be described as a `little scamp` with untucked shirt and tie half out oh his jumper...so cute!!

 

  I had a very busy time over the summer and did some furniture sets for a restaurant in mismatched colours of annie sloan paints, french linen, duck egg, paris grey, old white and in different chair styles and fabrics, the colours mix so well!

I have recently fallen in love with a new colour which is `country grey` it has a lot of similarities to the `old ochre` but has more of a taupe/beige hue and less of a yellow tone, its stunning and very classic/expensive looking it has become one of my favourites, I will pop some pictures on shortly of an armoire i`m doing for my bedroom in it!

Anyway i`m back, i`m going to find the time to blog more...and if you miss me, i`m always updating my facebook FiFiChic page so pop over and say `hi`!! XFiFi

  Hi there everyone! Its been a very busy couple of weeks, we have been sorting out our garden and turfing, decking,planting so the kids have somewhere nice for summer, if we get one! They now have a 14ft trampoline which is rather larger than i was expecting...must have been tired when i ordered it.. hehe! There is still a fair amount to do but its certainly looking more like a garden and less like a wasteland so that can only be good!

     I will put some proper photos on when its finished but in the meantime there are some of the`work in progress` on my facebook FiFiChic page, please do feel free to go and visit for lots of photos, i`m always on there and happy to give advice about first time painting etc!! If you do want to `LIKE` my page that would be fab too!! hehe!

  I had a busy week but spent my birthday on the sofa under my sons buzz lightyear duvet with a cold...eating smarties!! I`m so grown-up!!  I did have some lovely people over to do a lifestyle shoot about FiFiChic for a yorkshire based lifestyle magazine which was slightly nerve wracking ,as a totally new experience for me, but they where lovely and I hope I didn`t waffle on too much! I`m also hopeing that any pics with me are done with a flattering lens hehe, If I don`t sound crazy in the interview and look scary I will see if I can post a link when it comes out in July! My tabby cat Toto managed to squeeze into some of the pics too!

   I did some furniture sets too! One was a farmhouse table and 6 chairs in a mix of `old ochre` and `old white` which makes a stunning pale cream when mixed, I like it so much I did 2 ornate carver chairs for my lounge in it,I dont think they will survive long with kids, cats and pasta sauce but hey!..Life is short! I used a stunning floral i have used before which seems to work so well with the colour of the chalk paint! I also put up the louis blue set in the corner of the shop, its such a fab colour!

Anyway, I`m off to get my daughter sorted for bed ,so will be back blogging soon with my garden deck picks..including a shabby chic gazebo!...XFiFi

   

Well good evening all! Its nearly the weekend and I can`t tell you how tired I am this week!! Its been a tiring few months actually! The weather has been lovely though so I can`t complain too much!! I really do need an extra couple of days in each week, that way I could have a tidy house, cook, find time for getting better at photography and get some ironing done on top of the furniture renovations, who knows maybe I could even fit in a workout...though actually I do a lot of furniture wrestling- does that count?!!! I do find time for the kids at least- hehe, which is the most important bit!! Maybe I can teach them to tidy the house!

     I sold my favourite gothic revival dresser which was the backdrop to my furniture pics so have been working on getting my shop set back up this week! Its mayhem, its so full of furniture waiting to be painted...I really need a big workshop shed but every time i`m about to get one some new biill seems to pop up...isn`t that always the way!!

    I have done my new shop dresser in annie sloan `old white` chalk paint as its a lovely neutral colour to live with and for a backdrop! I also renovated a  cute little hexagonal table in antoinette pink underneath old white with lots of distressing, it acts as a pedestal for my little warrior statue who I love!

   My Cath Kidston Rosali fabric sets seem to sell so fast that I have done another set, they have a pretty fresh Alice in wonderland quality which is fun, complete with hearts of course!

    Well my husband is putting the kids to bed now, so I`m going to put some Cheesy rock ballads on and cover some fabric seat pads...living `the dream`xFiFi

Well hello everyone...nice weather..actually feeling quite summery....Summery enough for an outside photo shoot no less!! Now the begginning of the week could have really killed my summer buzz...we had a problem with wasps this week, when i say `problem`, if you can remember the film `swarm` then you might get the general picture of what life has been like over here! My daughter had been off school sick and at one point we had to lock ourselves in the shop ...i`m embarrassed to say I did selotape the doorframes... and we had to call my husband to come and rescue us...2 days of hearing a bzzzzzing noise and trying to plug all the entry points to the house with filler etc and when we rang to get them dealt with we are told if they hadnt been there at least a week they woundnt have a nest to destroy yet so we would need to wait!!

       After wasps constantly getting into the house my husband made a gadget out of a hoover...some tubes and a jar of honey!!! So now we appear to be wasp free!! Clever husband!  Hence I`m feeling summery again and have taken back the garden!(which needs some serious work done!) I bought a new colour of annie sloan chalkpaint in Louis blue which I had been dying to try and its a really fun blue for summer, my daughter and husband where quite suprised when they saw me painting with it as i`m quite a fan of neutrals but I love this blue.. Its like a lovely strong country blue and it just had to be photograhed outside with the contrast of the green overgrown grass!

      I covered the chairs in a pretty blue and cream toile and even made some hearts...i`m not much of a sower!! I think the blue is nice when its used with dark wax which ages and tones down the brightness and it looks great when distressed with the warmth of wood coming through from underneath, for the right kitchen i think a dresser and farmhouse table would look amazing in it and if I was feeling brave i`d probably put it in a room with something painted green for a contrast!

Anyway,the sun is out , the sky is blue and now theres no wasps to spoil the view hehe! Have a lovely summery weekend ...if theres no sun where you are....skip this post...get a video to watch and buy some chocolate, i`m sorry I mentioned the sunshine!! XFiFi

Hi there, i have decided to do some before and after pics for you today! I think we all love before and after pictures, the best form of inspiration and i`m having a lazy day today!

  I had a very busy weekend and unfortunately had to leave my georgous family for a couple of days to get some work done in London, I hate spending a night away from them- I think when you are a mum you feel like you`re leaving the best part of your heart behind with all the people you love the most!

     I also managed to hurt myself....I really should know better...i`m not sure if its growing up with an older brother -but If you dare me to do something it becomes a matter of family honour!!!! I managed to misjudge jumping a fence and now have a black swollen leg, scratched elbows and a cut painting hand!!! It was an embarrassingly low fence too (if you are imaginig something rather more impressive!) So note to self...you are not athletic and really should know better... so no `comando rolls` or fence jumping in the future!!!

  I am putting on some before and after pictures of past renovations with Annie sloan chalk paint. I am also going to put down some of my thoughts on colours I use often (not necessarily in order with the pics!)as I have had quite a few questions about them recently-they are just my opinions and so do bear that in mind, if you want to know more about the chalk paint do go to annies website (anniesloan.com).

  

 I haven`t used all of the colour range yet ( I believe there are 30 and counting so far and will get through them eventually!) the number of shades you can get out of each individual colour is amazing! They can also be mixed to create new colours which i need to try more of- the inspiration from the stockists pictures is great to see what can be achieved! I particularly love the shades you can make with the `duck egg` mixed with old white, it can become such a delicate colour!

 The paris grey is a fantastic colour and I think a huge favourite with lots of renovators! Grey is so hot at the moment(apparently!)

and it is suprisingly hard to find a really good grey for furniture, but this one `paris grey`is just so soft and perfect and excuse me for repeating myself but it covers so well, often 1 coat!

    The `antoinette` chalk paint (pink) is an amazing colour. I`m not a huge pink fan, but this one is soft and pretty and not too sweet,its like a `grown up` pink and I think Antoinette herself would certainly have approved of it!!

  `Old ochre` is georgous and has a buttery richness to it when left plain but when dark waxed it can be made to look ancient and is just a great colour to play around with, or as a great `accent` colour to some of the other colours!

  `Old White` is just a fantastic `staple` white. I use it on its own all the time as white is so fresh, easy to live with and also very popular with my clients.

   Its a great white and when it is clear waxed it tones down to a slightly more `aged `looking white, that is still bright but not too bright for antique and vintage pieces- which wouldnt suit a `brilliant white`! It can be `aged` really dramatically with dark wax which is endless fun on ornate details, and you will impress yourself with the results you can get! It also mixes really well to get different tones out of all the other colours!

   `French Linen ` is just a lovely colour! It just feels like it belongs in farmhouses and beautiful barn conversions (very country chic) and the texture is really silky to paint with. The colours all seem to have slightly different textures and this one has a velvet oilyness when it goes on and is a favourite of my husband who likes to call me in when he paints really shiny surfaces to show me `how well its covering`!!!

   I have plans for some more new colours to try soon! the `graphite` is fantastic and great fun for turning anything you can think of into a `chalkboard` my kids love it!!!

  While I was away over the weekend my husband let the kids paint one of my sideboards, and i have to say they did a great job!!! The paint is water based and washes out(always a bonus) and I do think it is more gentle on the skin which is great when letting the kids use it (put dust sheets down first!!) and it doesnt effect my ezcema like other paints i have used in the past for which I will always be grateful!

Anyway, its time to cook some dinner for tonight, I promise to be careful in the kitchens and wont jump off any worktops!!!XFiFi 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good evening everyone!

 Its been a pretty stressful week ...and sometimes doesnt it just feel like you have the worse luck in the world, you really want to stamp your feet, sulk ,cry and throw some tantrums....then you manage to take a step back and realise that all the really important things are still ok in your life...amazingly your kids are really happy and very importantly -they`re well!... you still have a husband who loves you and everything else is really just a work in progress!!! So i`m not going to bore you with all the `other stuff` i`m sure one day i`ll look back on the last couple of years as character building...maybe not!

    This week I have been going through a `paris grey` phase again! Its such a great colour, not too dark,it covers really well, sometimes one coat! It just makes everything look stylish and expensive, white sells better,but my favourite is the paris grey! Annie sloan describes it as the `the colour most associated with furniture in an elegant french chateau` I think that describes it perfectly! I have done a fabulous set of chippendale style ribbon chairs  in the grey with black and white toile,much nicer than any of the sets I have had for myself, but isnt that always the way! I have also done two cute little round sets with quirky vintage chairs.

Well its getting late so just a quick blog tonight! Do feel free to leave any comments,I was quite suprised to find out how many have been reading this on the counter...there is life out there!! Nearly the weekend...XFiFi