This week I have been working on my press release. It is all very new to me and to be honest, I don’t really know what I am doing, but I suppose the most important thing is to do something!
Having written the words, I started to pull together some photos and then decided I needed to work on a couple of new pieces to really show off my stencils. I went in search of some old chairs, but ended up buying a massive wooden chest which stood forlornly in the corner of the shop. Aha I thought, there is my perfect blank canvas.
I painted it with a coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint™ in Old White. There was quite a lot of ‘bleed through’ from the old varnish, but this wasn’t a problem once a coat of Paris Grey was added on top. The interior was painted with Scandinavian Pink, which is not a colour I use very often, but it is a lovely colour and it has added some depth to the softness of the exterior. Before I started stencilling, I gave the whole thing a coat of clear wax.
The stencilling was heavily inspired by the gorgeous bone inlay furniture I used to see in India. The craftsmanship involved in creating these beautiful pieces is amazing, each piece takes real time, care and skill.
For this chest, I used the Mini Triangles, Rajasthan and Neemrana Border stencils with the Orissa Stripe making it’s debut. I kept the stencil brush really dry using very little paint so that the stencilling is soft. The lay out of the design was built up gradually and once the top and front were completed, it became apparent that I needed to continue around the sides and the back. It took me two days to complete, but I am rather pleased with it. Now, off to find those chairs!
You can find it here.
Decorate Decorate 
Nicolette – this is gorgeous you have transformed the old and not very inspiring chest, the Indian feel suits it perfectly, you must have so much patience to do all that stencilling!
Thank you. I think it is fair to say that you have to enjoy stencilling in order to do this much coverage!