Yesterday I attended an Annie Sloan workshop with a local small business called La di da Interiors in Andover, Hampshire.
I have used a lot of Annie Sloan paint in the past and love how easy it is to apply. I knew you could paint furniture without sanding it down and that you could paint fabric with it too, but I wasn’t prepared to learn just how versitile Annie Sloan chalk paint actually is.
Did you know you can dye fabric with it? No? Well neither did I! And it is something I am ‘dying’ to try!
Steph from La di da told us all about how and why Annie decided to embark on a new career in not only designing her very own paint, but creating various techniques too.
So not only can you paint furniture using her paint, you can paint walls, cupboards, floors, plastic, metal, fabric and even leather, including shoes and handbags. I don’t think anything is out of bounds when it comes to chalk paint if I’m honest.
Upon arrival we were all give a plank of wood to practise different techniques with. Steph demonstrated how to get a smooth modern finish, a textured finish and wash effects.
We admired all of the different brushes in the Annie Sloan range, which are worth the investment because they really do make the job easier.
We also had a look at paint charts and learnt how you can achieve any colour you like by mixing the paints together.
Steph mixed a red and blue to create a gorgeous bold purple which we slapped on to our boards. After that had dried we applied a white wash over the top and everyone was astonished at how well the white covered the deep purple. We then used Annie Sloan’s own sand paper to distress the white, allowing the purple to show through.
After we had experimented with different paint effects we had a look at wax and lacquer.
There are four different types of Annie Sloan waxes. Clear wax, white wax, dark wax and black wax. Something I didn’t know was that you can make coloured waxes using the paint too.
The lacquer is typically used as a faster way to protect the paint, or used on large areas such as a lot of kitchen cupboards.
I had such a fun time at the workshop and was lucky enough to share the experience with some really lovely ladies.
If you live locally to Hampshire and are interested in learning how to paint your own furniture then I can absolutely recommend booking a workshop with La di da Interiors.
You can also buy Annie Sloan paint and some amazing homeware and gifts on their website. If you are on Instagram you can follow them here.
Until next time
Hayley x
*This is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own.
