Posted on

Color and Design in the Time of Covid

Like many people at the beginning of the pandemic, ACC co-founder Susan Mintz sought out additional outlets for her creativity. (In-home color consultations were definitely a no-go.) Luckily, she rediscovered the world of chalk paint, milk paint, furniture transfers and quality stencils. She had some experience painting furniture – the ugly kitchen cabinets and a beat dining table in her trailer in Malibu had needed immediate attention. But the decorative transfers and stencils she found serendipitously online inspired her to take her color love to another level. She flexed her creative muscle by painting and decorating old dressers to flip. Her furniture rehabs are rarely on the market for more than a few days, and she is constantly on the prowl for more interesting pieces to redeem with color for a second life. Want to give it a try? Below is some info to get you started. She has used and recommends all of the following.  

Painted with cualk paint and Iron Orchid Designs decals.


Here’s where you can find furniture pieces to paint:

your house, your parent’s house; garage/yard sales; Facebook Marketplace

Here’s paint to try:

Amyhowardhome.com; dixiebellepaint.com; www.milkpaint.com (and other online retailers of Sweet Pickins Milk Paint); Annie Sloan; DIY paint aka Debisdesigndiary (online retailers)

Painted with Sweet Pickins Milk Paint, blue bird & demin. Using milk paint can create great crakles and chipping.

Here are transfer brands to try,

available at a variety of online retailers: Iron Orchid Designs (most beautiful); Re-Design by Prima; Hocus Pocus 

  • Before
  • After
  • Before
  • In progress
  • After


Stencils

Cuttingedgestencils.com; royaldesignstudio.com
There are hundreds of tutorials on Youtube. Find inspiration for pieces on Pinterest, too.Have fun!

  • Before
  • After
Rolling four colors on one stencils.
Posted on

Why are Porch Ceilings Painted Blue?

Ceiling painted BM Smoke 2122-40.

The legend of Haints Blue: In the south it was common to paint porch ceilings blue to protect the house from evil sprits. The Gullah people passed along this tradition. In the Gullah culture of the South , ceilings and sometimes doors and shutters were painted blue to symbolize water or sky. According to folklore evil spirits and haints, pronunced “haunts,” would be either be tricked by the sky or the blue symbolized water which they could not cross. Blue glass bottles were also hung in trees to trap haints.

In the past Haint Blue was mixed with milk paint formulas using lime and crushed indigo plant pigments. Today many people use pale or dusty hues but there is no standard color. The color ranges from light blues and blue greens to darker shades and gray blues.

BM Icy Moon Drops 2056-70
SW Atmospheric 6505
Posted on

Quote for the Week

Color! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams.

Paul Gauguin

gauguin_1

‘Tahitian Landscape’, 1893 (oil on canvas)

#color, #colorconsultants, #paintcolorconsultants, #americascolorconsultants