fauxplusdesign

Countdown to Leesburg, or, It's My Turn to Play with Annie!

Most of you who read this post need no explanation about the title.

Those of you who have been living under a rock need to know about Annie Sloan and her Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. The best paint in the world. Girls paint, but boys can use it too! Often imitated but never duplicated.

I am looking around my studio for a painted piece to offer for the vignette displays in Leesburg on Annie's American tour, March 31st.

Oh my. What is Annie worthy? Not too big (to fit in the van.) Not too small (and potentially overlooked.) Just right.

I am pushing the deadline here, dwelling on the just-rightness of what is Annie-worthy, as she will be viewing our pieces showcased only in Leesburg!

I just figured it out. Maybe having my eyes dilated by the eye doctor this morning did it. The world was so bright for a few hours that it was painful to look. Just look. So I just thought.

Annie will touch and feel. Enjoy the coloration. The technique. How the piece spoke to the Chalk Paint and the end result.

But what I do know about Annie from near and afar is that she will look through the piece, into the heart and soul of the painter. And know that the process and execution, the thought and love that went into the piece was more than the sum of furniture, chalk paint and wax.

Amen.

The seats in Leesburg are almost gone!

This opportunity may not come again soon,

so register today at the link above!

A Painter Paints for Herself, or, Black Friday in the Studio!

Everyone but everyone was out shopping.

But me.

I was alone in the 600,000 square foot, 100-year-old Mill where I paint day in and day out for my amazing clients.

I'll admit that sometimes I get jealous of those clients.

 

They get the best of me and my work and I just wanted to finish a little project for our living room.

 

A really tiny table that has needed some ooomph for years.

 

Did it!

Well, I did it will a little help from Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

 

If you are passionate about doing paint projects yourself, visit my website at ilovefaux.com where you can learn about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and the amazing and addictive workshops I offer!

 

All you need is a little inspiration - a color, a picture, or even a single pillow!

 

Let's paint!

   For more info be sure to visit AnnieSloan.com and AnnieSloanUnfolded.com

 

 

Studio redesign redux, or, here I go again!

There is one thing my dearest friends know about me. I love change.

Design change is uplifting, exciting, motivating and transforming.

Three years ago as I planned my new studio design, I was on the way to Marrakech, so, it became distinctively Moroccan, featuring treasures from my faux adventure there. Citrus-colored rugs and warm layers of color.

Check out the old design here.

Now? Well, see for yourself! I believe I have morphed.

 





 


 



Now it's sort of crusty industrial.

I like it here so much, I want to work 24/7...

 

Redesigning my studio, or, fun with old stuff!

I've been at my current studio location in a 1898 restored flannel mill for three years now. My Morrocan-inspired decor in cheery bright oranges and greens and yellows made me love showing up to work.

But I do love change. Just when I'm too busy to think about a project, I always jump in head first.

So I went to my favorite High Point Furniture Market vendor and scored lots of industrial-crusty-funky new treasures. As designer-friend Sandra and I were unloading our haul, I was selling the old treasures right and left.

Yesterday, while hubby made the coolest ever metal rolling walls, I finished this project:

 
THE NEW DESIGN CONFERENCE AREA:

My old rolling table found at a used fixture store, plus new metal stools.

I COMBINED:

An old piece of frosty glass, plus a new stencil from Royal Design Studio, and some leftover Annie Sloan paint:

Love it!

Stay tuned for a little more studio magic...

DESIGN SOURCES:

Stencil: Royal Design Studio

Paint: Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

Paint Stockist: Faux Works Studio

Introducing DION HAYES DESIGN STUDIO, or, Here I Come High Point Furniture Market!

 
A spectacular trip to Umbria with Gary Lord and Melanie Royals.

A dusty pile of recycled tempered glass.

A custom-designed wall mount - and my new line of glass art line is born!

Enter my amazing sister-in-law Patricia Chrisley and her fabulous company, P. Chrisley International, and look out world, here we come!

DION HAYES DESIGN STUDIO for P. Chrisley International.

TO THE TRADE at Hamilton Square.

Please stop by during Market, April 2 through 7!

Many designs to choose from. With semi-precious stones and coins, and without.

Interchangeable designs which include the wall mount,

hanging hardware and directions for hanging.

SWEET.

 

Coming soon on facebook

Gettin' Wild at Bellissimo, or, Fun with Foil, Stencils, Modellos, & More!

One day I was busily chatting on the phone with my accountant about tax stuff - yawnnnnnn.

When much to my extreme delight, my client Tina and her friend Denise surprised me at the studio door. They had found me after looking high and low around town. I have moved since I worked at Tina's wonderful home on the cattle ranch years ago and they needed me.

The news? They were opening a new spa called Bellissimo - get this - right behind my studio, a few steps down the hall!

Even better, they wanted my help to design and finish their new business.... artsy, funky, fresh and fun.

"I'm your girl," I said. The only stipulation by the folks here at the Mill was that I could use NO texture.

And I didn't.

I used everything else.

I stenciled with a ginormous custom stencil...  and limewashed the fountain... (a little weird, she's almost life size and nekkid.)

I foiled like a fool with many, many layers. The folks working at the Mill walked by several times that day wondering what the heck I was doing...I contemplated charging admission...

I installed Modello Prontos, sprayed etching material for privacy, then added crystals...

I got crazy with the latex wall paint, more foils and crystals, then added a layer of Auraclear to enhance the effect and durability on the reception desk...
 

I painted giant 9' by 5' custom-made canvases for the two treatment rooms - made to hang within the brick niches...

Come on in if you're in the neighborhood!

BELLISSIMO Advanced Skin Care & Spa

Tina Dunlap & Denise Staley

Permanent Cosmetics, Anti-Aging Treatments, Chemical Peels, Injectible Fillers, Hair Removal, Spray Tanning, Specialized Skin Care

1150 Revolution Mill Drive, Studio 8

Greensboro, North Carolina 27405

336-271-5004

Design Details:

Oversize custom stencil on walls - Cynthia Davis, Wallovers

Modello Prontos - Melanie Royals, Modello Designs

Foil - Gary Lord, Prismatic Painting Studio

Auraclear - David Rairick, Aurastone

Crystals - Michaels

Giant Custom Canvases - my hubby Steve and daughter Mia

Copper junk chic, or, learn how to create awesome art and furniture at the Chic Chateau Lunch & Learn!

Well, I'm about to tell all of my secrets! OK, some of my art-related secrets...

Join me Wednesday, September 29 at the Chic Chateau Designer Showhouse "Lunch and Learn" and witness how I turned a pile of found objects from around the studio from this:

Into this!

This is one of several pieces of art I will be introducing this fall at the High Point Furniture Market at the P. Chrisley International showroom at Hamilton Square.

You'll also see what I did with a small table using only leftover faux materials!

Join us for a delicious lunch and find out a little about the magic of the Chic Chateau!

11-11:30 am -  New Garden Nursery, "Container Gardening"

11:30 to Noon - Faux Design Studio, "Transforming Your Consignment Store Finds"

12:30 to 1:30 - "Separating Your Trash from Your Treasures" with David Kane

Magical Mel Dickey, or, designer/artist extraordinaire!

In recent posts I have alluded to the upcoming Chic Chateau Designer Charity Showhouse that I am working on again this year.

Last year was our first event and it was a smash success with $20,000 given to four deserving home-related local charities.

One of the coolest projects was an art piece, designed by Mel Dickey and jointly executed at my studio. Mel created her vision of the artwork and we had it output in a sepia tone by sign makers Triad Sign Guys, who donated their work. Then my sweet husband Steve custom made the sturdy frame and Mel and I stretched the final artwork on top.

But not before we had lots of laughs, contemplation, flinging of paint and experimentation with silver leaf and glitter. Just visualize the two of us putting paint and all manner of goo on the canvas simultaneously!

What fun we had. And we're getting ready to do it again with Mel's latest masterpiece.

Working with Mel is like taking a dose of smile medicine for my creative soul. She not only created the art, she designed the living room that surrounded it.

This canvas sold as soon as the doors to the house opened!

I am so pleased to be on Mel's handmade Christmas card list. It's a visual treat that I treasure.

Getting the Royals treatment, or, don't miss out on this limited edition book!

Melanie Royals has another smash hit with her newest book, Modello by Design Volume 2!

I'm pleased to have two of my projects included:

This powder room (lacking the mirror at photo time) was finished for my magical designer/friend Sandra Barron of Sandra Barron Interiors. Her international clients wanted a WOW effect, so we used an altered version of the ceiling Modello from our painting trip to Peacock Pavilions in Marrakech with Melanie, shown here:

This hallway project is in an amazing authentic southwestern-style home right here in Browns Summit, NC!

Custom Modellos were perfect for my brilliantly creative client, Sondra. Can't wait to share what we have just finished in her kitchen! Why yes, I do love going there to work. The original art.... The views of the pond... The pool... The custom competition motorcycles... Sondra found me at my studio about two years ago and I have worked in almost every room in her home.

This book is a must-have for finishers, designers and clients. Be prepared to gasp at the creativity and masterful executions by many of my friends and peers! And it's so affordable.

To order, click here. 

Tell Melanie I sent you!

My desk transformation, or, a black and cream patterned beauty.

This week I worked on countertops and a tabletop (photos to come) and this adorable desk redesign for a neighbor across the hall from my studio. He and his wife like traditional but with a little twist.

I love how it turned out. Bought the little allover stencil many years ago and finally had just the right project to use it.

Reminds me of a tuxedo somehow. Classy - just like the clients!

BEFORE

 

AFTER

FINISHING MATERIALS - Faux Effects

ALLOVER STENCIL - Royal Design Studio