As many of you are aware, I moved to Sydney in October 2019 from where I am now based. I continue to work with London clients and also have established my business here in Sydney. I have rented my London home and am renting here in Sydney. Little did I know that a few months after I arrived in Sydney we would be in lockdown due to Covid; it must be Karma that I arrived here when I did!

I initially rented a run-down Victorian terrace house in Paddington which I had planned to stay in for more than a year but the roof leaked and the kitchen was full of black mould so I was forced to move out. After a house sit in Randwick for three months I found an apartment in my favourite area, Double Bay which is only two blocks from the harbour and the ferry. Double Bay has a real European feel (it reminds me a bit of St Tropez). There are lots of cafes, pedestrionised areas, two excellent pubs (one at the end of my road!) and plenty of shops thought most of fiendishly expensive. However it does have four second hand designer clothes stores.

Given that I sold most of my furniture before I left London (apart from what I left for the tenants) I had to buy everything when I arrived. My boxes of belongings took three months to arrive so I lived like a student initially. I’ve tried to keep to a very tight budget by purchasing inexpensive items (from Ikea or KMart), a few second hand items from Facebook Marketplace and even some items I found on the side of the road and have upcycled. Sydney has a great system where each area has three council pickups a year on a certain date and you can put anything outside your house. In the more affluent areas there are rich pickings and people trawl the streets (some in rental vans) looking for items. I’m always amazed at what people throw away.

During Covid lockdowns, we all needed an outlet for stress and anxiety.  We have become more aware of our interiors having been surrounded by them for months on end. Your home may need some serious DIY, a few rooms painted or just the addition of pop of colour or two.  If you enjoy creative pursuits and want something to help you relax and unwind, why not paint a piece of furniture? We all love instant gratification when decorating our home and Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan is perfect as it is so easy to use – no sanding or priming and you can paint any type of surface – wood, ceramic, glass, metal …..  There is a fantastic range of water-based low VOC (volatile organic compound) colours from which to choose. I have painted a lot of pieces for my home since I have been in Sydney.

If you haven’t attended an Annie Sloan workshop don’t panic, there are plenty of tutorials on her website and You Tube to help you. She has also published of books to help you, the best of which is Quick and Easy Paint Transformations: 50 step-by-step projects for walls, floors, stairs & furniture which I highly recommend. Or you could start small and purchase her Mini Project Pack and upcycle something like a bedside table or even a tray or a vase.

The first piece I upcycled here in Sydney with Annie Sloan paint was this old brown sideboard which was sitting in a friend’s garage. I desperately needed storage and the house was a bit dark so I chose Annie Sloan’s stunning turquoise colour ‘Florence’ and a layer of her ‘Aubusson Blue’ underneath to give the turquoise more depth. Look at the difference a coat of paint can make to a tired old piece of furniture!  I now have more storage and a showstopper pop of colour in the room. Image 3 shows the chalky appearance of the paint until the layer of Annie’s clear wax is applied. Image 4 shows two doors, one with distress and wax one without. I used clear wax on the whole piece, distressed the edges and decorative features with sandpaper and then I applied dark wax into the crevasses to give them depth.

I also needed additional countertop in the small kitchen of my first rental so I bought two pieces of inexpensive Ikea furniture (a kitchen island and a stool) and painted them in complementary Annie Sloan greens. The island is painted in Annie Sloan’s ‘Antibes Green’ with a layer of her clear wax and then her dark wax. Annie recommends you always put a layer of clear wax before using the dark wax so that you can remove any excess. If not, the dark wax will stain the paint and you won’t be able to get the paint back to the original colour. I used a 50/50 mix of Annie Sloan ‘Old White’ and water to create a wash on the top of the island, a layer of Annie’s clear wax, a layer of her dark wax which I mixed with white spirits 50/50 to give it an aged look and finally another layer of clear wax. The bar stool is painted in Annie’s ‘Amsterdam Green’ a firm favourite of mine.

Here are the before and in progress images.

Before and after images of the stool below:

Below are some other pieces I’ve painted since I’ve been in Sydney. In the order they appear in the images (the before and after of each item):

• Drop leaf table which had been badly painted white. I painted it in Annie Sloan ‘Amsterdam Green and her clear wax.

• A stool and plant pot that I found on the side of the road also had a makeover in Amsterdam Green and her clear wax.

• Ikea cupboard. I bought it new as a grey cupboard but wanted it black so I used Annie Sloan ‘Athenian Black' and her clear wax.

• A coat stand I bought from Kmart for AUS$19 was given a coat of Annie Sloan ‘Aubusson Blue’ (one of my favourite colours in her range) and her clear wax.

Last weekend I found some items on the street - a pair of carver chairs and a bookcase. I chose Annie Sloan ‘Rodmell’ a gorgeous dusty damson purple, to paint the chairs and Annie Sloan ‘Athenian Black’ for the bookcase.

I covered the seats of the two carvers in a Mulberry’s Floral Rococco fabric which started life as two cushion covers that I bought in London but never used. I have turned the second bedroom in my art deco rental apartment into my office as it is the best room in the apartment with a balcony and views of the trees across the lane below. I moved the dining table into the room to work on and swivel it around when I entertain as you can see below. I love a dual purpose room, don’t you? The balcony has also become a good place to paint pieces of furniture, at least those that I am able to move out there as there’s a step up onto the balcony.

The difference is quite extraordinary!!

These two chairs and bookcase cost me absolutely nothing - they were street finds and I already had the paint and the fabric. What’s not to love?!

Just painting one piece of furniture in an accent colour can change the whole look of a room as it creates a focal point. I always advise my clients that if you are afraid of colour keep it below eye level, so a sideboard, stool or island are an ideal way to inject colour and personality into a room.

 Annie Sloan’s chalk paint is so easy to use - no priming, no sanding. It’s instant gratification! You can paint any surface - wood, ceramic, glass, metal, concrete, leather, fabric…….. You can buy Chalk Paint ® by Annie Sloan by going to her website and typing in your postcode to find your nearest stockist, most of which will have a website where you can purchase it online.   See www.anniesloan.com for more details.

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