Furniture Painting Workshop with The Decor Cafe

West Egg, together with The Decor Cafe, hosted the first of our furniture painting workshops on Saturday. The workshop took place at the beautiful London home of The Decor Cafe founder Debbie Blott which was the perfect, relaxed setting for a day of learning, experimenting and updating old pieces of furniture. 

Each participant brought along a piece of furniture to makeover and in just one day this plain Ikea bedside table was completely revitalised. Two coats of Old White by Annie Sloan, some light distressing and a smooth wax finish has given this piece a whole new lease of life. The really great thing about the workshop is the owner can go home and apply the skills she has learnt to the matching table, and to any other piece that needs a little TLC. It's such a great way to update pieces of furniture that get relegated to the loft and it's environmentally friendly too. 

The workshops run from 10am – 4pm but we start the day off with tea and coffee from 9:30am. Over the course of the morning we share the tips and tricks for creating an authentic French country look and experiment with different colours on wooden boards before moving onto painting the actual piece. 

Lunch is included in the cost of the workshop and is a great chance to chat about different interiors projects, discuss ideas, and have a good sit down of course!

In the afternoon we work on the finer details including distressing and waxing techniques. We have tea and coffee on hand during the day as well as freshly baked treats - this time I made White Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins. I used the recipe from Nigella Lawson's website which was really easy and they tasted amazing. (Click here for the recipe).

At the end of the day everyone goes home with an updated piece of furniture, transformed in one day as well as a gift bag containing different samples, tricks and tips info sheet and other goodies. 

Our next workshop is on  Friday 16th March - if you're interested in coming along, click here for more details and to book your place or call 0207 060 2975. 

Also, there will be a special guest at the workshop in March - a certain AlfiePug will be coming along! So if you've been dying to meet the official West Egg mascot, now's your chance. 

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Email: louisa@westegg.co.uk

Website: http://www.westegg.co.uk

Blog: http://westegg-interiors.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/westeggUK

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/westeggUK

Friday Afternoon Round Up: Trend Tailoring

Well this is a lovely way to end a busy week...West Egg's Linen Stripe Footstool has featured in the Trend Tailoring editorial feature in Good Homes magazine (Feb 2012). I get such a huge buzz seeing our products in the press because it makes me feel that West Egg is on the right track and that people like what we do. Phew. 

We have a nice weekend planned here with a good balance of staying in and going out. All the boxes are finally unpacked from the move to the new house which is a relief. There is still quite a bit to do though but it's close. I may do a blog post on different bits of the house via the Nest Egg blog as there are some lovely corners. Living in military quarters certainly comes with its challenges but I think we're getting there....

Have a lovely weekend everyone and stay warm and cosy. 

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Email: louisa@westegg.co.uk

Website: http://www.westegg.co.uk

Blog: http://westegg-interiors.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/westeggUK

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/westeggUK

The Perfectly Effortless Guide to Entertaining with a French Vintage Twist

I just wanted to share with you the wonderful new pieces of stock now available from West Egg's online boutique homewares store - click here to take a look at the website. These 'perfectly imperfect' decorative accessories are an original and interesting way to add a vintage and personal feel to the rooms in your home, but particularly the dining room. Aside from the purely decorative (I'm thinking of the vintage signs here), the majority of these new pieces retain their original functionality.

Create the perfect start to drinks parties or dinner parties with champagne served on ice in this fabulous Vintage French Champagne Bucket. Fabulously chic.

These vintage jugs are a great decorative accessory in a sunlit window or empty nook somewhere, but they are also fully functional so use them for serving water or refreshing elderflower cordial - check out West Egg's sister blog Nest Egg for a great cordial recipe.

For after-dinner coffee, this fabulous vintage coffee grinder is a really quirky decorative, as well as functional piece.

These mechanical coffee grinders are now highly collectable and come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours. It is in full working order and could still be used to collect coffee grounds or for grinding spices. 

To take a look at all the latest arrivals in the West Egg store simply click here.

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Email: louisa@westegg.co.uk
Website: http://www.westegg.co.uk
Blog: http://westegg-interiors.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/westeggUK
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/westeggUK

Furniture Painting Workshops

West Egg is delighted to join forces with The Decor Cafe to run a series of furniture painting workshops in Putney, SW London. As with all of of our workshops, it is relaxed and friendly with an emphasis on learning something new. We work in small groups so that you get lots of help and support.

Working first on practice wooden boards and then later on your own piece, you will learn the skills and techniques to achieve beautiful painted finishes using chalk paints and waxes.

 

Venue: Decor Cafe, Putney SW15 6NW.

Timings: The workshop runs from 10am – 4pm. Join us for coffee from 9.30am onwards. We break for an hour’s lunch at 12.30pm.

Price: £125 which includes all materials, refreshments and a buffet lunch.

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Upcoming dates in 2012:

Saturday 18th February - The Decor Cafe, Putney: BOOK ONLINE to reserve your place, or call 0207 060 2975.

Friday 16th March - The Decor Cafe, Putney: BOOK ONLINE to reserve your place or call 0207 060 2975.

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Learn how to:

• Create an authentic French country look using chalk paints.

• Choose furniture to paint and other preparation tips.

• Painting – learn how to choose & match colours, tips and tricks of dealing with stains.

• Distressing – subtle wear and tear vs. total destruction.

• Waxing – learn how to use clear and dark wax to age furniture as well as create the crackle effect.

What to bring:

• All equipment and materials are provided and are included in the cost of this course. You will take away the practice wooden boards you work on for your future reference.

• Participants should bring along a small piece of wooden furniture they would like to paint – ideally a chair, bedside table, small side table. (If you would like to come but don’t have a piece of furniture to paint please let us know and we can provide a selection of pieces for you to choose from).

• We also recommend you bring a notepad and pen, camera and apron.

Tutor: Louisa Blackmore

If you have any queries, please contact Louisa by email at louisa@westegg.co.uk or call 0207 060 2975.

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Email: louisa@westegg.co.uk
Website: http://www.westegg.co.uk
Blog: http://westegg-interiors.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/westeggUK
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/westeggUK