My husband gets a distinctly panicked look when he sees me hunting for paint brushes. When I get the urge for a change I have been known to drastically alter colour schemes while he is at work and upcycle furniture in what I call "shabby chic style" and what he calls "painting things white or grey badly."
I first embraced the vintage chic look long before you couldn't move in gift shops for dangling woden and tin hearts and before antique shops realised if they painted old stuff in chalk paint and scattered it amongst the real antiques they would make more money.
My house is filled with now what I consider interesting things mostly in a granny chic style embracing a number of decades. I have a couple of Georgian chairs I love, some Victorian tat, and some 30's 40's and 50's bits and pieces. Complementing all of that I have some modern pieces upcycled in creams, greys and pastels.
I have a confession though. Up until now I have mostly used tester pots from DIY centres for my projects. I end up wearing a lot of it, running my clothes and often feel slightly sick and dizzy from the fumes.
But recently I got the opportunity to try all natural chalk and mineral furniture paints from Frenchic and after my initial scepticism was blown away by the quality and finish of the range.
Opening the tins there is almost no odour and no stirring required. Frenchic paints have no hidden nasties, No VOC's (volatile organic chemicals), no toxins, no solvents and rigorously tested to ensure products are child safe.
Using the beautiful Frenchic brushes I found the pain went on smoothly - it's so creamy it's a delight to decorate with. It's such great quality you could probably get away with one coat on many projects.
The range includes a variety of products to get really professional finishes easily - I had a go at decorating a dangling wooden heart with the crackle paint which goes in between layers to give a satisfying vintage look to whatever you have painted. The level of crackling can be determined by how much you apply.
Theres a lovely range of waxes too - clear, rustic, black or white which I found to give great definition to my crackling efforts.
If you are like me and want quick results with less effort you could choose from the fabulous "lazy" furniture paint range which has the wax already added so you just have to buff your item when the pain is dry.
And new to the range is the gorgeous Al Fresco collection which comes in a range of on-trend colours - pictured below.
I used some to rejuvenate our tired playhouse which is now rocking a new beach hut look! The brushes and lovely paint made it a quick and easy job and the only drips came from another brand's outdoor paint I was using for some of the project -it didn't come close for colour quality, coverage or ease of use. It smelled bad too unlike the Frenchic paints.
Back to my dangling heart project -I decorated my crackled heart with a spot of decoupage using finishing coat to complete my project which I was delighted with!
Paint prices start at £5.95 for 100ml of the original paint with 750ml costing £16.95. Lazy paint costs £6.95 and £19.95 for the same volume.
You can browse the range and order online on Frenchic's website or check if you have one of their many stockists near you.
Disclaimer: I received a selection of Frenchic furniture paints to try free for the purpose of this honest review.
My house is filled with now what I consider interesting things mostly in a granny chic style embracing a number of decades. I have a couple of Georgian chairs I love, some Victorian tat, and some 30's 40's and 50's bits and pieces. Complementing all of that I have some modern pieces upcycled in creams, greys and pastels.
I have a confession though. Up until now I have mostly used tester pots from DIY centres for my projects. I end up wearing a lot of it, running my clothes and often feel slightly sick and dizzy from the fumes.
But recently I got the opportunity to try all natural chalk and mineral furniture paints from Frenchic and after my initial scepticism was blown away by the quality and finish of the range.
Opening the tins there is almost no odour and no stirring required. Frenchic paints have no hidden nasties, No VOC's (volatile organic chemicals), no toxins, no solvents and rigorously tested to ensure products are child safe.
Using the beautiful Frenchic brushes I found the pain went on smoothly - it's so creamy it's a delight to decorate with. It's such great quality you could probably get away with one coat on many projects.
The range includes a variety of products to get really professional finishes easily - I had a go at decorating a dangling wooden heart with the crackle paint which goes in between layers to give a satisfying vintage look to whatever you have painted. The level of crackling can be determined by how much you apply.
Theres a lovely range of waxes too - clear, rustic, black or white which I found to give great definition to my crackling efforts.
If you are like me and want quick results with less effort you could choose from the fabulous "lazy" furniture paint range which has the wax already added so you just have to buff your item when the pain is dry.
And new to the range is the gorgeous Al Fresco collection which comes in a range of on-trend colours - pictured below.
I used some to rejuvenate our tired playhouse which is now rocking a new beach hut look! The brushes and lovely paint made it a quick and easy job and the only drips came from another brand's outdoor paint I was using for some of the project -it didn't come close for colour quality, coverage or ease of use. It smelled bad too unlike the Frenchic paints.
Back to my dangling heart project -I decorated my crackled heart with a spot of decoupage using finishing coat to complete my project which I was delighted with!
Paint prices start at £5.95 for 100ml of the original paint with 750ml costing £16.95. Lazy paint costs £6.95 and £19.95 for the same volume.
You can browse the range and order online on Frenchic's website or check if you have one of their many stockists near you.