Annie Sloan’s home store in Oxford
About one block from the Oxford Print Cooperative, which I went to visit yesterday, is the home store of the world famous Annie Sloan! How lucky am I to live so close to Oxford?
Did I hear someone say, “Who is Annie Sloan?”
She is the creator of the absolutely fantastic chalk paint and is one of the main forces behind the painted furniture revolution and the atomic rise of shabby chic.
Her charming, tiny hole-in-the-wall shop sells her line of paints, her line of fabrics, and found objects (like these giant French grain sacks, which only cost £10)
Just now her store is filled with treasures from a recent buying trip to France. There are little jars, and plates, and drawer pulls, and tea towels, and all sorts of charming little French home accents.
One wall is dedicated to huge swatches of paint. You can come feel the paint, look at it from all directions, hold samples up against it, play with your ideas.
Although I’m not in the market for Annie’s chalk paint just now, and since there are stockists in Vancouver, I’m not going to buy any this summer, but I can’t get these beautiful grain sacks out of my thoughts.
I love that they’re darned with heavy wool and large, course stitches.
Hmm, what can I do with rustic, printed and darned fabric? I’m really tempted to buy one and think about it later.
I’m also tempted by these buttons. Chloe has been making beautiful owls filled with lavender and using large vintage buttons for the eyes. Maybe some owl eyes. 🙂
Any way, I hope to go back to the Printmakers guild on Tuesday and I’ll stop in at Annie Sloan’s shop again. I wanted to check out her work book but was too rushed for time last Saturday.
Linking with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday. 🙂
Marian
Love Oxford, used to live about 40 minutes away and would go as often as I could, looks like a great shop!
Veronica
Oh Marian, I just realised you’re so far away. For a minute I thought it would be so much fun to meet up in Oxford and have a day running around. Can you imagine the trouble we could get into? LOl. 🙂
Eileen
What a cool shop! I love the chalkboard idea and now I know who created the paint. The grain sacks are cute too. I would like to see the owl’s with the button eyes? Lovely post, have a happy week!
Veronica
Hi Eileen. I bought Chloe’s name domain and she owns it but trying to get her to write a post is a little like pulling teeth lol. Tell you what, when I get back to Vancouver I’ll write a post about her owls. 🙂 Oh, wait, I just remembered that I included her owls in my 2012 24 hour zine and there’s a post on my website with the zine pages. You can search 24 hour zine, or maybe just zine and see the image. I think I photographed three of her owls around a trumpet. 🙂
Becca
What an inspiring little shop!
I’m sure you could paint some lovely images on the old sacks. The stitches might make a nice pattern beneath the paint. And if you stretch is out, small gaps in the fabric might make your painting look very cool. Something to think about. 😉
Veronica
Becca, that’s a brilliant idea! Thank you 🙂 Now I’ve got ideas of covering sketchbooks with bits of the old sacking and painting images on the covers. 🙂
Diane
Oh gosh… you must go buy a couple of those grain sacks!
Veronica
I’m going to Diane…see if I don’t! 🙂
Martha
Wow! How lucky to visit this cute shop. Not what I expected, but it is so cute. I see you are having a great time. Blessings, Martha
Veronica
Hi Martha, I’m trying to live each day to the fullest and completely give myself over to the moment. 🙂 That shops is also not what I expected. Brits have a very understated way of doing things. It’s really charming. 🙂
Pondside
As if Oxford isn’t fantastic enough, they have the Annie Sloan Mothership……I’d love to visit. Now I’ll have to go off and google to find out where to buy the paint in Vancouver, as I’ll be there for a few days soon.
Veronica
Are you coming to Vancouver? No way! And I’m not there. Hope you come back when I’m in town and we can meet for a coffee or something. 🙂
michellepond
Another vote here for the grains sacks! Would love to see what you do with them.
Veronica
I think I just about decided on the grain sacks Michelle, but they are so beautiful in their oldness that more then likely I’ll have them hanging around so I can look at them and I won’t end up doing anything with them…lol
claudsy
Ah, Veronica, you have such great little adventures. The shop looks a treat–too crowded for me. I’d be like a bull inside there and terrified that by the time I escaped I’d own the whole blasted thing. Breakage is a bear to deal with, you know. 🙂 The grain sacks have so many marvelous uses here in the States. I hope you do get a few for yourself.
Veronica
Oh no Claudsy! I’ll find you a charming, not too crowded shop. 🙂
claudsy
Bless your heart, Veronica. If I thought I could get over there and play in your backyard for a couple of weeks, I’d start saving for the trip now.
I’ve always wanted to explore the UK for all sorts of reasons. And the little shops are one of those reasons.
Veronica
Well then Claudsy, this might be a good time to set your mind and sights on coming here and work towards it. 🙂
Lorrie
How lovely to visit where the chalk paint craze began! The store looks like a charming place to browse around. I have a French grain sack, lovingly darned and patched, and I don’t know what to do with it, either. Sometimes I hang it over the stair railing to admire and imagine its history. There’s a distributor for the chalk paint here in Victoria, but I have not yet visited. Enjoy your time in Oxford.
Veronica
Hi Lorrie, I looked up the Canadian stockists and we`re really lucky out west. We seem to have about five locally as opposed to another five for the rest of the country. 🙂 Maybe the gran sack is best just looked at and admired. I know how you feel; it’s impossible to cut it up and ruin the integrity of the lovely, vintage piece.
daryledelstein
i could get lost in that shop … oh my
Veronica
Me too Daryl. I was mentally planning out all the furniture I could paint while there…lol…although I probably wont actually do that because my furniture is too antique and valuable to mess up with paint. Besides I love the old woods. But maybe some trays or other small pieces. The thing with me is by the time things catch on I lose interest in the whole thing and for me I think painted furniture and the whole shabby chic movement is a little “over it”. But, painting some beautiful image, like a whole painting inside a try, now that would be fun. 🙂
vastlycurious.com
What a lovely store !
mysoulfulhome
LOVE seeing the little shop Veronica! I am sharing with my chalk loving readers & friends!!