MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT

Interiors guru Annie Sloan

ANNIE SLOAN, 68, founded interiors company annie sloan Chalk Paint more than 25 years ago. she lives in Oxford with her husband, David, and has three children and two grandchildren.

MY CAREER as a decorative painter took off when I was about 40. I had written a book, was painting murals in grand houses and being invited to teach workshops abroad.

But I was also the mother of three small children. I had some help, as my husband worked long hours for Shell. But I was finding it harder and harder to be away.

I was 37 when I had my youngest and I didn’t want to miss it all. I thought: ‘I need something that will allow me to be at home, but also build on my interest in art and colour. I need a product.’

I may not have thought of making paint if it hadn’t been for a man I met while teaching in Holland.

I was complaining about the acrylic paint I was using, which was plasticky. I couldn’t find the colours I wanted, either. He knew of a family- run paint factory in Belgium and suggested I talk to them. That was my light bulb moment.

I launched my specially-made decorative paint with 12 colours in 1990. It was hard work getting the right mix, colours and absorbency, but it was worth it. I could be at home with the children, writing books and selling paint, which was perfect.

As the children got older, I was able to do more. Now, at 68, I run a company that has never been so big. We have 36 colours, a mail order business and a network of more than 1,700 independent stockists worldwide.

My middle son, Felix, 33, is our brand manager, his partner Lizzy runs digital marketing and my husband is a director. So family is still at the heart of the company.

FROM the sale of each litre pot of annie sloan’s new colour ‘lem lem’, £5 will go to Oxfam.