The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
House proud
Get painting, people!
Inspiration for painting projects from expert Annie Sloan
According to research, nearly half of us have at least four cans lurking in a cupboard, so be inspired by artist and paint expert Annie Sloan and use these days indoors to brighten up your home, says Jessica Doyle
Annie Sloan, 70, is the founder of the eponymous chalk paint that sparked a huge trend for paint effects in the 1990s. Like many of us, she has been using the past weeks of isolation to re-evaluate her home and think of ways to make changes. Normally a globetrotter and self-confessed ‘terrible buyer of stuff ’, she has found having to stay at home ‘infuriating’. ‘But,’ she says, ‘now I’ve got the time, I just really want to paint.’
When she first created her chalk paint it was to provide a quick and easy solution for anyone who, like her, with three young children, wanted to decorate but was short on time. Its USP is that it can be applied direct to walls, furniture or accessories without the need for sanding or a primer, making it perfect for Diyers, and people who wanted to stencil their walls and ‘antique’ their furniture. Thirty years on, her company is still going strong and continuing to operate during lockdown by delivering to customers’
doorsteps. Right now, sales are going through the roof.
So if effects such as rag-rolling and sponging are old hat these days, what new paint and colour trends is she seeing? White and grey shades are perennially popular, but Sloan has noticed customers going for deeper shades, such as navy and black, and, particularly recently, brighter colours such as orange, yellow and a grassy green called Firle. ‘I think people want calmness generally at the moment,’ she says, ‘but then they want a little flash of colour too, for optimism.’
As for what she is planning herself, she will be updating her Victorian town house in Oxford, where she lives with her husband David, with some of her bolder shades. ‘I’ve tended to have neutral walls, and then added in bright colours with the pieces I’ve collected, a mix of all sorts of things I’ve found at shops and flea markets,’ she says. ‘Now, I’m going to paint a couple of walls with some really strong colours; I want to use some greens and blues, with a bit of orange.’
She’s also set on jazzing up her piano. ‘I’ve painted it previously, just some lines and stripes, so now I want to do something fancy with it. I’m really going to go to town.’
A piano might seem a tall order for the amateur decorator, but she encourages anyone to use their time in lockdown to take on a creative project. ‘People often write to me to say they never knew painting would be so easy,’ she says. ‘You don’t have to be creative. I’ve got a cousin who is an accountant and admits she’s not the most creative person in the world, but she loves doing it. That’s why people are doing it now: it’s therapeutic, it’s relaxing, and so rewarding. I can’t wait to get started.’ anniesloan.com