Vintro Extreme™ Gloss now in NZ- Terracotta make over

Hi Everyone, it's Dorophya here, most of you will know me better from Taylored Revival and some of the "How to Videos" here on the Vintro NZ website.  Over the last few months we have been introducing and sharing with everyone the amazing products from Vintro in the UK. We have been showcasing everything from their highly pigmented Chalk Paints, metallic paints and Soft waxes. The Chalk Paint  itself has been revolutionary with no sanding or priming and superior coverage (some would say amazing) available in the widest range of stunning colours which has seen it very quickly and passionately accepted in NZ.  However Vintro actually has an amazing range and Chalk Paint is only a small part of what Vintro actually manufactures. Luxury Wall paints( arriving very shortly in NZ), metallics, waxes and lacquers; they really do have it all. For me its a complete system; that's easy to use and is the ultimate when it comes to Luxury DIY. For someone like me who paints daily and who loves to use the paints a little outside of the box,  it absolutely blows my mind on all the amazing possibilities you can create for both an interior and exterior space. I've always loved paint and painting, the magic of a few cans, a few colours and the power that has to completely transform a space with a bit of imagination. In my journey of decorative painting I  have used a lot of different types of paints from well regarded brands to the hardware store bought brands, and home made but when we came across Vintro it seriously sparked a creativity and excitement that made us look at decorative painting and colour with a completely different set of eyes. The creative scope and rich highly pigmented colours is like nothing I've ever worked with and really we have only scratched the surface with what Vintro as a whole is capable of in an interior and exterior space. 

Today we received our latest shipment of paints from Vintro, and in this shipment low and behold included one of Vintro's latest products; Vintro Extreme™ Gloss Lacquer. With rave reviews from the UK, it's an outdoor grade gloss lacquer suitable for wet areas and outdoors, suitable for going over Chalk Paint as well as waxed finishes which I might add, is hard to find, a lacquer that goes over wax... that has always been a no, no, in the rule book but Vintro is not about doing things old school, their range really is genius and revolutionary.

Let me also first say that I have never really been a huge fan of gloss, not on furniture, it's often hard to achieve for the novice painter  and I've never fancied teaching it my workshops or guiding our customers through it. It's like setting them up to fail and it often it looks like a thick layer of varnish type product/ poly that looks like the piece of furniture is covered in a layer of plastic. But that has just all changed and  right now as I'm writing this blog on what has been a stunning spring day here in Auckland, I am literally flipping with excitement after using it. Without me turning this into a novel let me get straight into what I did today with Vintro's Extreme Gloss Lacquer. 

Victim: Large Terracotta pot... why? because it's the opposite of gloss and there's alot of it around, it's an outdoor item that gets weather and terracotta as we all know leeches alot of water. I have alot of Chalk Painted Terracotta pots around some have aged and weathered well, some have aged less some more but they are all Matt as raw Chalk Paint is.  Chalk Paint on it's own, it suitable for the outdoors, it breathes and holds onto the surface you paint it onto really well,  but over time it will weather and age with it's environment and in some cases it's beautiful, and others not so much so it really depends on the look you are after. If you live in a cottage and want large character pots that have a bit of age to them, then painting them in Chalk Paint is perfect for you. Just paint and leave them and they will over time age and weather, if that's not really you then read on.

Colour: Vintro - Sunflower Yellow, the happiest colour in the Vintro range, bright and cheerful and on a hot clear blue sky type of day it has a  relaxed tropical resort like feel to it. I've never been a yellow person, but I've seen so many projects by customers in this colour and this has inspired me to use it and now I'm a huge fan of Sunflower Yellow. I love it! Its a colour with presence and just brightens and changes the space it's in. It's a yellow; not a lime yellow and not a green yellow or even a mustard yellow. It's just a yellow, like a gumboot yellow. It's Vintro so of course it has rich beautiful pigments and I love the depth of the colour which is most prominent when you see shadows of leaves and foliage over it, you really get a sense of the incredible depth this colour has. 

Application: This will be the shortest paragraph of this blog, I expected to do two coats of sun flower yellow given that terracotta is  porous and would probably soak the paint up. I was wrong, it took 5 mins, if that, just one coat all around, it took beautifully and covered amazingly. For those who don't believe it, I took a video :-) Tip Load up your brush with paint always brushing and working with wet paint (on a wet edge) once the paint has started to dry don't over brush. Use a soft good quality brush. The video shows the pot being painted with Vintro Sunflower direct from the tin (no water) just a good stir then paint.    

It was a stunning day out today in Auckland, usually you would leave Vintro Chalk Paint to dry and it should take approx anywhere from  20-40 mins to dry in NZ climate, all depends on the weather and how thick you apply it, knowing that you will be sealing with the Extreme gloss you want to make sure it is bone dry. Today that took about 10 mins on the deck today with the sun fully out to play. 

Gloss Lacquer: I have taken a Video of it for you, but here's some things you may want to take note of: use a good quality synthetic brush, I have used one of Vintro's flat synthetic brushes, it's slightly tapered at the end with nice soft bristles for a more seamless application, load up your gloss lacquer and spread it out thinly, once you've spread it out, "feather" the lacquer by applying  little pressure   lightly feathering away any excess or build up as you go. The Gloss lacquer is light in consistency compared to the others, its very easy to apply and unlike some varnishes out there it does allow a few passes with the brush. Always work with wet Lacquer on a wet edge, don't brush out lacquer that is already starting to dry.  Lacquer in sections. If you look back and find that  you missed a bit, come back and get it on the second coat rather than brushing over Lacquer that is already drying. The second coat of gloss lacquer which I didn't video (sorry) is alot easier in the sense that you already have a glossy surface to apply it on, it glides on beautifully and uses even less product so pick up a small amount and spread you will feel it gliding over the first coat. I would always recommend 2 coats of lacquer as you are bound to miss on the first coat. 

Results : I absolutely love it, it's taken the terracotta look away from it completely, and looks more like a glazed ceramic pot. It has a beautiful gloss finish (which is not surprising as it is a gloss lacquer) but it's not too much if that makes sense, it doesn't look like it's got a thick layer of gloss or plastic over it, it looks authentic and the gloss give adds a luxurious look and feel to it. Truly, my mind is flipping with all the possibilities of Vintro's new Extreme Gloss Lacquer. 

For years our customers have used Chalk Paint on outdoor furniture and pots with the matt finish that raw Chalk Paint has.  Along with the expectation for it to age and weather but now to have this option of a gloss finish is really exciting! Im thinking glossy  front doors, pots of course,  and also  those pieces of furniture both indoors and outdoors  where you want that luxurious gloss look to it.  You can now achieve that with the added benefit of having a strong outdoor grade surface.  I'm talking wet areas, vanities, coffee tables, tables. Colours like Cobalt blue or Victorian black with a gloss lacquer would provide a modern edgy and luxurious look to the piece . No sanding, No priming with Vintro Chalk Paint just choose one of the stunning 56 colours and  just paint over whatever surface, give it 20-40 mins to dry, then apply your lacquer, it's a beautiful, rich and luxurious finish.... Luxury DIY made super easy.

 Here are some close ups of the final result.... no judging my plant though!  I love painting but am a terrible gardener! and yes the deck has had a wash of Vintro Pearl Chalk Paint but thats for another blog :-)

Lets first remind you of the before: 

and then... 

The yellow really is magnificent I love love love the depth of this yellow, the gloss was super easy to use and so satisfying watching it transform the matt Vintro Chalk Paint into a rich glass like finish.  It just makes me so darn happy every time I see this yellow pot on my deck and glad I went with it,  given that it's a bright bold yellow, it sits beautifully with all the greenery we have around our place.

So that's it from me, my first blog entry for Vintro. Hope you enjoyed reading it and no doubt I'll be back on here soon! 

Dorophya x