NZ Homes with Artisan Paints

We're alway so inspired when customers show us that they get it, that decorative painting with Artisan paints is not limited to just furniture but pretty much anything you can imagine, or that you can completely transform your space by adding Artisan Paint finishes through your home to create mood, elevate your style or make it more cohesive. Today we're showcasing wonderful projects by Rita O who's journey to discover Artisan Paints was actually led through Gin, yes alcohol, but not in the way that you're thinking. Rita makes Gin herself and was trying to find a beautiful unique cabinet to display them in. After finding that the ones she liked was a bit pricey it sparked the idea of maybe painting something to create what she imagined for her gins. She got in touch with a friend who she knew painted furniture and asked her if she could give her a crash course on it.The friend came around with an Artisan Colour booklet, Artisan paints and brushes and quickly explained how it all worked (Thank you friend! )  and suggested she popped into to see our Premium  Artisan Retailer in Masterton.  In Rita's words " I must say they are the best and I have only praise for both Lisa and Tina. They have also offered to deliver products.... Recently when isolating as a close covid contact they offered to pick up supermarket supplies for me to deliver to me at the same time as my Artisan products... Hows that for excellent service? We recognise our Artisan Premium Retailers are a passionate group who love to share their knowledge and passion around Artisan paints and products and  go above and beyond whenever they can,  hearing this warmed our hearts as it echos our ethos in so many ways. It's that old school service that we believe in that you rarely find these days,  it's more than just selling paint, it's  about getting to know customers, understanding them, their homes and connecting in a creative colourful wonderful way. Opening and expanding the possibilities, supporting, encouraging and guiding creativity with Artisanal paints and products. With customers like Rita who slowly work through the home project by project; that creative relationship extends so much further than just paint, over time we get to know customers more, their family, their homes, support and witness our customers journey in transforming their spaces through Artisan paint projects and if we're lucky we here at Artisan HQ get to connect also through photos, messages, questions and answers that is one of the many things we and our Artisan Premium retailers pride ourselves on. Creativity is in everyone, sometimes we just need to discover the right products; be shown and inspired for it to be unleashed and get us going.   Before: Photo of a Vintage Bedside  After: Rita's cleverly added a touch of style and sophistication by balancing Artisan Carbon Black with natural wood tones. A great balance of vintage & modern  Below: looking to add her touch to an old Mahogany side table Rita looked to draw colours out from the surroundings and decor, anyone noticing that gorgeous flash of hot pink?...  Before Photo of Table.   After Photo: With no Sanding or priming Artisan Wendy's Pink was the pick  Not to forget the decor; a pot plant  with a moulding added also painted in Artisan Paints and metallics to add into the room as well. Not easy finding a hot pink side table and pot the way you want it,  that's for sure!   A lamp purchased for $5 the shade purchased from Mitre 10 and where the base and shade have both been painted in Artisan Paints in Carbon Black  with bronzanite metallic glide used to detail and stencil. Create your bespoke lamp Rita shares : "The start of my up-cycling journey coincided with some house renos so thought to myself what a good time to be making some drastic changes to my mainly black and white home decor!  I watched most of your videos on the website to teach myself and where I had questions or doubts, Lisa and Tina's knowledge filled the gap. Although I am still learning I now have the confidence to take on bigger projects and I am absolutely loving the challenge. Have been approached by a couple of friends to do commission work but currently too busy replacing every old piece of furniture in my house with a new colourful piece, Next up is an old man robe I want to turn into a linen cupboard, so watch this space! "  Beautiful Artisan transformation to create a dining room suite, with the chairs which were originally metal also painted in Artisan Paints to work in with the table, Wood and Metal painted together as a cohesive set. In Royal Navy Premium Chalk Paint with Carbon Black wax.  Before : Coffee table for the house  Transformed in Artisan Paints and metallic glides  Looking beautiful in place  We love this next one, taking a plain piece of furniture and adding a moulding,  Artisan Crafted colour with metallics, transforming what was a pretty plain piece in that honey toned wood into something beautiful and elegant.  In progress, we can all relate to spreading out inside to paint, especially with these colder months coming, the beauty of Premium Chalk Paint is that there is no smell and still dries pretty fast even in winter. Rainy days are meant for painting in our world :-)  End Result. Looking elegant at night in artificial light  Before: Cabinet ready for an Artisan Paint finish, no sanding or priming just paint Carbon Black on the frame of the sideboard with Country Mustard and Carbon Black Wax on the body and Bronzanite glide. A chance to re-interpret those older pieces with the colours drawn or inspired by your home.  We have so enjoyed following Rita on her discovery and journey with Artisan paints and products and we know there is more yet to come... She has transformed so many different items in her short time of finding Artisan Paints from bright and bolds to deep and moody, from furniture to decor.  It's inspiring for us not just as painters ourselves but also as NZ's Artisanal Paint manufacturer to see just how people are welcoming the idea of creating bespoke interiors with ease, appreciating crafted colours and the difference in quality paints. Transforming and discovering all the endless artisanal possibilities. Thank you so much Rita for your words, and  for allowing us to share your story and photos today, we have so enjoyed following your journey with our paints and seeing all your projects come to life and look forward to seeing what else you create x.  Little shout out to the friend who introduced you to us and to our wonderful retailers Brush Strokes Studio in Masterton for your passionate work in spreading the word and all the possibilities with Artisan paints . 

Today we are highlighting stock standard vanities and all the possibilities! We know we are referencing many NZ homes out there  when we talk about "that white stock standard shiny vanity" commercially finished, mass produced and made to fit a wide range of homes and often adding an unwanted  slight clinical touch to the room. Usually nothing wrong with them other than a lack of personality and character. They're blocky, functional and.... they make amazing candidates for Artisan Velvet Luxe, allowing you to re-intepret and add your personal style and Artisan colour onto it, resulting in a luxurious end result. Easy application,  flat, matte and wipeable in a richly pigmented Artisan colour.  Making it a completely do-able DIY project. This is  Artisan Velvet Luxe....  Painted in Old Espresso -Artisan Velvet Luxe  An Artisan colour and finish can make a tremendous change to even the "blockiest" non detailed piece like a vanity. Adding life and depth in colour  to your vanity, pair the makeover with some new handles, the scope is far and wide when it comes to re-designing your Vanity. With little to no prep required and 67 crafted artisan colours,  the option is yours and the scope is wide.  Velvet Luxe was applied directly onto this vanity, if you have a super glossy vanity it may pay to give the surface a light sand to help key it in, we're not talking a full sand; just a good sweep over the surface with rough grit sand paper to scuff the surface. Make sure you thoroughly clean your vanity prior, to remove any oils, and or residue on the surface, we're talking toothpaste, cosmetics etc... Velvet Luxe is a fast and easy way to transform something into a flat one colour finish. With advanced self levelling technology, it dries beautifully flat and matte, creating a strong wipeable surface that is suitable for both indoors and outdoors, which makes it absolutely fine for those water splashes, cleaning is just a soft gentle cloth with water, or with some gentle soap. With little to no prep, little to no odour and a fast dry time of an hour, it's a project that you can start and finish well within the same day. Artisan Paint and tools for Vanity make overs.        For vanities we highly recommend, edging each panel with a small staalmeester brush in proportion to your Vanity, then rolling Velvet Luxe with Staalmeester micro-felt rollers across the surface. 2 coats. No wax or lacquer required...Easy!    Although a small vanity makeover,  the impact it has in the room is huge. Beautifully done by Belinda for her home (who owns Renaissance Studio). Showing us that even those small dated vanities can be full of style and character with luxuriously matte finish in  Artisan Velvet Luxe. Taking it from your stock standard into something bespoke that fits in with your style and look you are looking to create for your space. Thank you Belinda for your wonderful before and after and inspiration!  Vanity in Old Espresso Artisan Velvet Luxe, Wall in Artisan Stone Effects: Rustic Rye (more on this later) Mirror in Artisan Old Espresso premium chalk paint, Artisan Marko Bronze and Milan Moonshadow glaze with dark and carbon black wax.  Full range of Artisan Velvet Luxe and Staalmeester paint tools and accessories are available through all Premium Artisan Retailers. If you don't have one in your area, these products are also available on this website 

We were pretty excited when we saw these images of the beautiful work and transformation that Adele had done on her Kitchen by accessing per Artisan Paints through Paint Me Vintage in the Bay of Plenty.  It looks like a completely new remodelled kitchen,  no structural changes here; apart from replacing the stove top, range hood and lighting. A fabulous showcase of the power of transformation through Artisan paints and products transforming Vintage Retro  into a beautiful Country Chic Style Kitchen Kitchens are in an important part of the home , often  the heart and also the communal space for the family, a space that requires both form and function. After reading this you will know that it is also a room that can be completely customised and transformed with Artisan paints and products as well. Those kitchen wooden, melamine or veneer cupboards and doors, can be quickly and easily transformed with the right Artisan Paints and Products to create your style and a new aesthetics all with little to no prep. Low VOC's with little to no odour and a fast dry time, you could be using your kitchen again as quickly as an hour after application on a good day.  If your Kitchen layout is good,  functional but just a little dated in colour and materials an Artisan Paint makeover may just be what it needs to completely re-style and breathe new life back into it and Adeles Kitchen DIY makeover shown here today is a big testament to that. Read on....  A quick look at the before,  here we have the kitchen in blue and soft green,  multicoloured tiles with your standard kitchen handles throwing off a strong  retro vintage vibe.    After photos...Pretty impressive right! Other than lightly sanding the surface of her cupboard doors to scuff the surface and a good clean, Adele has gone straight over using a combination of brush and rollers with  Artisan Velvet Luxe- Hybrid Chalk Paint. A great paint to use for kitchen projects for many reasons but here are just a few of why you might reach out for Velvet Luxe - Hybrid Chalk Paint for your Kitchen:  It's an indoor-outdoor grade paint that dries matte and is also completely wipeable and durable. With advanced self levelling technology it dries beautifully flat for a luxurious one colour finish.   Unlike Premium Chalk Paint there is no need to wax Velvet Luxe (nobody wants to paint and then wax their entire kitchen, that's from a by gone era and is no longer required with Artisan Velvet Luxe ) We are often after a clean one colour flat finish with no decorative paint effect in our Kitchens which makes Velvet Luxe perfect for the job.  Velvet Luxe comes in the full 67 colours in the Artisan colour palette all carefully crafted, Multi-pigmentented with a complex depth bringing surfaces to life in Artisan colours. The freedom of choice is yours. Velvet luxe is ideal for larger  projects, as it's fast and easy. Little to no prep, two good coats and your done, with great coverage small to medium sized kitchents can be done in 1-2 Litres but if you're looking to do shelving, internals, skirting and more it  is also available in 4 Litres at special large project price. Fast Dry time of approx 1 hour; by the time you work from one end of the kitchen to the other, where you first started is most likely ready for another coat, meaning you can work continually and get something like this done in day if you wanted to. If you start in the morning you might actually be cooking in it by evening Low in VOC, little to no odour means you can work, live and use the room during and immediately after the project  We love the mix of Crisp white and Parisian Grey used in Adeles Kitchen it completely neutralises the space from what it was,  creating a light calming yet  inviting space that makes you want to step in, roll out some dough and bake some bread whilst having a cup of tea. In the photo above you notice Parisian Grey on the doors reacting to light and shadow from right to left. The new artisan paint finish enhances the existing wood tones on the kitchen bench and flooring. Styled beautifully with country chic vibes by Adele   Adele has cleverly used Crisp White to brighten, expand and neutralise areas of her kitchen and we love the mix of the two Artisan neutrals used here creating a freshness, modernising and making it a more calming space from what it was. paired with different Kitchen handles, it looks like a completely new Kitchen.For Kitchen makeover's with Velvet Luxe we've prepared a list below of everything you will need to fly through the job. With something like this it's important to have everything you need on hand, there's nothing more annoying than being mid project and needing to paint a corner or edge and realising you don't  have the right tools or brushes...with a large project like this it's important you get everything you need for best results.  Remember the tiles? Adele has cleverly decoupaged those multicoloured  tiles with wall paper to give it a pressed metal look and then used Artisan Lacquer over it to seal protect and give it the strength it needs to be functional and wipeable in this area, then detailed in silver metallic glide. Very clever and very creative a great example of using Artisan products to make your creativity functional.  There is so much we love about this Kitchen and the  before and after is truly  gobsmacking. We love seeing our paints being used to create and transform beautiful spaces like this. We like to think projects like this becomes a possibility, do-able and achievable when customers discover the ease and beauty of Artisan paints and products. So when we see a retro vintage kitchen transformed like this  it makes the entire team a little fizzy with excitement gasping sentences that start with oh my.... Thank you so much Adele, we love the beautiful vision you had to transform your Kitchen into a beautiful country chic space with Artisan paints and products . A truly  inspiring makeover and before and after.  Thank you for your wonderful inspiration :-)     

Today we are all in  for a bit of treat. This is one big bathroom makeover where pretty much everything has been touched in Artisan Paints and Products from lighting to walls, the vanity to decor.  After hearing about this, it was only right we got some photos taken of the room and in this blog post; we are going to view everything in full detail.  We are swooning over the results created by Belinda from Renaissance Studio who is also an Artisan Retailer; and here we run you through the different Artisan Products used on each item in creating this wonderful bespoke bathroom that utilises everything that was in it, yes, including the pvc cladded walls. With no structural changes and no sanding or priming the focus was purely on creating rather than preparing. Other than a good clean and  filling in a few holes, this is a project that really shows off the power of Artisan paints and finishes and it's ability to transform simply and quickly.  First let us take a look at the before photo, your typical standard PVC wall panelled bathroom, functional but lacking in personality and warmth with the PVC walls making the space a little sterile. This bathroom was one of the first rooms Belinda thought of when she discovered the ease and capabilities of Stone Effects.  How to take something like this and completely change it up with luxurious textures and materials, read on.... So with the PVC wall you see in the above photo she went on to use Crushed Graphite blended with Elephant Dust Stone Effects, using a combination of brush and Artisan stone effects spreaders to create texture and organic movements on her wall. The only prep she did was just a good clean over the PVC. She applied Stone  Effects directly onto the surface. The first coat just a thin coat to coat the surface allowing the product to properly adhere to the PVC; then with a thicker second coat to achieve coverage and purposeful texture. Cutting in around the edges with a brush with the larger areas spread on with her Artisan Spreaders.  For ease of cleaning she applied three thin coats of Artisan Matte Lacquer over the top of this, this allows you to glide a soft cloth over the surface for cleaning; once lacquered just a gentle cleaning product with water will make cleaning easy. Take care to take your lacquer right to the edges and across all seams, Artisan Lacquers are also mould and mildew resistant. For anything that requires regular cleaning we highly recommend finishing with Artisan Lacquer over Stone Effects. With this she has transformed her PVC walls into a luxurious stone effect a completely bespoke stone wall encasing the bathtub and shower area. PVC to Stone, yes !!! We love that, these types of transformations is what makes the team here fizzy with excitement. Taking a substrate thats smooth and shiny and doing the complete opposite in creating textured stone effects on it...what we mean by endless possibilities.  Artisan Crushed Graphite in 4 Litres and 1 Litre Elephant Dust Blended together finished with Artisan Matte Lacquer For a Full run down video showcasing the many ways to use Stone Effects click here Skirting, window frame in Crisp White - Velvet Luxe offsetting the Stone Effects wall beautifully  A look at the amazing before and after standing at the entrance looking in.  See that little pallet sitting on top of the bath tub? Below is what it looks like with a quick coat of Artisan Velvet Luxe in Carbon Black, a beautiful hybrid premium chalk paint that self levels for a beautiful one colour matt velvety finish that's wipeable. Just two coats and you're done. Making it a very chic bath rack creating and adding those details to help to finish off the look. Don't forget you can also paint your decor to create a cohesive space. Let's talk about the adjacent walls framing the beautiful Stone Effects thats been applied in this bathroom. A pairing and decision that is equally as important in completing the overall mood and style for the space. Here Belinda has chosen Imperial Linen - Matte Estate Wall Paint. Artisan Matte Estate Wall Paint is a beautiful luxurious Artisan wall paint that is multi-pigmented. We use that term that a lot and to give you an idea of what that means, most paint colours are made with a simple 3-4 pigment process, neutrals 2-3 pigments. Artisan colours are crafted with anything up to 14 individual pigments creating crafted colours with unique life and dimension. So even our neutrals like Imperial Linen are crafted with careful complexity creating a colour that is responsive and adjusts to types of  light and shadow. Designed to be a luxe DIY wall paint made simple to apply and which requires little to no prep. We highly recommend rolling Matte Estate with a Micro Plush - Wooster Roller for a flawless finish even for the unexperienced. It self levels, dries beautifully Matte whilst creating a strong wipeable surface. Ideal for imperfect walls given the way it absorbs the light. There is not only a sense of Luxe when spreading Matte Estate across the walls but it is also luxurious to the touch. Wall paint with so much life it makes you want to glide your fingers across it. Available in the full range of Artisan Colours.  That towel rail... painted in Imperial Linen (same colour as the walls) in Velvet Luxe Hybrid Chalk Paint which is suitable for both indoor and outdoor projects. All Artisan Paints across the range are available in the full 67 crafted colours allowing you to paint different materials and items with different Artisan paints in the same colour if you wish too. Check out the toilet roll holder below, also in Imperial Linen Velvet Luxe. We are not kidding when we say you can paint pretty much anything.... :-)    Imperial Linen wall below adjusting and reacting beautifully to the artificial interior lighting.  Now let's talk bathroom vanity, we all know these vanities well, white and pretty stock standard. Ripping out a vanity is no small project and finding a stylish vanity is also no easy mission, but using what you have and painting it in Velvet Luxe takes about 30 minutes to apply. Again little to no prep and with 67 colours you can knock your socks off when it comes to making it bespoke. Taking something you already have and creating a completely new look and style for it.  For a project like this use Staalmeester mini rollers which we recommend for using with our Velvet Luxe hybrid Chalk Paint, it will make the whole thing so fast with a flawless end result that will have you wondering  why you didn't do it sooner...:-) Pop out those  standard handles for something with a little more style and character and Ta-da beautiful bespoke vanity,  Dare to add personality and make yours  different....  Velvet Luxe in Carbon Black completely redesigning this vanity, no sanding no priming, a paint that's suitable for both indoors and out. Look at how it's brought out the beautiful curve of the sink. You can expect a beautiful matte velvety finish thats completely wipeable on this vanity. Transforming it from a stock standard vanity into a stylish chic addition to the bathroom. With  the freedom of Artisan paint finishes you can let your creativity flow past much more than  just walls and furniture; right through to decor and everything in between allowing you to create your cohesive interior space. Here we can see a plain wooden mirror was cleverly finished with Artisan Stone Effects pulling the decorative stone effects finish over and onto the adjacent Imperial Linen Wall; this time using more of a stippled texture created with a brush. Pairing beautifully with the Vanity in Carbon Black Velvet Luxe and that little pot plant off to the side, yes, also in Stone Effects.  We love that even the accessories for this bathroom has been treated to an Artisan finish, check out the beautiful stool, lighting and Curtain Rail all completed in Artisan Metallic Pewter finish, details and those finishing touches matter. Create decor and accessories as you imagined to finish off a beautiful bespoke space. A pewter metallic stool is not an easy find anywhere,  let alone bespoke lighting or a curtain rail to tie in with it but you can create it with Artisan Paints.  Beautiful Wooden Stool transformed in Artisan Pewter Creme  Even the lighting which was originally  brushed silver has been given the Artisan Pewter Finish, along with curtain rail below.  Artisan Pewter finishes are simple and easy to do and can be done on pretty much any surface using our Premium Chalk Paint as a base, if you're interested in finding out how easy it is click on the image below to take you through to the  How to Video  This bathroom is such a great example of the endless possibilities with Artisan Paint finishes. Anything is possible; transform all types of substrates and materials into something beautiful, create a cohesive space with crafted colour and Artisan Finishes. In reality you are limited only by your imagination with this innovative and revolutionary way to DIY and transform , all without the need to sand or prime! Low in VOC's, environmentally friendly products that allow you to focus on creating rather than prepping. This project was completed around Christmas last year and has been in use since then, words from Belinda:  "it's wearing so beautifully and so easy to clean, I love my bathroom, it looks and feels like a completely new bathroom it has such a lovely feeling when I walk into it " and with this she has actually gone on to complete another bathroom in her home in Stone Effects and we'll look to showcase that at a later date. For now, Thank you Belinda for demonstrating everything that Artisan Paints is about. A very inspirational project that has us all looking at our bathrooms in a completely different light.   Artisan Paints &  Products Walls Stone Effects in Crushed Graphite 4L Elephant Dust 1L used to blend with Crushed GraphiteArtisan Spreading tool kit  Artisan Matt Lacquer (available in 500ml or 2L)(TIP direct from Belinda) mask all your skirting completely and cover everything with drop cloths, stone effects is a high adhesion product and if it get's onto your skirting you will be  scraping it off to remove it :-) Stone Effects VideoImperial Matte Estate Wall Paint (adjacent wall)Wooster Roller highly recommend for a luxe flawless finish with Matte Estate being a full body multi-pigmented wall paint Vanity Carbon Black Velvet Luxe Staalmeester mini Rollers Skirting and window frames Crisp White Velvet Luxe - Hybrid Chalk Paintwith a 1inch Flat Staalmeester Brush Accessories: Toilet Roll Holder : Velvet Luxe in Imperial Linen Mirror: Stone Effects Stool, curtain rail and lighting  : Artisan Pewter Creme Video for Pewter Metallic Finishes AvailableBath rack : Velvet Luxe in Carbon Black TIP: a Staalmeester angled fitch brush is ideal for creating Artisan finishes on those smaller items such as a toilet roll holder/ curtain rail or lighting using The One fine bristles to flow both paint and metallic onto smaller items All items are available through our Premium Artisan Retailers stores. If you have any questions bookmark this page and have a chat with your retailer. If you don't have a retailer nearby everything is also available online through our website the team here are also able to help with any questions. 

We all know ripping up tiles is a huge project not to mention an equally huge expense. Many of us can relate to that "oneday" we'll replace the tiles / floors but that one day is often a very loooong one day away. Doesn't mean you have to put up with what you have until that one day arrives. Before  Painting floors in Artisan paints and products is a lot easier than you might think. In many cases; after painting the floors; our customers often take that "oneday" off their future to do list. So it's been great to receive these photos from Jen S from East Auckland showing us your typical dated tiles through the Hallway and Bathroom and the impact created by  changing it up with Artisan Paints and products. (Interested? We're about to give you some pointers below). We love how the change has modernised the entire space, crisped up the walls and given the floors an almost slate like look, with a can of Artisan Paint and a can of Artisan Lacquer and a few right tools, it's a low cost, quick project with little to no prep that repays with high impact when it comes to transforming a space. Painting your floors WILL completely change the look, feel and mood of your space and with 67 Artisan  colours, the choice is yours when it comes to creating your space.   Jen has done such done a great job here. After watching our Artisan Washed Floors video online she was inspired to tackle this area.(To watch click here)  She left out the decorative washes  and went with a one colour finish, modernising the space and making the project even faster than what was shown on video. If you are hesitant about the colour ;have a chat to an Artisan Retailer  or get in touch for some advice or test a little bit of the colour in an area to get a gage of whether or not it's what you are after as Jen did first before committing (third image) When it comes to painting existing floors the approach may vary only slightly depending on what substrate you are working with.  But generally you will be looking at either Artisan Premium Chalk Paint or Velvet Luxe with a top coat of Artisan Lacquer; little to no prep other than a good clean and some masking. Wooden Floors, Teracotta, Concrete, Plywood floors are all completely doable and many of our retailers have painted floors in their stores as well and are able to guide you through your specific project more or you can also contact the team here directly with too if you don't live close to an Artisan Stockist. Some Key things to consider:  If you have some time Watch the Video Online  Just select and add it to your cart online and go through checkout. There is no charge, as this is one of our complimentary videos capturing the basic methods as we were doing our Studio floor. So once you go through checkout  The Right Roller Whether you're using Artisan Velvet Luxe or Premium Chalk Paints to paint your floors we always recommend rolling on with a Wooster Roller for an effortless seamless finish; for smaller areas like a toilet area a Staalmeester brush will also work a dream. Artisan Paints are rich, luscious full bodied and creamy and paired and need to be applied with the right brushes or rollers for best results.   Floor Projects must always be lacquered with Artisan Lacquer:There's no ifs or buts about it, customers often mention that after painting with Velvet Luxe it feels strong and is wipeable and will often question the need to lacquer. The answer is. you must always apply our lacquer over the top for durability, and function. The artisan lacquer will act as a top coat and is designed especially for floors (although we also use it for furniture, decor, pots  and all sorts of things) whether you're doing a flat one colour finish or a decorative effect on your floors the lacquer will seal and protect and make it long lasting and functional. Which Lacquer: We have Matte, Satin and Gloss sheens  in our Artisan Lacquer range, our general advice is Matte for high use floors, it shows up a lot less, is forgiving on those older floors with lots of imperfections as it absorbs the light, Satin is a nice in between and Gloss for low use areas as it will reflect the light and show things up a lot more but ultimately the choice is yours. Colours: Select your colours and neutrals to tie in with your home or to re-create your space. Bear in mind that dark colours and whites will tend to show up dirt and dust a lot more  than say mid tone colour or a neutral like Potters Clay or Parisian GreyPainted Floors and Use Don't drag the fridge across your floors after painting, it is a painted floor after all; and just like a wooden, vinyl or plank flooring you should not be dragging heavy objects across it ;  as  it will damage. For general use;  painted floors can last a very  long time, this time varies and differs on how you use it . To give you an idea, we have painted floors in commercial retail spaces that have held up to the high heels and foot traffic of a commercial space, all day, all year no problems, customers have painted floors with indoor dogs and pets and cleaning is easy with a general light mop over the lacquered finish.  The other neat thing about painted floors is that on the off chance that  you damage it from say dragging a fridge across the floors, you have the tools and know how to touch it up and fix it.  If you are painting a dining area, a good tip is to place some felt under neath your dining chairs. These chairs will get dragged across painted floors daily and by putting felt underneath you will  prolong the life of your painted floors and it also makes it easy to slide your chairs in and out. Whether its a one flat colour  or a decorative paint effect,  painted floors is completely do-able with Artisan Paints and Lacquers. The hardest part is choosing colour. 

We love seeing projects like this where customers really get it; that you really can transform and re-design anything you want into an Artisan finish to create and design your bespoke interiors.... even plastic Chandeliers  Christine H has been a long time Artisan Customer, so when she came across a plastic Chandelier she knew she could turn it into something special with Artisan Paints. A $30 find and her kids thought she was mad for buying it.  The pictures says it all, after an Artisan paint finish, she's created her bespoke Chandelier to perfectly fit into the Villa she was renovating and we absolutely love how this project shows anything is possible; if you can imagine it, there's an Artisan Paint to get you there and once you're done, you know that no one else has one quite like that but you.  Before and close up of plastic Chandelier  The original Chandelier predominantly plastic also had metal and glass parts to it, which Premium Chalk Paint can go straight over without any preparation. Christine used Premium Chalk Paints for this project, with it being high adhering and  being able to paint straight onto plastic and glass directly with no preparation. Just pop open the can and paint. In progress, she used Old Espresso Premium Chalk Paint as a base, Spot the Angled Fitch brush which is perfect for something like this. Given the intricacy of this project, we recommended that she  went on to paint with texture using Premium Chalk Paint; this basically means she can paint straight on and  needs to paint in all direction, messily. Because let's get real; no one wants to sit there and paint smoothly and perfectly on all of those little  plastic beads. We're all about making it doable , and making it enjoyable! The texture created from the Premium Chalk Paint means 1: it's a lot faster to paint 2: it will create some texture for character and a bit of movement when she goes to do her Artisan Metallics.   Artisan Metallic Finish on the Chandelier  We will say though that for projects like this make sure you get a good brush, like the Angled Fitch brush and Pointed Tip that Christine used. If you are using Metallics you'll want "The One" bristles which come in a range of shapes and size including the spalter brush that many love using with Metallics.  Well worth getting the right tools for something like this because it's about it doing it as quickly and easily as you can, we all know that if a project like this took weeks to do, we all fall out of love of it and sits in the corner of a room as a half done project until we render up enough patience again to tackle it. Get the right tools and products and get instant results; it makes its so much more satisfying and do-able.  sitting beautifully in this renovated Villa, plastic to absolutely fantastic!  Christine has done an incredible job in creating a beautiful Chandelier for her space , thank you for sending your photos through and letting us share your photos, an inspiration not only to us but hopefully to those who come across this blog. Messages from Christine: "Very happy with it; amazing how a $30 plastic fantastic that the kids thought I had lost the plot buying turned out. I had to remind them of the ugly duckling story  I want another one now!! What  I really love is how the pattern on the Center glass has exploded into life....... Now this is fun!! Was a bit scared to use metallics but actually love  it.  Thank you for your advice and encouragement it means a lot So what can you turn into metallics? Anything really... with our entire Metallic Alchemy range it's recommended that you use Artisan Premium Chalk Paint as a base in a complimenting colour first. Our Premium Chalk Paint adheres to almost any surface and our metallics cremes and glazes are then used over the top if itand  adheres and absorbs beautifully into our Premium Chalk Paints so the two together Premium Chalk Paint + Artisan Metallic Cremes / Glazes = You can metallic pretty much anything. Click on the the following image to watch a Video and  get a basic  idea of how metallics works:   Once you get the idea that you can transform anything into an Artisan Metallic finish, it gets pretty exciting, the possibilities are pretty endless from decor, and furniture to doors, tiles, hardware, whatever you can imagine... it's highly likely that it's do-able with Artisan Paints, little to no prep, beautiful functional artisan finishes for bespoke spaces and homes.