My name is Sylvie, I have a passion for painting furntiture.

I obtained my City & Guilds in Interior Design at the Regent Academy London and a Diploma in Decorative Paint Techniques also covering the more Bravura Techniques.

The pieces I paint are usually pine or genuinely old wooden articles of furniture I have rescued from house clearance, or from Antique shops which are crying out for a make over.

My furniture pieces consist of varying sizes of chests, small 3 drawer or traditional style 2 over 3 drawer chest, chests can also be done as childrens furniture. Blanket boxes which can be used as storage boxes in a bedroom, or as a baby box incorporating hand written name and date of birth, and toy boxes. Other items also include mini baby chairs(ornamental) and fire screens.

The techniques I use include, distressing and ageing of furniture using wax resist methods with beeswax or candle wax sanded and scraped back with a certain force for a stronger distressed appearance, or dry brushing paint layering technique for a gentle distressed appearance.

Other decorative paint techniques I use include ragging, rag rolling, bagging, sponging on and off and some of the more bravura techniques like granite and tortoiseshell marbling etc.

For the decorative hand painting that goes so well with a distressed aged appearance I like to paint freehand or freehand mixed with tracing, stamping and decoupage.

For the handpainted detail I use artists acrylic paints and sometimes a mixture of watercolour which would be spray varnished before the usual coats of varnish were applied. always rubbing down the finished painting to promote a look of age.

I work on each item from scratch from any minor repairs to old pieces of furniture to total preparation and priming to following through with the layers of emulsion, emulsion glaze or scumble glaze depending on the piece and the required finish.

I use all waterbased products unless otherwise requested. The emulsions I use are "Farrow & Ball" and "Laura Ashley" as I find these have a good chalky flat finish.

I usually mix these to form the right colour, or I tint with artists acrylic paints or use them neat to use on certain focal point areas.

I give each piece of furniture a minimum of 2-3 coats of varnish( from matt to gloss dependent on the piece) for durability rubbing down in between.

I also tint the varnish with a raw umbre for patination of distressing.

Images shown here are some examples of my work but can also be tailor made to clients preference, design colour etc., perhaps to match a room interior.

I also have listed articles of furniture that are ready to paint/decorate in the finish of your choice (prices include paint finish) Any of your existing furniture can also be re-vamped for a whole new look giving pieces that were tired a stylish finish, I do find that one piece of painted furniture in a room is a real focal point.

Every piece is lovingly worked on and is a step by step process making each piece unique.

Each appropriate item of furniture is sold with scented drawer liners.