Interiors To Inspire

Interiors to Inspire is a local Calgary small business offering interior design services and selling a high end furniture paint called ‘Annie Sloan’s chalk paint’. They seem to be the only place in Calgary you can buy this paint, and loving all the things you can do with the paint, I really wanted to love this store as well. Sadly, I can’t say I loved this store as much as I was hoping.
I should start this by saying that I have not used the interior design service, but from what I see in the studio it looks interesting and well done. The purpose of my visit was to arm myself with chalk paint and accessories to fuel my creative spirit.
I am a new ‘chalk painter’, so when I went in to the store I was looking for some tips on how to best use this paint. You know when you ask someone a question, hoping that they will answer it and continue to provide additional useful information that they have and you need to know? Yeah, that wasn’t the experience I had the first 3 times I visited. In fact, I found myself leaving almost more confused than when I arrived. Lucky for me, on my 4^th visit (I know, that’s a lot of paint!) there was a fantastic lady working who was super knowledgeable, super helpful and was really lovely to talk to. She talked me through my colour selection, made lots of interesting suggestions and filled me with tips and tricks for furniture painting success. And a success it was! It was a really fun project that would not have been so successful without her help.
The paint is an investment in itself, running you $ 32 just for a brush and $ 47 for a quart. Nonetheless, the paint is awesome so it is worth the trip. I just wish all of the girls were more forthcoming about sharing their tips with us newbies on how to use chalk paint!
As a tip, if you know which colour you are after, best call ahead to make sure they have it in stock. Inventory supplies seem to change quickly, so to avoid disappointment and a drive through the industrial part of town, give them a call to check in advance.
So will I be back? Yeah, it really is good paint!
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L