It's your final chance to nominate your local community space!

Have you nominated your local community space for my #25Project? If you haven’t heard about it, it’s my way of celebrating 25 years of Chalk Paint® and championing local communities. Anyone can enter, from anywhere in the world, but there are only 4 days left until the closing date! This project is so, so close to my heart and I cannot tell you how much pleasure it has given me, to see all the entries that have been pouring in.

It is tremendously exciting to think that 25 spaces - across the whole world (!!) - will be transformed by their communities, with the help of my expert stockists and, of course, buckets of my paint.

Once the deadline has passed, I will spend time in May going through each and every entry, reading the nominations and looking at all the pictures. I must admit, much as I’m looking forward to this, I know there are going to be some really tough choices to make – from those that I’ve peeked at already there’s a hugely diverse range of spaces to be transformed, and an equally varied range of locations! I’m so lucky to have truly expert stockists selling my paint the world over. Once I’ve chosen the winning entries it will be over to them to work with the community on these transformations.

All of my stockists are trained by me and fully understand how to use my paint. It will be they who take the lead on the actual make-overs. They’ll consult with the local community – including the winning nominator, of course – and come up with an inspirational design that will work in the space. My stockists will be there every step of the way, helping out the team of local volunteers to create something fabulous.

We launched the #25Project here in Oxford, where my shop proudly sits on the Cowley Road, and we kicked the whole thing off with the transformation of *my* local community space, The East Oxford Community Centre. The centre is used for a variety of activities such as yoga, toddler sessions, music groups and everything in between.

We (the team at HQ and I) spent a week with a whole host of regulars from the Centre, turning the much-loved space into something which really reflected how fantastic it really is. We got stuck in and had great fun working on all aspects of the job – from sewing curtains to some easy re-upholstering, not to mention a lot of painting! We had a blast. Everyone had a chance, not only to try out my paint for themselves, but also to share ideas and techniques – I think we all learnt something along the way.

So, if you haven’t got your entry in yet, what’s keeping you? Go to our dedicated site, and tell me all about your space and why it’s worthy of an Annie Sloan transformation. www.anniesloan.com/25project

Your Community Needs You - #25Project

I am absolutely thrilled to tell you all about the #25Project, my new campaign celebrating 25 years of Chalk Paint® That’s quite a heritage, and to mark this in an appropriate fashion, I’m inviting all of you to nominate a local community building in need of a transformation, Annie Sloan style! 

My stockists and I will be helping to transform spaces across the globe - local places, with their hearts and their roots embedded in their communities.

I always say that my stockists are at the heart of my business, and this is because I started as a shop owner myself.  My local shop, here in Oxford, has been the start of everything for me – my business, of course, but also through my shop I have become part of local life here: I’ve made friends, I’ve learned so much and this project is my way of championing the independent, bricks and mortar shops – not just across the country, but across the world.  This is something which is very close to my heart.

I want people to nominate their own local spaces.   Whether it’s the community centre, the youth club, the public loos (I’m hoping for some weird and wonderful ideas) and whether you’re in Rotherham, Lille, New York or Cape Town, everyone is invited to take part.  I’ll be looking at all of the entries, and will pick twenty five that will receive everything they need to make something gorgeous.

To kick start this, I’ve been working with The East Oxford Community Centre – my local space – right here in Oxford.  It’s a place I’ve been to a lot over my years in Oxford.  I have attended, and also given, workshops there.  More than that, I’ve taken my boys to playgroups there, and now my lovely granddaughter Willow goes to dance classes at the Centre.  There’s always so much going on, from Caribbean Lunch Clubs to Zumba, support groups to toddlers’ football!  It really is a space which is used every day by the whole community.   A month or so ago I went with some of the team from HQ to make over the lounge of this beautiful building, and we were overwhelmed by the level of support and involvement.  We ran workshops on dyeing fabric, on sewing and upholstering and had a great time meeting all the people who use the Centre, from the very young to the very old!  The whole community pulled together, and everyone worked so hard!  Now they have a great space, which they created themselves! 

So, what do you need to do?  Get nominating!!  Head to the dedicated site for nominations and complete the simple form to nominate your chosen space.  I’ll be choosing the winners in May and, of course, cannot wait to see the transformations take place.  Please, please, please enter and make sure if you tweet, use the hashtag #25Project so I can follow all your entries and comments!  There’ll be loads of support available from all of my stockists helping their local communities to create something wonderful that they've made their own.

Reloved Magazine

I have some very exciting news to share with you – starting this month, I am joining Reloved Magazine as a regular columnist! Every month, I'll be giving you an exclusive look into the things I do when I'm at work and at home; painting, designing and coming up with new techniques and ideas. It's a wonderful way for me to share with you some beautiful projects that you can try at home.

Here's a sneak preview of the project I worked on for my first column, which will appear in the March issue (on sale from 12th February). You'll love the transformation!

I hope you enjoy following my column and get to experiment with the new techniques that I will be sharing with you over the coming months.

You can buy your copy of Reloved through many Annie Sloan Stockists or through selected stores in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. You can also order it online or get a digital copy through the Apple Newsstand or Google Play.

Yours, Annie

Chalk Paint Is 25

Exactly 25 years ago, a chance meeting in Holland led me to create a new kind of decorative paint. I called it Chalk Paint® because of its velvety matt finish. I had dreamed of making this paint for many years and, in 1990, that dream finally became a reality. Now my paint is sold in over 1,250 shops and loved by millions around the world. And Chalk Paint® has come to mean so much more than paint — it represents integrity, heritage and a wonderful community of like-minded people. Chalk Paint® is Annie Sloan paint!  #ChalkPaintIs25