I hope your Christmas was fabulous, enjoyable, and joyful! Ours was filled with family-as it should be. On Christmas day we traveled north from San Diego (about 2 hours) to spend the day with my husband’s family at my sister-in-law Anne’s new house in Claremont, CA.

I always love seeing a “new” place she is in because she is one of those people blessed with an amazing decorating gene. Even more impressive, she excels at decorating “on the cheap” with restyled thrift store bargains.

When she was visiting us last Spring, we loaded her arms up with a bunch of random stencils from our studio-and she couldn’t wait to show me what she’d done with them. Fortunately, I had my handy iPhone with me, so I can share them with you!

Here’s an adorable little nook area off the kitchen. The wall on the right is filled with mirrors to reflect the sunlight that comes in the windows on the opposite wall.

The built-in bookcase is surrounded by a randomly stenciled pattern using our Indian Paisley stencil.

The gray paint color on the pale blue looks soft and soothing and ties in nicely with the antiqued, punched silver mirror frame.

In the bedroom, Anne used our Large Hollywood Squares wall stencil to accent the closet-again with a blue and gray color scheme. I like the juxtaposition of the geometric pattern softened by the oriental paisley on the comforter.

The bathroom cabinet had been layered with years of coats of white paint, applied with a heavy hand that produced a lot of brush stroke texture.

This proved the perfect background for a distressed patterned finish of grayed denim blue colors. Anne layered spray paint, latex paint washes, and wood stains with some sanding and distressing to get this fabulous look.

This little floral stencil is actually a freebie stencil that we have been including with stencil orders for some time now. I love how she used it to create a random flower field on the lighter blue here and then just as accents behind the knobs on the darker blue drawers. Hey! Whose that person in the door knob??

On to the guest bedroom for another “out-of-the box” stencil application that works beautifully! Here Anne used our classic Fabric Damask stencil in just two rows above the chair rail. I love how the pattern alternates from horizontal to vertical to give a soft lacy edge to the molding. It’s just enough!

Down below is one of our Moroccan  stencils, the Minaret Border. I would never have thought to pair this with the Fabric Damask stencil, but again, the combo of geometric and soft floral is a perfect compliment! I hope you enjoyed this inspiring little stenciled house tour along with me!

So, by now, you’ve heard about world famous Annie Sloan Chalk Paint right?

The amazingly easy-to-use, environmentally friendly, paint-right-over almost everything in 28 gorgeous, historical colors that launched a furniture painting revolution Chalk Paint?

And you probably are aware that this “British invasion innovation” is now available at over 100 stockists around the U.S. thanks to Lisa Rickert at Jolie Design and Decor. Well, just in case you’ve been living under a designer pillow, here’s some Chalk Paint info on our Royal Design Studio website. Oh, and by the way, did you know that we are now stocking the amazing Chalk Paint? And offering classes in Chalk Paint?? Well, now that you are fully up-to-date and in the know, it’s time to move on to the super fun portion of this post-everybody’s favorite-The BIG announcement and GIVEAWAY! Drumroll……

Announcing the Annie Sloan American Tour and Chalk Paint Giveaway!

The U.S Stockist have banded together to spread a little paint magic around and celebrate the Annie Sloan American Tour, coming in Spring 2012 to a city near you! This little blog, Designamour, is just one of many hosting an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint gift basket giveaway, that includes: 2 quarts of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (you choose!),  Annie Sloan Soft Wax in clear and dark, and Annie’s juicy “tell-all” book, Quick and Easy Paint Transformations.

Here’s how to enter the Designamour Chalk Paint Giveaway:

Go to our Chalk Paint page at Royal Design Studio and leave a comment here telling me which are YOUR two color choices.

For an additional  entry, post a link to this giveaway on Facebook  and leave a comment here that you did.

For an additional, additional entry, post a link to this giveaway on Twitter and leave a comment here that you did.

For an additional, additional extra special entry, go to Royal Design Studio and leave a comment here telling me which stencil you would love to have to paint a piece of furniture with. (If you do, and THAT comment is chosen as the winner, you will get the stencil AS WELL as the Chalk Paint Gift Basket! Brilliant!

That’s 4 chances to win! The Giveaway ends December 31, when a comment winner will be drawn via random.org.

AND the chances don’t even end there. There’s MORE!

The lucky winner of the Giveaway here will also be entered to win a free registration to the Annie Sloan American Tour, in the city of your choice. THAT winner will be drawn by Annie Sloan Unfolded and announced on Annie’s Blog on January 10, 2012.

Good luck!!!!!!!

All furniture images designed and painted by Annie Sloan. Photographer: Christopher Drake