My Visit to Robyn Story Designs

One day last week, a new friend (Hi, Cyndi!) and I went out to find Robyn Story Designs.  After a little finagling and a short detour near Tampa International Airport, we found Robyn Story Designs.  (Despite having OnStar, 'cause I know better than OnStar...!) 

Unfortunately, I only had my cellphone and not my camera, but you'll get a bit of an idea.  Robyn is as sweet as can be and is full of energy.  Her retail building has quite an interesting set up that is beguiling right from the moment you get out of your car, if not before!  I would refer to the entrance as a loggia*, if that is the correct use, as you are enclosed by plants and an arbor and underfoot is a painted checkerboard cement floor. 

I went primarily to check out their stock of chalk paint, but there were lots of other things to see as well.

Scattered around her store were various pieces of furniture.  Some of them, like the hutch, above, were painted with various shades of ASCP.  It was really fun to get to see a piece of furniture already painted to get a feel for the color and the paint.  It appears as if the hutch has two relief oval pictures attached to the front doors and painted as one piece.

 

Our lovely assistant, Lori, showed us how to use the paint and waxes.  There is a sample bar set up with clear ketchup bottles with the various colors of paint and scraps of molding that customers are welcome to try their hand at.   Isn't that cool?

These items were sitting outside of the paint classroom.  The chair's fabric is painted with ASCP, yes, it is!  It's a bit stiff, but it is surely spill proof--Robyn tossed some coffee on it and it rolled right off.  Leaning behind the furniture is a slice of Tampa history--the large wooden trays were from an old Ybor bakery and were used to let the loaves of bread rise before baking.  I'm not sure what she's doing with those, but, boy, are they interesting!

I was all set to buy a quart of paint, but after seeing all of the wonderful colors, combinations, and techniques, I purchased two sample pots, one of Old Olchre and the other, Chateau Grey (there was a hutch there in Chateau Grey, that I was completely smitten by) as well as some wax.  I just had to show you the bag and how my purchases came packed!  So pretty and part of the entire experience.  You can also find Robyn at her Robyn Story Designs blog.

I need to make a sincere apology to Cindi, as she wasn't in any of my photos!  Next time.  Maybe she'll even let me give you a virtual tour of her home.  Thanks for letting me share my field trip with you.  Now, I've got to figure out what my first project(s) are going to be with the paint!

*Per Wikipedia, Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Italian design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall.