Highlights from Chicago and Playing with Paint

Well, I’m back, unpacked and so full of ideas after General Finishes’ Flippin’ Furniture Expo. I was in Chicago Sunday morning through Tuesday afternoon. I know some of you are eager to hear all about my trip!

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

First, I need to thank my friends at General Finishes for inviting me to be a speaker. I’m so honored for this opportunity and I had so much fun teaching classes. I also want to thank my friends at Saltwash for trusting me to represent their brand and their product. You guys know how much I love it! It was fun to share some techniques with attendees. I have a few fun ideas, for the holidays, that I plan to do with Saltwash, and can’t wait to share that all soon…

The conference was at the Loews O’Hare and it is such a gorgeous hotel. The rooms were stylish and comfortable and the art was amazing. I couldn’t help but think how much my 10 year old would love it all!

Amazing design at Loews O'Hare - Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

This artwork was in the bathroom. Isn’t that gorgeous? I also really loved the tile and the sink in the bathroom.

Amazing bathroom design at Loews O'Hare - Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

The bedroom. Yup. loved the neutrals mixed with the wood and all that light!

Amazing design at Loews O'Hare - Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

There’s just something so amazing about visiting a new place. I’ve never ever been to Chicago before and my friend Jennifer over at Town and Country Living volunteered to be my tour guide!

We snapped this quickly on her phone while site seeing:

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

That’s the bean behind us.

I wasn’t gonna bring my camera but I’m soooo glad I did! Okay, now I’m going to share far too many images of the city.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

Feel free to skip ahead if you want, but I couldn’t believe how big the bean was and thought it was so cool to see the buildings’ reflections in it.

The weather was cool and a bit windy, but it was so nice to walk in the fresh are. We spent a few hours walking around the city.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

The foliage was stunning and so were all the plantings. Lots of sea grass every where. LOVED it all.

I’m also so glad the Cubbies won the other night. Walking around we saw so many fans.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

Including some very big ones 😉

If we had more time, I would have popped my head in the museum.

I really loved Navy Pier too.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

I am so scared of heights, so we didn’t go on the ferris wheel.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

I couldn’t believe just how big the lake is! I was asking Jennifer if it felt like the sea before I saw it and, yes, I would say it looks like the ocean.

There were even lighthouses, which I of course took many photos of 😉

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

How crazy, I go to Chicago and take photos of lighthouses. I just can’t help it. There’s something about water that reaches the inner depth of my soul. I find it so calming to be close to water.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

The clouds were so beautiful and the sun was going down so got some beautiful, almost rainbow effects.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

These trees looked like the were neon green from the sun.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

Jennifer and I have known each other for 5 years but this was the first time we met in person, and it was fabulous. We roomed together and caught up on life over soup, coffee and strolling the city. I’m so grateful that she joined me for the conference. We had so much fun!

At the conference I taught five Saltwash classes which were all sold out. Yay! Everyone loved Saltwash and I loved sharing the cool effects you can get with it.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

I was so busy teaching that I didn’t get a chance to take any photos during my classes. Many people who attended had their own shops and galleries and it was fun to get to know everyone. So many creative people in one place!

I was also able to get to take a few classes myself which I was so excited about. I love playing with paint and learning about new techniques or about products I don’t use all the time.

Well, I’m happy to say I learned to so much. I loved Lisa Zuelke’s class Developing Trendy Specialty Finishes. She shared two hands on techniques and a few others in a hand out. I think my favorite from this class was the aged bronze. Isn’t this cool?

Aged Bronze - sample board from conference - Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

I wish we had a range hood because I would do this on it. LOVE it so much! I also really loved one she did that looked like granite that I think I’m gonna have to try on something and she had a cool one that looked like a door from Veranda magazine.

I tried doing an image transfer in April Hallwood’s Class (of Hallwood Studios). She does some amazing things with image transfers of her own photography. Her class was fun and gave me some new ideas.

I also learned more about inking and glazing from Nicole Genz of Rescued Furnishings. She specializes in cabinet refinishing but is opening a huge new space. She taught us her tricks for glazing like a pro. Inking is the line that you see on the cabinets to give a 3-D effect.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

The other class I took was Rachel Timble’s of Restyle Junkie. She specializes in cabinets and also distressing wood. She has a special machine that makes grooves in wood to look like barn wood and talked us through distressing wood. She shared two techniques.

Painting wood to look like driftwood - Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

I tried to make mine look like driftwood. In person, it really does! Such an amazing technique and I’m excited to try it on something for our home!

Faux Driftwood - Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

At the end of the conference Jennifer and I asked someone to snap our picture. We both kind of look tired but full of new ideas.

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

I know it’s slightly soft focus but I didn’t have a better one 🙁 Thanks, Jennifer, for joining me!

Oh, before I go I also have to give my hubby a big shout out! Thank you, Luke Driscoll, for watching our babies (all of them, 2 kids and 2 dogs) so I could attend and teach. You’re always pushing me to keep going for my dreams. Thank you for always being there to support me. xx

I think they’re gonna have the expo again next year and if you love paint, I highly recommend it!

Visiting Chicago and the General Finishes' Flippin' Furniture Expo.

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Jennifer @ Town and Country Living

Danielle, we had such a great time! You took beautiful photos of the city. There’s so much more to see and do, so if you’re ever in town again, I’d be happy to be your tour guide once more. I should’ve taken a photo of you teaching class. I didn’t think about it at the time. You did an amazing job and I’m so pleased you told me about this conference. My head is spinning with ideas and I’m sharing the foil/metallic technique on my blog next week when I make some Christmas ornaments. Oh – and thanks for helping… Read more »

marie-pierre SORIN
marie-pierre SORIN
7 years ago

My son lives in Chicago, and last year , at the same time, i was with one of my girls in this city during 3 weeks…..a lot of pleasures,, really a beautiful city…..i would go again !!!!
Excuse me for my english !!!!
Marie-Pierre