Annie Sloan

Annie Sloan first developed her now famous furniture paint, Chalk Paint®, in 1990. When she started working on it, she wanted to create a decorative paint that was immediate and allowed her to be direct and spontaneous. She had three young boys under 7 at the time, so she had little time to decorate. She wanted a fast turn around – paint in the morning, then wax and put it back in position by the afternoon. What’s more, she wanted to develop a paint that could go on more or less anything – old and new wood, metal, plastic, cement, bricks, etc. – all with no priming, no sanding, no preparation needed.

She also wanted the colours to be mixable without becoming dead or muddy – indeed, the way she makes colours is not the same as any other paint company. She called her paint Chalk Paint® because of its beautiful velvety, matt finish.

"The Chalk Paint® pioneer's range is versatile and easy to use" - Elle Decoration

Annie trained as a painter, but turned to decorative work and understanding colour after university. In 1987 she wrote the phenomenally successful book 'The Complete Book of Decorative Paint Techniques' which was followed by over 20 other books on traditional paints, colours and techniques and has led to total sales of well over 2 million books worldwide in 11 languages. Her latest books are the highly successful 'Creating the French Look' published in April 2008 and 'Quick Easy Paint Transformations'.

In 2000 she set up her shop in Oxford to showcase her Chalk Paint®, run courses, and offer interior design services using her knowledge about colour.