Paint: It isn’t just for walls

“Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness.” — George Santayana (1863-1952), philosopher, essayist and poet, “Little Essays” (1920)

Over the almost 11 years I have been doing this column, I have mentioned many times that the easiest and the most inexpensive thing you can do in your home to make the biggest impact is to paint. Paint the outside; paint the inside; paint an accent wall. And we’ve also talked a lot about colors.

Well, today I wanted to tell you about something I discovered at the recent Ace Hardware show here in Las Vegas. And yes, it’s paint!

But this time it’s about painting things in your home. Furniture. Mirrors. Picture frames. Floor cloths. It’s Amy Howard at Home!

After visiting the Ace show, I had the opportunity to talk with Amy Howard about what she does and how she got started doing it. Her story is amazing and the product line she now produces is eye-opening to say the least.

As Howard says, her paint line “has a fresh fun, easy-breezy way to ‘go green’ in design. Rescue. Restore. Redecorate.”

Howard was an interior designer, furniture designer and manufacturer for many years. When the housing market crashed some years ago, she decided she wanted to take it a different way.

Howard explained, “Breathing life into home decor pieces that otherwise would be discarded has become a tremendous passion of mine. Once we discovered that nearly 10 million furniture and accessory items are being discarded annually we declared war on the dismissal of furniture that has full potential for a second act in them.”

There are multiple products in her line, including one-step paint (no stripping and no priming), lacquer, wax, powder and cracked patina. Her products are patented and are chalk-based paints that don’t contain methanol, which is toxic and flammable.

They are all certifiable green, and thousands of colors can be produced and customized. As she says, you “can make any color you want.”

There are some independent vendors of her paint but the main one — with more than 2,000 stores — is Ace Hardware. Her relationship with Ace was finalized in October 2015, and her products are in four stores here in Southern Nevada.

So how did she come about this phenomenal product line?

After designing furniture for many years with more than 300 pieces in her line, Amy Howard Collection, and being known for her finishes, the economy changed. She had 23 showrooms nationwide and sold to about 400 retailers as well.

Furniture was expensive.

“A lot of designers were closing shops,” she said. “People were going to flea markets, estate sales and furniture sales were getting smaller and smaller. In our research we found that 128 million people were watching HGTV and they were hungry to do things themselves.

“So basically we took our finishes, put them in a bottle, patented them and began showing people how to do it. People love to learn and want to say, ‘I did this.’”

Howard and her products can be seen in the five local Ace Hardware stores, on instagram or on her website, www.amyhowardhome.com. She does workshops on instagram and there will also be hands-on workshops beginning in April at Ace stores.

Her favorite spin is “crafting a beautiful life.” And this is a way you can re-do things in your homes without being an expert or hiring one to do it for you.

After being so involved in the furniture business and deciding to then help people do things themselves is a huge plus in Howard’s life — and can be in ours.

I’m always looking for ways to make our homes more beautiful, and I love sharing ideas for being able to do things ourselves. I was so happy to find Amy Howard and being able to pass this on to you. This is definitely one for the books.

Carolyn Muse Grant is a founder and past president of the Architectural &Decorative Arts Society, as well as an interior design consultant/stylist specializing in home staging. Send questions to creativemuse@cox.net.