Gilly's Blog

Dianne Leslight (pictured below with partner Anthony), co-owner of Capriole Creative shares her story in this Stockist Spotlight feature. Capriole Shabby Chic, re-branded to Capriole Creative, to make the brand more descriptive of who we are, was not planned. We had other things in mind back in 2019 but we are so glad that Capriole Creative fell into place at the right time. Capriole Creative - New Store in Tungamah, Victoria Capriole Creative is an online shopping store for furniture paints and accessories. We have extended our line to include a wide range of art and crafting supplies. From our...

Winestains is a inspiring, upcycling success story, located in the Barossa Valley, South Australia. Kristal and Peter design and create an amazing range of platters and boards using discarded wine barrels. Kristal was kind enough to share their story with us. 

We interview Mélanie, a multi-talented creative who not only flips vintage furniture, but also sews beautiful cloth baskets for decluttering and organisation in the home, along with growing her own fruit and vegetables (and more). She shares with us her process for transforming a dated Queen Anne style chest of drawers. Please tell us a little about you and your business. We’d love to hear about how long you’ve been involved with what you’re doing and what inspired you to take this career path and when.  I hate waste and I always liked the saying by French chemist Antoine Lavoisier who...

For a restoration project using Gilly’s products, we always recommend cleaning and sanding the timber thoroughly, prior to applying the waxes. The timber needs to be able to absorb (not unlike a sponge) the initial layer of wax or oil so that splitting and cracking can be prevented in future. The more porous the surface is, the better this absorption will be. So, it’s important to remove as much as possible of any coating that was on the timber prior to restoration, particularly any sort of lacquer, which can be quite persistent. Firstly, let’s talk about grit and grade. You’ll...