Splinter Scenery Pods with Thorndown Wood Paints

During the pandemic and lockdowns, many businesses have not been able to carry out the work they would normally and many have had to innovate and re-invent themselves to see them through.

One such company is Splinter Scenery who normally design and construct for the theatre industry. They are responsible for some amazing sets including Blythe Spirit which we were lucky enough to see in Bath Theatre and were absolutely blown away by!

They collaborated with Define Architects to create and build a pretty impressive set of pods to shelter bar-goers in.

The pods aren’t just your everyday outside shelters that you’d find in a pub garden, but are packed with design features from cladding running in vertical and diagonal lines to support beams with the most elegant of joints.

The exteriors have all been painted with Thorndown Wood Paint in RAL 7012 Basalt Grey and UV Clear with an anti-graffiti coat on top.

Internally the attention to design and build continues at its stunningly high level, with bench seating, table and shelving making the best of the space and creating a beautiful home environment that one could easily move into!

The interior was also painted in Thorndown UV Clear throughout to protect the wood from the external elements and also to make it easier to clean; essential in a busy bar environment.

Understandably the client was delighted with the finished result and we’re sure the customers will be very happy in these pods for many years.

Forest Grow Off with Thorndown Wood Paint

Get Your Gardening Gloves On

We often team up with Forest Garden Products on promotions as they’re a great company with a fab range of products.

In recognition of the thousands of people across the country who’ve recently got into gardening, they started a campaign where two families go ‘trowel to trowel’ in a ‘Grow Off‘ to see who can grow the best home produce.

Both families were given the same Forest Tall Wall Victorian Greenhouse and some raised planters, a choice of our Wood Paint to paint and protect the timber products, Melcourt peat free growing compost , seeds from Mr Fothergills and seed trays and pots from Webbs.

One family chose to paint theirs in our RAL 7016 Anthracite Grey Wood Paint to go with their chic and sleek modern house.

The second family chose Wispy Willow to paint their timber products in to create a soft country cottage feel. 

Their journey into the world of grow your own has been a fascinating one and it makes for a fun and informative read, so please join them on their ‘Grow Off‘ journey.

Summer Giveaway with Hutton Garden Products

CLOSED – Win a Utility Table and 2.5l tin of Wood Paint

Congratulations to Carys Thorp who has been randomly selected as the winner of the Summer Giveaway, winning the fabulous Hutton Garden Products Utility Table and a 2.5 litre tin of Wood Paint!!!

Thank you to everyone who entered and watch out for the Autumn Giveaway launching in September where you can win a gorgeous Hutton Dog Kennel (makes me want to get a dog but the cats would not be happy) and a tin of wood paint ????????

In the second of the series of giveaway competitions with Hutton Garden Products, you can win this brilliantly designed Utility Table.

The perfect table for potting away on in your greenhouse or providing great storage in your shed.

We’ll also give you a free 2.5 litre tin of Wood Paint to paint it in with a choice of 66 colours and a UV Clear from our colour charts, or 1800 RAL Classic and Design colours!

Hutton make their products out of great quality pressure-treated timber which protects it against rot for many years, but you will still need to paint it to protect it against the elements.

Two coats of our wood paint gives you full exterior protection and will keep it looking fabulous for years.

COMPETITION DETAILS

COMPETITION DATES:

The competition opens on Wednesday 2nd June and runs to Tuesday 15th June 2021.

How to Enter:

  1. Follow @ThorndownPaints on Instagram, Facebook or both. If you already do then skip to steps 2 & 3
  2. Like the competition post
  3. Tag a friend in comments and say what colour you’d choose to paint your Hutton Utility Table

Alternatively you can enter by signing up to the Thorndown monthly newsletter where all new subscribers within the competition period will be entered into the competition.

Competition Terms:

  • Competition run by Thorndown Ltd.
  • The competition runs from Wednesday 2nd June to Tuesday 15th June 2021
  • Competition closes at midnight on Tuesday 15th June 2021
  • You must be 18 years old or above and live in the UK
  • Winner will be chosen at random and announced on Wednesday 16th June 2021 with delivery arranged for after that date
  • Prizes will be delivered FREE to 1 UK mainland address
  • This competition is not affiliated with Instagram or Facebook

Hutton-logo

Hutton Garden Products manufacture a wonderful range of timber garden products. They are available from garden centres and timber merchants nationwide. You can view their full range on their website and call them on 01452 760994 to find out where your nearest stockist is.

Painting Windows with Peelable Glass Paint

We’ve got some very talented customers out there who have been using Peelable Glass Paint to create the most amazing windows. 

World Book Day Shop Window

With schools closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic it meant other ways to celebrate World Book Day had to be found. In Bampton, Devon, the local Learning and Resource Centre (LaRCS) set up a trail involving residential and business premises around the Mid Devon town. Each participant displayed a picture relating to a book and families and visitors were encouraged to get out and identify which book by the visual clues.

One business which took part was Bampton Fresh, an independently run Greengrocers. Their contribution was painted with Thorndown’s peelable glass paint by Sarah, who owns the business.

Sarah says “I love painting and I jumped at the opportunity to take part. Peelable paints were ideal for the project, great coverage and easily removed.”

Her ‘Cat in the Hat’ design from the Dr Seuss book is absolutely amazing and we’re sure children and adults loved looking at it and guessing the book.

Window Art

One artist made windows of escapism for a client who was suffering under lockdown, bringing the beauty of the natural world to them.

Another group of artists painted scenes on the windows of a new zero waste shop ‘Green Shoots Eco’, to promote their name and message to great effect.

Blenheim Palace Flower Show

For the first time we will be exhibiting at the Blenheim Palace Flower Show this June from Friday 25th to Sunday 27th. It looks like a wonderful show and it’s going to be so nice to spend three days in such a stunning place.

Visit their website to find out more about the show including details on talks, exhibitors and tickets. See you there!

SHOW FEATURES

2021 SHOW WILL INCLUDE:

Grand Floral Pavilion  showcasing the UK’s finest nurseries and plantsman exhibitors

Floral Street – a new feature for 2021 – the perfect street for plants and flowers

Shopping Village will feature a variety of trade stands selling everything from unique garden gazebos, greenhouses and arbours to gardening sundries and hundreds of other products

Food and Drink Pavilion will feature a range of food and drink purveyors and artisans, including tastings and samples.

Home and Country Living Pavilion filled with a selection of original handmade giftware, jewellery and luxury goods.

Garden Talks – horticultural experts will be on hand to answer all your gardening and plant questions

And much much more still to be announced.

Find Out More »

Toby’s Garden Festival

We are returning to one of our favourite garden festivals put on by the rather marvellous Toby Buckland and his team. It’s a lovely festival brimming with great nurseries and people selling garden related gifts and goods, set in the beautiful surroundings of Powderham Castle in Devon.

Below are more details from the team.

Join us at one of the first great garden festival days out of the summer – Toby’s Garden Festival at Powderham Castle on Friday and Saturday, 11th and 12th June

The final green light was given yesterday and with it we are delighted to have the go-ahead for the two-day Toby Buckland Garden Festival at Powderham Castle on Friday, June 11th and Saturday, June 12th.

We have been working hard over the past few months to make sure our popular celebration of West Country gardening is a safe and stress free event. The Government’s announcement yesterday, which lifted another set of Covid restrictions, gives real reassurance to garden lovers desperate to get out and about and enjoy gardening events again.

The heart of the festival will again be an amazing array of plants for sale from some of the country’s leading plant nurseries.

But we’re also celebrating the wonders of being outdoors and as well as quality plants, we will have artisan food, crafts, live music, talks, demos and fun all – within the fantastic open spaces of Powderham Castle.

Happy Birthday Ma’am

The second day of the festival falls on the Queen’s official birthday and we are joining in the celebrations on Saturday 12th June. Ambitious plans are afoot to celebrate her big day with a giant floral crown created by a team of talented local florists. Plus, take a selfie of yourself at the festival and tag us in on social media and you could win a £60 voucher towards a flower arranging course with the Floral Academy.

The floral crown, measuring over 1.5m tall and wide, is being created by Devon master florists, Julie Collins and Tina Parkes of The British Academy of Floral Art .

Staying safe with confidence

We are determined the festival will be safe for you to attend and these are just some of the measures we will be taking:
There will be hand-sanitising stations around the showground, including at the entrance gate, each of the toilet blocks. We do advise that you also bring your own.

Face coverings will be mandatory in the Country Gardener speaker tent (unless medically exempt), but voluntary elsewhere on the showground.
Please maintain 2 metre distancing in any queues and 1 metre plus around the grounds.
We will have will have a one way system around the festival, site so please follow the signs.

Book your tickets now! We strongly advise pre-booking your tickets, as we are limited to numbers this year, and it will reduce queues and contact with staff at the entrance. Online tickets cost £11, children under 16 go free.

Buy tickets >>

For more details please visit the Toby’s Garden Festival website.

Spring into Summer with Cavepool Grey

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Alan Titchmarsh began his new primetime ITV1 series called “Spring into Summer” on Monday 5th April with Wayne Perrey as his resident DIY expert. So far Wayne has shown how to build an arbour and painted it in our Cavepool Grey Wood Paint which everyone fell for. It’s one of our favourite colours too with its pool-like intense blue-grey-green teal that ripples and changes colour depending on the light.

Wayne created a large seating area with decorative panelling and features from Wood U Bend, and finished it with hanging baskets complete with solar lights. It looked absolutely stunning and would be an item to be incredibly proud of in your garden. An area to relax and enjoy or entertain in.

Next he designed and built a garden bar designing it will features similar to the arbour and painting it in Cavepool Grey so it matched and created a sophisticated outside entertaining area. Wayne finished it off by applying gold leaf to the top of the bar and stools before painting with UV Clear to seal and protect the gold leaf.

On Monday 31st May Wayne will be completing the set by making an outside kitchen!

If you’d like to have a go at making any of these you can sign up to Wayne’s newsletter for step-by-step instructions and tips.

May Bank Holiday Mondays

May is a fabulous month – spring is here, nature has burst into life, the temperature is rising, and we have two Bank Holiday Mondays!!

The factory and office will be closed on Monday 3rd May and Monday 31st May.

Please place any courier paint orders that you want for the weekend by 12pm the Wednesday before to allow time for the package to arrive. All postal orders (craft packs and sample tins) are still at times subject to delay so please allow plenty of time when ordering.

Order dates

Monday 3rd May – place courier orders by 12pm Wednesday 28th April

Monday 31st May – place courier orders by 12pm Wednesday 26th May

Have a very happy Monday!!

How and When to Shade Your Greenhouse

Greenhouse shading Peelable Glass Paint Thorndown

Greenhouse Shading

It’s that time of year when all us gardeners and growers get excited and fill our greenhouses with seed trays and pots, then eagerly watch our seeds to see if they’ve germinated and will sprout into nice healthy little seedlings.

Our minds will start to turn to greenhouse shading so we’ve put together some helpful tips and advice on how and when to shade your greenhouse using our Peelable Glass Paint.

Peelable Glass Paint is a great way of shading your greenhouse and is easy to apply and remove. It’s water-based with virtually no VOC and is made with a 100% recycled plastic resin.

It’s also available in 24 opaque and 14 translucent colours so there’s plenty of choice, and you can use Stencil Craft Packs to add decoration too.

But beware of the spring weather as it can cause challenges for painting externally!

Read More »

Partner Promos

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We teamed up with two of our favourite garden magazines to bring you some great voucher giveaways!

The Modern Gardens give-away was a great success with nearly 1400 entries. Two lucky winners received a £50 voucher to redeem at our online shop.

Garden Answers are running a promotion with their readers and subscribers to win another 2 x £50 vouchers for our online shop from 31st March to 27th April.

AND the Forest Garden Products Mother’s Day giveaway saw a very lucky lady winning a Kitchen Garden Planter and free 750ml tin of Wood Paint.

Good luck in the Garden Answers competition!!

Price Increase for 2.5l tin of Wood Paint

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Due to continued and substantial increases in prices from suppliers of raw materials and packaging, we are having to increase the price of a 2.5 litre tin of Wood Paint.

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We have done everything that we can to absorb price increases and have managed to keep all other prices for 150ml and 750ml tins of Wood Paint, all sizes of Peelable Glass Paint and the Stencil Craft Packs at the same great prices. Unfortunately there just wasn’t any room in the 2.5 litre tin of Wood Paint so the price will be increasing from £40.00 to £44.00 as of 1st April 2021. The threshold for free delivery on orders will also be increasing to a minimum spend of £60.00.

At £44.00 for a 2.5 litre tin our Wood Paint still represents great value for money when compared against other premium brands that cost on average between £48.45 to £73.75 for a 2.5 litre tin.

Thank you for your understanding and we hope you continue to enjoy our range of brilliant eco paints!

Spring Giveaway in Association with Hutton Garden Products

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We have partnered again with one of our favourite manufacturers of quality timber garden products, Hutton, to bring you a series of great giveaways throughout the year. In the spring giveaway you can win a beautiful Planter on Legs for your garden or balcony.

We’ll also give you a free 2.5l tin of Wood Paint in the colour of your choice including UV Clear.

Hutton use pressure-treated timber in all of their products so they’re protected against rot, but you will still need to protect the wood from the elements, so a couple of coats of our Wood Paint will provide it with full exterior protection. We would also recommend painting the inside of the planter then fixing a barrier such as an old plastic compost bag, to stop soil contact from damaging the wood. Visit our Planters page in the Projects section for tips and advice.

The Planter on Legs is the perfect size for a balcony, by a door to provide a floral welcome, or near to the kitchen brimming with herbs for cooking!

Competition Details:

Competition Dates

The competition opens on Wednesday 17th March and runs to Tuesday 30th March 2021.

How to Enter

  1. Follow @ThorndownPaints on Instagram, Facebook or both. If you already do then skip to steps 2 & 3
  2. Like the competition post
  3. Tag a friend in comments and say what colour you’d choose to paint your Hutton Planter on Legs

Alternatively you can enter by signing up to the Thorndown monthly newsletter where all new subscribers within the competition period will be entered into the competition.

Competition Terms

  • Competition run by Thorndown Ltd.
  • The competition runs from Wednesday 17th March and runs to Tuesday 30th March 2021
  • Competition closes at midnight on Tuesday 30th March 2021
  • You must be 18 years old or above and live in the UK
  • Winner will be chosen at random and announced on Wednesday 31st March 2021 with delivery arranged for after Easter
  • Prizes will be delivered FREE to 1 UK mainland address
  • This competition is not affiliated with Instagram or Facebook
Hutton-logo

Hutton Garden Products manufacture a wonderful range of timber garden products. They are available from garden centres and timber merchants nationwide. You can view their full range on their website and call them on 01452 760994 to find out where your nearest stockist is.