Edmonton paint company earns spot on Grammy red carpet

As makers of paint, Desiree and Andrea Vienneauhave a flair for colour, but Grammy red may be their new favourite shade.

Their tiny pots of boutique paint will be getting the red carpet treatment at the 2017 Grammy Awards, Feb. 12 in Los Angeles.

Their Edmonton company Reloved Vintage Paint, which specializes in chalk paint and vintage varnishes, will be showcased at the annual awards show.

Their products will be included in the lavish grab bags provided to presenters on the star-studded guest list for the Grammys, which bills itself as Music's Biggest Night.

When we got selected, we did a dance that we could not do in public," said Desiree Vienneau,who founded the company five years ago with her sister-in-law.

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Avid do-it-yourself home decorators, they had grown frustrated with the high price of chalk paints available on the market.

After inheriting a collection of tired antiques from their family, they set out to create their own line of vintage finishes.

Relying on Andrea's background in science, and Desiree's design experience, they perfected their own formula within a few months.

'It's a magic paint'

Their furniture paint is designed with vintage pieces in mind. It adheres to existing finishes so no sanding or priming is required. The end result is a rustic finish in rich colours.

"It's a magic paint, you don't have to sand or prep anything. You just wash and paint," Andrea said in an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.

"Everybody has got a piece that they're emotionally attached to but it's ugly and it lives in the basement, so this is a way to bring it upstairs and refresh it."

Their products aresold online and are carried in more than 45 stores across Canada.

"It's kind of grown organically and we've had a lot of fun," said Desiree.

"We're both those women who couldn't throw anything away and had to redesign house every couple of years.

"Little did we know there were so many people out there doing exactly the same thing and there really was that market out there."

Gift bags galore

They had been trying to make the Grammy gift bag list since last year. The process involved plenty of emails and product pitches.

"It was a long process but it was a fun process actually," Desiree said."We had to spend a lot of samples of what our product looks like, what it does,who were are and how long we've been in business just to be considered."

Now that they've been selected, they're busy preparing 185 gift bags filled with a perfectly-packaged selection of their products to ensure they're shipped out in time for the big night.

Each one retails for $100. All in, they expect their participation in the awards showwill cost them $8,000.

They hope the expense doesn't paint them into a corner, but instead earns them some celebrity endorsement.

"For a little company like ours that would be huge."