My Christmas Chandelier

 

As much as I was growing fond of the single light bulb dangling from the ceiling in my dining room for the past thirteen months, I finally got my chandelier hung…and with no time to spare!

Now it’s the focal point of the dining room with garland and lots of jewel tone ornaments. The room feels so bright and happy now :)

Funny how the little things can mean so much when you’ve gone without for a while!

A Few Before and Afters

Every once in a while I go through my folders full of pictures and I’m amazed at how the projects accumulate in just a few years.

Here’s a few of my favorites!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My First Ombre’

I scored a find at Goodwill recently for ten bucks!

The lines were sleek, mid-century inspired, and the drawers were PERFECT. I had been waiting to find a piece where the drawers had no trim, no detail, and seemed to flow into one another. 

A perfect candidate for ombre.

After some filling and sanding, the paint went on quickly.  One coat of primer over everything.  Then two coats of white semi-gloss on the legs and “shell”.

I was in a thrifty mood so all my materials were improvised.  I found four unfinished wood pulls in my stash of hardware.  And I took the white paint I used on the body and  added portions of black paint to it to create the three degrees of gray that worked for me.

 

I painted each knob the same shade of gray that was on that particular drawer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I’m happy with the results!

Spring’s First Project

I was thrilled that our little rancher had a screened porch, but we had quite a bit of work ahead of us before the first cook-out. 

These pictures were taken in the process of my hubby pulling down all of the plywood that covered both the walls and the floor of the porch.  It seems as though this porch had been used a a “green house” of sorts in its previous life; hence the privacy walls and the intricate series of hooks and pulleys on the ceiling, perfect for suspending grow lights??
Once we had all the plywood pulled up we were left with one glaring eyesore.  A portion of the decking had been reinforced to carry the weight of a hot tub.  This wood was 1/2 inch higher than the other decking, and didn’t blend in.  After much thought, I decided to paint a faux rug over the area.
Stripes were the obvious choice of pattern.  I was inspired by the Stockholm rug from IKEA.  So with a little painters tape and the boards as my guide I went to work.



Since the boards were still a possible tripping hazard, we decided to edge the “rug” with large sisal rope.  We simply started in the back corner with one long length of rope, pulled it tightly, and nailed through the rope right into the decking.  

I was pleasantly surprised to realize that my dining set was the perfect size for the new area.  I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome!

Making Lemonade…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re still trying to get settled in our “new and improved” smaller digs.  The blessing…only two small bathrooms to clean.  The problem…no place for the toilet paper!

Late last night it hit me.  Work with what I’ve got!  So in the master bath, I grabbed a candle holder that was already on the back of the toilet.  Remove candle…and add plastic prescription bottle! (with a little dab of hot glue)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was way too easy.

So then off to my poor little 1960’s + pink tile + freckled step-child + hall bath.  I already had the branch sitting on the counter.  I literally turned the branch around so that it was facing the toilet…and added the roll.

Another no brainer!

My work for today is done.