Old World Chandelier

I finally finished the chandelier for my living room!  This was the first chandelier I bought and the most difficult to restore, which is why it sat in the corner of my living room for almost a year.

This boring, paper lantern has been in our living room since we moved in.  I love the open beamed ceiling of this spacious room and I knew a grand chandelier is what it needed.  I found this ten light, vintage chandelier on Craigslist for $30 and I loved that it was a mix of wood and metal.

Before

After

I started by sanding the wooden balls and center pieces down to bare wood.  Then, I taped off the wood parts and Mr. Rubbish spray painted the metal nutmeg brown.

I ordered silicone dipped light bulbs, so the lights look like real candles.  

Aren't they cute?

I whitewashed over the spray painted metal and bare wood by painting on watered down, white paint and wiping it off with a rag.  I completed the finish with a coat of brown glaze to add some old world charm.

 It was a lot of work sanding all the black paint off the wood parts of the chandelier, but it was worth it in the end.  I love how the new finish looks on the wood.

I had been looking for some kind of wooden danglers for my chandelier, when I came across these wooden dowels at a rummage sale for 50 cents.  I sawed them in half and inserted a screw with an eye in the top.

I gave the dowels the same finish as the chandelier and attached the new dangles to the arms.

Mr. Rubbish rewired the main cord to be able to plug into an outlet, since we do not have a ceiling wired for a light.  I can hardly believe we finally finished this project!  It gives such a pretty ambiance to our living room and is much better looking than the paper lantern.

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My Sister's Bedroom Makeover

I just spent two days visiting my younger sister, Emily, and her family in San Diego.  I did not have as long of a visit as I wanted, but I did leave her with a little dresser makeover during my brief stay.



before

Emily received a set of three vintage dressers from her mother-in-law when she got married.  There are two small dressers that she uses as nightstands and one larger one.  She told me that she was ready for new bedroom furniture, as she just got a new bed and wanted updated nightstands/dresser too.  I do not believe in buying furniture new, especially when you have some that is perfectly functional and only in need of a little re-love. 

Her dressers have a lovely shape and I like the scalloped edge along the bottom. The finish was well-worn and outdated, but that was easy to fix. The first morning I was there, we headed to Home Depot and bought some supplies and got right to work!



After

She also had a little lamp with a garage sale lampshade that I wanted to recover. 

I used some vintage bird and floral fabric that Emily got from our older sister, when she cleaned out her massive fabric collection. 

Below are pictures of the finish before and after.

I used a palm sander to even out the surface and remove the old stain before primering.  Then, I painted two coats of pale gray.

When the paint dried, I distressed all the edges, so that the white, base coat and the original wood showed through in places.

We originally wanted to buy crystal knobs for the dressers, but in an effort to save money, we spray painted the existing knobs silver.

I used things that she had around her house to decorate her dresser.  I love the blues, silvers and grays together.  Emily loves birds, so I paired her ceramic bird with the bird fabric on her new lampshade.  She has several of the beautiful, old, blue mason jars with the original lids from garage sales and she got the l-o-v-e letters as a wedding gift.

This is just a start. Emily is going to finish painting the other two dressers herself.  I think it is a huge improvement already and I can't wait to see her room when it is all done!

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Pretty in Pink Clock

My mom always looks for things for me to repair when she goes to garage sales.  She bought me this little clock a while ago.

It had an old, dark finish and broken trim on the top which I removed.  Then, I painted it a pretty pink and painted on glaze and rub 'n buff to make it shabby.

I have some big projects to share, but I cannot seem to finish them because I paint outside and it won't stop raining.  Until it does, I will be working on my little odds and ends projects that can be done indoors :)

Tutorial Tuesday: Wall Cabinet From Drab to Fab

The shape of this vintage wall cabinet caught my eye at a large rummage sale a few months ago.  I love the scalloped edge at the top and the little, vintage knob.  The finish was a typical 1970's orange-ish brown and the inside was lined with cute, but outdated, red fabric with tiny flowers.  

Step 1: find an old cabinet in need of a little love.

Step 2: sand off the old finish and apply primer.

After primer, I painted one coat of creamy white (swiss coffee) and then sanded and distressed the edges.  The white was kind of stark, so I applied a glaze (ralph Lauren - smoke) over the top.

Step 3: Cover up the inside of the cabinet with scrapbook paper.  To do this, cut the paper to fit inside the cabinet, paint the backside of the paper with Modge Podge, and press the paper into place, smoothing out any bubbles.  After it has dried completely, apply two more coats of Modge Podge over the paper for protection.

I found this beautiful, pale greenish-blue, damask paper at my local craft store.  It was in the clearance pile of scrapbook paper and was only a quarter.

What an improvement!

I may add some chicken wire to the front of my cabinet door, but I kind of like it as is with the open shelving.

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