Dilemma of the Day

These beauties landed in my lap last week.  3 of them.

I love them.

They were once part of a huge, glorious chandelier in a vast, magnificent castle.

I made that up - I really have NO idea what they were, what they're for, or what I can turn them into.

Any suggestions?

Decisions, decisions... Chandeliers, Lamps, and Mirrors (oh my)

Just a sneak preview... 

I've been wanting to add some color to the master bedroom.  I just couldn't decide WHAT color.  The room is beige, tan brown and did I mention beige?  I tried adding ocean blue, pale yellow and red.  But none of them spoke to me, so my love of oil rubbed bronze won out!  (Yes, another neutral technically, but a dark one.  I'm working on my color phobia.)
(warning: bad photography ahead)

First, these lamps (boring white!)...

...then turned pale yellow (um, no) and back to white.  Then they became these (much better)!

The chandelier went from this...

...to white (pretty enough).  Then...

...finally to this (love)! **

The gorgeous mirror had to start here...

...to get here. (va-va-voom)

Now "Who's the Fairest", "Chandy" and "The Earrings" can all live happily ever after
(with their fun friend "Art")!  

Until I change my mind again!

** About the chain/cord cover for this chandelier... I was pretty darn proud of the no-sew version I'd made from white kitchen towels HERE; but THIS my friends, was a stroke of upcycling genius!!  I had an old queen-sized bedskirt that was black cotton.  I cut the black fabric off and as it turns out, the "skirt" portion was one long piece, just pleated on the corners and attached to another big white square of fabric.  So, the black portion ended up being 7 yards long AND it was wide enough to cut into half and therefore double!  I ended up using only about 3 yards for this project so I still have 11 yards left over for the next big lighting project!

It's just lucky that I use all of this creativity for good rather than evil!  HAHAHA!  (I was pretty proud of myself, though)

What do you think of my coordinating pieces?  I'd love your opinion!

 

I linked these fun transformations here:

The Project Heard 'Round the DIY World - Chandelier!

There are several fun do-it-yourself ideas that I've been really wanting to try, but the brass chandelier makeover is definitely at the top of the list.  I waited until I found the perfect one at ReStore for the sitting area of our master bedroom.  Here's what I chose.

Not too much detail, small enough to fit in the space and I love that sphere at the bottom - perfect!  I have to admit, it was love at first sight, which means I failed to notice the broken socket, lack of bulbs, funky wiring and missing white tubes.  (I'm sure there's a technical name for these, but I don't know it!)  Still, pretty foxy for $8, yes?

I've seen these painted every color, but I decided to go with white.  The room she's going to live in has a dark accent wall and way too much dark furniture.  I hung the light from the kids playset and in typical style, spray painted the heck out of it.

I repaired the socket with luck superglue and bought a lamp kit for $13.  It included a cord and plug, 2 hooks and a 12 ft chain.  This was perfect since I was hanging it somewhere with no existing fixture.  Once the wiring work was done, I felt like Charlie the Electrician (you know, Bob the Builder's cousin?) I was so proud!!

The next thing on the list was to make a cord/chain cover.  I love the way these look but then that whole issue of sewing (gasp!) came up again.  

So, the pretty white light sat waiting patiently, for days weeks....until I realized that this would be the perfect time to use fabric glue!!  Woo hoo!! Why didn't I think of that sooner?!?!?!  I took 2 white kitchen floursack towels and cut them into strips about 6 inches wide.  I glued them together end to end and had about 12 feet of fabric.  Then, I folded the sides together and glued, forming a seam and cut off the excess.  After it was dry, I turned the whole thing inside-out and VIOLA, a cord cover!

 

I'm really glad I added this to the room, such warm light!

 

Another...

 

Clearly the boring window treatments and popcorn ceiling could use some work!!  The bedroom update is almost complete!! 

I really want to know what you think - would you have gone with another color???

School Project and Lamp Updates

Last night my 2nd Grader and I completed a school project using "arrays".  The assignment was to find arrays in our home and report on them.  I took the pictures for him; the one below is my favorite.  (unedited, sorry)

Gotta love those little Lego guys!

Remember my cute lamp makeover?  I decided to Mod Podge some scrapbook paper onto the shade rather than buy a new one.  I think it looks great, but I'd definitely do it differently next time!  I love the idea of changing it out, so I may use Shelley's tutorial at House of Smiths for a less permanent solution!  I love so many of the ideas in her blog, check it out!!

 

Another update:  I found 5 matching shades for my chandelier at ReStore but needed 6.  There was a 6th one there but it was white and had a slightly different texture.  I brought all of them home and brewed up some coffee to dye the white one to match.

How'd I do?

Can you guess which one was white?

I linked this up to:  Coffee Creations Party at The Shabby Creek Cottage

Inspired by Fall - Wine Cellar (closet makeover)

Fall has always marked the beginning of "project season" for me. Although, I do consider it a year-round sport! For some reason, I get it in my head that when the kids go back to school, I'll suddenly have a lot of free time - ha! Well, free time or not, I've always started my most memorable projects in the fall.

I thought I'd go back and catalog some of my favorite past transformations before I start to talk about my current ones. Some of these are old enough that I couldn't locate any before pictures, but I think you'll get the idea.