Office Chandelier Makeover

Thank you for all your prayers for my mom. Her surgery went well, and they removed her lung and all the cancer. We are so thankful!!!

During the last 2 months, I have kept very busy doing projects around the house. This was mainly to keep my mind off of what was happening with my mom. 

I wrote several posts on my home office makeover. Here's another element of the makeover. My chandelier. This is the after:

Here was the before:

It felt too heavy for what I was going for in here. I didn't want to replace it because I really do like the shape, and I didn't want to spend any money I didn't need to spend. I painted it - because paint solves everything!

First, I used a tinted gray Zinzer brand primer and painted the entire thing. I then mixed a white latex paint to the same primer to lighten it. I went back and forth, adding a little more paint to primer, leaving some of the dark areas. I like using just primer as the main paint, as it leaves a nice chalky finish. 

I spray painted the chandelier sleeves white, as the off white looked odd with the gray/white of the chandelier.

Then, I added the crystals that I already had from a previous project. I did purchase a string of glass beads and strung it on the chain. I also had the chain from a jewelry project. So, out of pocket, this project cost $5. I love the new look!

There will be more before and afters of this office coming soon. Can you see that the wall color is different in this last photo from the before photo?

My Chandelier Makeover

Hello Everyone! Hope you all are having a great Wednesday! I just wanted to share with you a makeover I did on my chandelier a few weeks ago.

The chandelier that came with the house was a brownish chandelier that had a hint of purple. Here is a before picture:

For several years, I tried to disguise with a lot of crystals that I gently hung, and some crystal-look garland (sorry for the blurry pic, I couldn’t find a good before shot):I decided to finally take the whole thing down and paint it like it needed, and get some holes drilled into it so that the crystals would stop flying off whenever I needed to change a light bulb!

Using a titanium drill bit, I had my husband drill some holes. It was easier to cover where the holes needed to be drilled with some blue painter’s tape:

Then I spray primed it, and painted it black. The picture below shows the primer. I already had this primer from a previous project.I then had my husband hang the chandelier in the dining room because I had no real plan of what beads to use, and I didn’t want a lightless dining room.

I had a bunch of beads I purchase a few weeks prior to this project that were half-off at Michaels.These are large jewelry beads. I also had some pre-strung crystal that I purchased about 4 years or so ago. :

I sat at the dining table using some jewelry wire, tested out some combinations. I wanted to bring out some of the colors in the current painting I have hanging in the dining room. I finally came up with a combination that I liked, and strung it, and came up with this:

(See how I started decorating for the Fall with my dried orange Chinese lanterns above?)

For a bit of whimsy, I switched out the light bulbs from the “flame” shape to the round shape.

The best thing about this project is that I can easily switch out the beads to coordinate with any changes I make with the room!

This and That

I wanted to share some miscellaneous Christmas touches:

The chandelier in the kitchen eating nook has an addition of some rustic glamour with some metallic spray painted branches with crystals and a mercury glass ornament.

We have our stockings on the mantle in the basement. I made the "jester's" stockings around 8 years ago. They are still in good shape, although the bells on one of the stockings have fallen off. I used black velvet, colorful satin, and sheer fabric that match the satin. The stockings are lined in the same satin colored fabric.

The stockings coordinate with the tree the kids decorated just a few feet away:

Here's my quick wine cork name card holder project after being inspired by Lauren's beautiful Christmas decorated home.

And a quick Christmas card holder project using a frame I had in storage and chicken wire.

If I don't make it back to the blog before Christmas, I hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating Christ's birth with your loved ones. Merry Christmas everyone!

Breakfast Party and the Dining Room Christmas Decor

This past weekend, our family hosted a breakfast party. The reason for breakfast instead of dinner? Well, this particular group of friends we invited do dinner very well in their homes. Very gourmet, very intimidating, and very delicious. Some of them have been to the finest restaurants in this country. One of them is a writer for a industry nutritional magazine, and has tasted the best food. They know good food. They are foodies to say the least!

My husband's and my idea of a dinner party would consist at best marinating some salmon in soy sauce, garlic, and cilantro.

We do, however, make a mean breakfast! And, after a camping/hiking trip where my husband brought the most inedible freeze dried eggs, he had to redeem himself.

Being part Swedish, my husband makes great Swedish pancakes. Breakfast is his specialty. His mother used to wake up at 5:00 am every morning to fix a nice, hot, breakfast for her boys every day. Every day. Yikes! I wake up at that time every day so I can work out, but there is no cooking involved :) ! I never really enjoyed breakfast until I married him. Was I missing out!

So, here was the menu:


Swedish pancakes, Stuffed Blueberry French Toast, a green chile, sausage, and cheese egg dish, Poppy Seed Bread, and of course, Mimosa and Espresso/Lattes for the adults. Orange juice for the kids. We used 72 eggs. Call the cardiologist! Wait, he's a guest!

Here's a not so clear picture of the holiday decorated dining room. I decorated the chandelier with some glass ornaments, a garland of clear and silver beads, and crystals that I wired. (I am planning a chandelier makeover after Christmas is over and all that stuff comes off. This is a builder's basic chandelier that I do not really like much.) The table is set with greenery, my moss balls, and branches from our yard. We used silver inherited from my husband's mom, which, by the way, we use every time we have guests over. Why have silver if we don't use it? Our water goblets are one of my favorites - pink and green glass which resemble Depression Glass. They hold so much water! I'll be so sad if one ever breaks, as they are irreplaceable.


Then there's the food. The presentation is not so great. It's difficult to make it look pretty when one is feeding 8 adults and 11 children. One of our friends even brought a yummy potato dish as well. It was a foodfest!

By the way, one requirement for our guests - must wear pj's.

Bedrooms

One of the joys every summer for me is the anticipation of Denver's Parade of Homes. I get so excited for it! It is a showhome tour of newly built luxury homes that showcase various builders, designers, and craftsmen. Here are a few snapshots from this past year that I took of some bedrooms with a decidedly feminine flair:

I love the beams and the red rustic chandelier.

This is such a cozy room, despite its' large size.

I loved the chandelier. I loved the black and pink mix.

A sweet girl's room.

How would you like to wake up in a field of poppies?

Perfect for a teenager!

I love the softness of this bedding.

This was such a fun tour. This housing development has an old world European feel, which is a style I absolutely love. I have tons of photos. I will post some more from this home tour in some later posts.

Holiday Chandeliers

I love chandeliers! I have 9 chandeliers in my home. I think they add a touch of class to every room. My two daughters even have one in their rooms. I often embellish them with crystals, or other interesting items. They are not forgotten during the holidays either. They are easy to decorate with some crystals, jewelry or other similar wire, and your imagination. Here are a few that I've embellished:

The chandelier over my kitchen island is embellished with some fruit picks from the craft store.

Over my kitchen table is a "winter wonderland" chandelier with some twigs from the yard and "ice crystals"

My dining room chandelier: a simple garland from the craft store wrapped around the arms.

Look at this: red velvet. Over the top and gorgeous! Found at Twigs.