Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Smooth As Silk Drapes


The next area of my dining room that needs to be addressed (or should I say dressed?) are the windows. There are so many fabulous options for window treatments, but today I'm dreaming of gorgeous, flowing, puddles of luscious silk.




Ahhhh... does it get any more luxurious? I'd love some really full, unstructured panels with a beautiful trim. Perhaps even in pink... Wonder how all the boys around here would feel about that?


Monday, February 4, 2013

Easy Chandelier Update



I've been getting a lot of flack from my family regarding my dining room chandelier. They think it belongs in a haunted house. Or a junkyard.



Although their disapproval initially made me second-guess myself, I still think it's a pretty cool chandy.

However, there was one small thing that bothered me about it... the candle sleeves.  I'm sure the intent was to make them appear aged, but I found the gold color too jarring and distracting. So, I decided to make them more to my liking with a bit of spray paint.

You can try this at home if your candle sleeves need a color update or if they've gotten "burnt" looking over the years.

I just removed the lightbulbs and gently slid the candle sleeves off. (Mine required a little tugging and twisting). Just be careful.



Once the sleeves are removed, you will need to come up with an ingenious contraption to hold the sleeves in place while you spray paint them.

You may be shocked to know that I don't have an engineering degree when you get a look at my invention...




Green tea bottles weighted down with rocks and pierced with large twigs. Patent pending.



Since it was 8 below outside, I took my contraption down to the basement workroom.



I sprayed the sleeves with Krylon ivory spray paint. One coat got the job done.

When they were dry, I slipped them back on the chandelier.




 There. Not a huge change. But it's easier on my eyes.




And perhaps a bit less "haunted" looking?




Not sure about that. You'd have to ask my family :)