Thursday, February 28, 2013

Hobnail Lamp Globe

The Husband and I made a recent trip to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore
on a "gad-about" day.
That's a day where we climb into the SUV and go "gab-abouting" the town.
Running errands,
stopping here and there,
having lunch,
and always bringing some new project home with us.
While searching and scrounging and digging and pawing through the piles at The ReStore,
I came across this little ceiling fixture.




I loved the hobnailed look of the glass globe.
The green sticker on it said $5.00.
All green stickers that week were 75% off.
That made this little gem a mere $1.25.
Score!
I had no clue where I was going to use it, but for that price,
there was no question that treasure was coming home with me.

Later that afternoon,
I stood at my prairie workbench, picked up that little light fixture,
turned it over and over in my hands and wondered where to hang it.
Basement?
Bath?
Studioffice?

I leaned over to switch on my vintage floor lamp,
(read about it here)...





and had an Aha! moment. 

I immediately got to work removing the globe from the fixture, 
pulling out wire, wire cutters, needle nose pliers,
and some necklace chain I had stashed away in my supplies.




I wrapped the chain around the lip of the globe and using the clasp,
attached it tightly,
adding a loop of wire just for added security.
It fit nice and snug.




The extra chain was clipped off.




Two more chain necklace pieces were attached to the first piece
with the clasps on the necklaces.





I held it up to the light bulb to measure how much of the two chains needed to be removed.





After attaching the two chains together with an extra link,
I had a sweet little vintage looking hobnail glass globe
for my prairie floor lamp.








It cut the glare of the bare light bulb...




and added a sparkly touch of warmth to the room.

















Cheers to those little Aha moments in life!


Next week:

Box-Store Ugly Stool to Sweet Rustic Prairie Stool
Transformation


~  Blessings  ~





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Thursday, February 21, 2013

Shabby Prairie Chic Remodel


I know you all have been waiting for this post, 
so there are a few more photos than normal.....
but SO worth a few extra minutes of your time, 
I promise!  
You're going to want to savor each and every one.
:)

So, I'll wait while you go grab your second cup of java
(or depending on the time of day....a glass of wine)...

*  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *

Ok.
Put your feet up.
Take a sip,
and think back to these Pottery Barn curtains from my last post.
(Not the pretty lavender floral ones on the left.
The plain linen ones to the right.)

They were temporary replacements for the ugly, plastic accordion thingamajig I dismantled last winter 
that originally served as the door to our guest room closet.




Welllllllllll........after once again being awestruck and inspired and totally in love with ANOTHER creative idea from my friend Tausha,

I copied her.

Yes.
(head hanging low)

I did.....
(head hanging even lower)

again.

Seriously, I can't help myself.
In my own defense, it seems that every time I turn around, she's creating vignettes in her beautiful home that make my heart pound and that little voice in my head say,
"I NEED to do that!"

(I'm assuming that you all have a little voice in your head, too?
Please don't tell me I'm alone in this.)

So, I'm giving all the credit to her.

(And saving a bit for my husband, too,
since he did most of the labor on our little project.
*wink*)

After scrounging through scrap wood planks in the loft in our barn and throwing them down to the main floor,
we gathered them up, 
and marched them down to The Husband's workshop.


Yes, that wood is sitting on our second rustic prairie table (read about it here) we just built that I need to paint and stain yet.  It will probably end up in my booth at Doster Emporium.

He got busy measuring and cutting...




and gluing...




and nailing...

(Now....don't get ahead of the story here.  Stay with me.)




he began to create my vision.




I was beyond happy.
Raring to go with my magic paint brush. 
Ready to make it all shabby chic and pretty...and barn-y.

After a coat of primer, two coats of flat latex paint,
and 12 hours of both of asking each other,
"Do you think they're dry yet....?",
we lugged my vision upstairs.


Here is what you see upon entering the guest room.

Mmmmmmm.....yeah.
I'm liking it a whole lot.










Before we continue, 
go back up to the first photo and take another peek at it to refresh your memory.
I'll wait here for you...

*
*
*
*
*


*
*
*
*
*


Ready???

OK.

This is what you see NOW when you turn around.




Oh, yeah, baby!!
Are you squealing with glee?
Better than a plastic door or linen curtains, wouldn't you agree?
(Sorry. Didn't mean to Dr. Seuss it.)




Because this is such a tiny little room,
we had to get somewhat creative as far as hanging these barn doors.
We couldn't use the heavy, duty barn door trolley rails that I really wanted.
So, we installed two simple by-pass closet door track systems purchased at Home Depot
for about $15 each.




By the way, I had a distinct moment of pure genius while standing in Home Depot 
(which I totally embraced, took advantage of, and bragged about all day long to The Husband
which resulted in numerous eye-rolling episodes).

I grabbed four large galvanized hinges,
had The Husband cut off the hinge part,
and screwed the remaining part at the top of the doors to give the illusion they were hanging from a barn door rail.


Yep, I can see you nodding your head and thinking,
"Genius idea!"

(And because I'm still in the bragging mode,
I give you my permission to steal my brilliant idea and use it for your own.)







We couldn't attach the door handles together in the center like I wanted, either,
because of the by-pass system.
So we installed them on each side instead.




I dug around in the basement and came up with a couple of old, black handles,
and swiped them with silver Rub-N-Buff
giving them a galvanized look.







A watercolor farm landscape my dad painted decades ago was pinned to the wall above
the dresser to complete the barn-like feel.




A second dream catcher was hung by the large one above the bed.










Lumber:  free
Two By-Pass Track Systems:  $30
Four galvanized hinges:  $20
Hard working husband:  free
Cost of my vision:  priceless




I think I'll be sleeping in here tonight.

I want to open up my eyes in the morning to THIS.





(Hope The Husband's okay with that....)


And now I'm thinking that a set of those sweet, rustic doors would look pretty nice in here ~
our master bedroom
where I can wake up to them every single morning.




Just a set on the left side....?
Or replace all of the mirrored doors...?




Hmmmm....

the wheels are turning on how to coerce The Husband into going along with THIS new idea.






~ Blessings...and sweet dreams ~




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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Lilac Floral Curtains


I love our little guest bedroom.
It's tiny,
but it's cozy, bright, and warm.
The walls are papered with a subtle textured wallpaper that is painted a shade of French vanilla,
(not my color of choice, but I'm living with it for now)
and the original extra wide wood trim work is also painted.

Painted trim rocks my world, you know ~

especially 12" wide painted trim.
:)

The Jenny Lind bed in here was purchased at one of the first auctions I went to decades ago.
I plan on switching that bed frame out this summer with a vintage one that once belonged to The Husband's grandmother. It has a rolled and embellished headboard
which will look beautiful painted creamy white and distressed.

The cafe curtains in here were originally full length sheers that hung in our master bedroom.
Being the kindergarten sewer I am and not owning a sewing machine at the time,
I just cut the curtains in half and hung them like that.

(Ok...ok....I can hear you seamstresses groaning loudly...)

It worked.....for a while.

dresser5.jpg (1200×1600)
A bright summer morning at Heaven's Walk.

But I grew tired of seeing the unhemmed edges and the partial curtains.
The windows are nice and big and we could see only half of the beautiful view of our property out of them.

"Big girl" curtains were desperately needed.
Prairie floral-ness was calling.
So, I went searching for a cheap, quick fix.

And I found it at Target ~
on sale no less...
for cheaper than I could fill up the gas tank in my SUV.


A snowy winter's afternoon at Heaven's Walk.

Simply Shabby Chic White Voile window panels were a perfect solution.
They're a light weight cotton with a pretty pale, lilac floral print scattered on it.



A couple of curtain rods later ~
(which were also on sale for just a couple bucks each),
the room took on an elegant feel.


A different dresser here is on my wish list.







I picked up this cute little lamp at The Habitat for Humanity ReStore this past autumn for a dollar.
I gave her base a little touch-up with some gilding wax,
and added the rosettes on the lampshade with my glue gun.


The vintage looking clock was a gift from my "lil sister", Michelle.



Last year, I took down the gag-me-with-a-wooden-spoon plastic folding doors on the closet and hung some Pottery  Barn curtains there instead ~ just as a temporary solution.  




The Husband and I recently worked on a permanent solution to replace those PB curtains.
It includes a pile of this ~
taken from our stash in the barn.

[You have to wait until next week for the big reveal.]













After doing a "dash and turn",
I realized that the headboard wall needed something on it, 
and I knew exactly what that was.

I spent the afternoon making a large dream catcher.
















A bit of sweet, simple, shabby prairie love for my guests.

I'll leave the light on for you!


~  Blessings  ~





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