Making Lemonade/The Closet Makeover

 We had a bit of a crisis which forced us to completely clean out our closets.

We sorted through every piece of clothing we own. 

Anything that wasn't being worn was not going back into the space.

It seemed like a perfect time for a makeover.

The popcorn got scraped off of the ceiling.

We have one closet but our sides are separated by a big shelf that Bill made a few years ago.

 I thought about painting my side pink.

We share a long wall that is only open above the top shelf.  

Bill wouldn't be able to see much pink but any pink is too much.

  I've read that pink is hard to get right.

Barbie or bubble gum pink wouldn't have been an improvement.

 When thinking about how to deal with the back of the shelf, I thought about wallpaper.

We headed to Lowes for wallpaper and Home Depot for a chandelier.   

 
Fresh white paint touched up the edges of the shelves and covered the back of Bill's cabinet. 

I don't know if it will get wallpapered or not.

Off the shelf wallpaper covers the focal wall. 

I only kept what I think I'll actually wear but if something isn't getting worn, it is out of here. 
Bill called me a hoarder.
He was right but lightening the load feels amazing.

 

 Bill will hang the chandelier tomorrow and I'll have more photos for you. 

 Thank you for your prayers for us.

I'm trying to come up with a way to share what has been going on but I'm not sure it's a good idea to put it out on the blog. 

Our "bit of a crisis" was stressful but it has turned out to have some blessings as well. 

That's life, I think. 

Stop back by to see the chandelier. 

I'll also talk about some of the storage pieces. 

Katie

Linking with,

Amaze Me Monday 

One Small Change To The Chandelier

Hi guys.

I was working on the dining room over our break.
The weather was very un-spring like. 
Usually I work in the garden but not this year. 

The chandelier was the first thing I noticed with the new wall color. The Gothic or Spanish feel was not working with the lighter walls. I didn't want to take it down and work on it outside. We did that three years ago and it was a pain.

Creating a tent around it allowed me to paint it in place. 

I hit it with quick shots of white spray paint. It looked a little too stark so the next layer was CeCe Caldwell Chalk Paint in Simply White. It was very flat looking.

To add some "age" and depth, I dry brushed some silver metallic and some brushed nickel. 

These were in spray cans but I squirted the paint onto some painter's paper and used a dry brush. A little gray from the walls got smeared on there too. Once that was dry some sand paper revealed the oil rubbed bronze layer and the original antique brass layer. 

An Emory board is great for getting hard to reach places. Choosing spots that might get naturally worn down is impossible. 
A chandelier doesn't get handled enough to have naturally worn areas. 
I chose visually interesting areas to add dimension and depth.

Minwax Polycrylic in Clear Satin gave it a little sheen.

I'm not a big fan of a lot of gloss so low sheen is the way to go around here. 

I still wasn't in love even after it was re-blinged.
 The crystals were put back on with wire but some had to be hot glued. 
I really hope those don't bonk someone in the head during a dinner party again. 
That was awkward. 

It felt like the chandelier was such a pop of white. 
I decided that we had gotten our money's worth out of this piece and it would be a good time to replace it. 
It was $25.00 at the Jr. League garage sale 21 years ago.  
All of the stores including the thrift stores on this side of town yielded nothing. 
The Habitat for Humanity ReStore had one but it needed paint. 
What if I painted it white and it didn't look much different than what I already had? 
It could have been transformed to look very much like this one.

                                 

Home Depot had one but it felt a light weight and I'm not in love with the aged brass (or what ever they are calling it now). It is the Estelle by Hampton Bay. 

The finish is called champagne. Hampton Bay is Home Depot's brand name.  

                                   

Anyway, it didn't have enough areas to add crystals. 

Lamps Plus had a cute and affordable one but it was a little too petite.

I asked the sales lady if they made a brushed nickel crystal chandelier and she said no. 
I liked several but I wasn't ready to commit to an expensive chandelier long term. 

         

  
This was gorgeous but it was more than I wanted to spend.
I came home empty handed. As soon as I walked in the door and looked at ours, it hit me. The little orbs at the bottom were the main feature that bugged me. 
They were made to look like they hold lamp oil. 

Old lamps and chandeliers are basically parts joined together on metal threaded rods.

We have plenty of these parts in our lamp boneyard. 
I've been hoarding lamp parts for many years. 
I have altered the look of chandeliers before by unscrewing offensive appendages. I began taking off the odd orbs at the bottom of each arm. It was an immediate improvement. I could purchase new finials for the end of each arm but they are $4.00 each. Instead I screwed the original finial back on with new shorter rods.

I like it again. 

This was a "no new money" makeover. 

Bill's favorite kind.

I adore the reflection of it in the mirror.

I am still on the lookout for the perfect vintage chandelier. 

I want something similar to the one in Bekah's room.

I would take hers but it's too small in scale. 

This one will suffice now that the booby looking things are gone.

;)

I wish I'd dissected this chandelier a long time ago. 

Before:

After:

I'll be sure to keep you up to date if this riveting saga continues.  

Have a fabulous day, my darlings. 

Katie 

Linking with,

A Stroll Thru Life
Savvy Southern Style
French Country Cottage
Cedar Hill Farmhouse
Ms. Toody Goo Shoes
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Funky Junk Interiors
From My Front Porch to Yours
Common Ground
Between Naps on the Porch 
Have a Daily Cup

Chandelier Over the Tub

When it comes right down to it I am pretty much a rule follower.

I wanted a chandelier above the tub. 

I really did.

I looked for months at fabulous images of gorgeous crystal laden fixtures over tubs.

When I asked an electrician to hang one for me he thought I was a little crazy 
but
I still looked for a fixture for over the tub. 

The guy at the light store told me that the code for my city requires 7 feet of clearance from water. That is not what I have. I can touch the light fixture when I stand in the tub and I am by no means tall. 

So what is a blingy girl to do?

I could have Bill climb into the attic and wire one for me.
 But I won't. 

My designer suggested that I swag the fixture and only plug it in when there isn't water in the tub.

 I tried that once. I have a picture of the mess of chain. 
I knew at the time it was not one of my better ideas because 
I covered the chain in brown fabric.

 
 Kind of looks like poop doesn't it?
 Unbelievably, my sweet husband never said a word.
We only plugged it in a time or two and it got dusty in no time at all. 
  If I tried it again using a prettier chain, I would still have to swag the cord over toward the vanities. 
Bill wasn't thrilled about having the cord by his new plug but he got a swag kit for me anyway.  
I messed with it one day while waiting for tradesmen. 
 It seemed like a mess of chain everywhere.
 It was taking away from the crisp line between the window and the vanities.

I gave up and decided there would be no electrified chandelier over the tub for me. 
I decided to hang one for decorative purposes only. 

I had two in my stash but they were the wrong finish.

 I took them both out into the yard and spray painted them with 
Rust-O-Leum Brushed Nickel.
They still didn't look bright enough so I tried some primer and Silver Krylon. 

  I am a little horrified that I have sprayed a vintage brass fixture. 
Are you horrified too?

  I have several others that are the same age and style so I was okay with sacrificing this one.
I can always strip it later if I want to return it to the original finish.
Here is the other one. 

This one was a cheapie from Home Depot. 
It used to hang in the kitchen. I took it down right after we painted the cabinets.

 The vintage fixture was my favorite out of the two. 

I will probably outfit this with candles at some point.

One of my friends flipped out when she saw it. 
She knew the code from her days as a realtor.

No worries.

The salesman at the lighting store shared a story with me. 
He had a customer that put a chandelier above the tub. 
A neighbor came over and told the man to take down the fixture. He was on the city council and he knew the code.
I don't live next to any city council members but some of them could find my blog through a friend of a friend. 
In the end it really wasn't safe and raising it higher didn't make sense. 
 
 The weird thing is that I love chandeliers but I don't care for overhead lighting. 
We usually use lamps for lighting but really I am content to sit in the dark with my 
laptop or Kindle. 
Thanks for stopping in. 
Katie
Link to our reveal here.