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

The Shabby Chic Bathroom

I had hoped that remodeling our bathroom a couple of summers ago would fix the temperature problem.

We added more insulation when the walls walls were open but it didn't help that much. It's freezing in there. I'm sure we need more insulation in the attic. It doesn't drop into the teens that often in Texas but when it does it is chilly in there. I've been showering in the other bathroom.
Before we go any further let me tell you that there is no natural light in this room so taking pictures is a beast. 

My winter bath. 
Everything in our house turns everything greenish.
 The gray walls weren't that old but they didn't look gray. They looked green. I knew as soon as the paint dried that it wasn't what I wanted. It didn't look all that different from the sage green that was in there before but I really didn't want to repaint until I started showering in there. 

The best part of the room is the black and with checked tile floor. This was my first tiling job about 11 years ago and I still love it. 
This bathroom and the vanity area were next on the list for popcorn removal. 



Ceilings with water damage are a beast to do and I knew that this ceiling had to have damage from all the years the kids bathed in here. 
Their long showers did a number on it.
 I didn't realize the importance of running the fan and neither did they. 
It is scraped, repaired and has been painted white.

The walls have also been painted white.
Other colors were just not going to work with the gray tile. 
This tile has a bit of a lavender tone and matching it exactly was not the direction I wanted to go. I hesitated to paint it white because that brought back memories of the builder white walls that were in here when we first bought the house. In the end, it was the way to go.

There isn't a window. I've asked for one but to no avail. 
Now I'm asking for a solar tube but I'm not sure that will ever happen. 

I picked up a faux window at the produce store. They have converted a great portion of the parking lot and yard into a makeshift antique market. They have doors, windows, shutters, washtubs and other cute artifacts.

The shower curtain came from Target.

It's not ruffled but ruches. 
It seems like an updated more tailored version of a ruffle. 

We got the pink trash can from one of his aunts.

I added a self above the toilet for interest and a few towels. It wasn't enough impact for me so I hung up the Fintorp system that has been kicking around here for two years. I was thrilled that all the pieces were still here.

  
This isn't a major redo but it is done for the time being.

Ceiling, walls and doors all got a fresh coat of paint. 
We even got a new toilet last fall.

This bathroom doesn't get used that often so I don't feel like we can justify a complete makeover but it's clean and spruced up for now.
I finally feel semi normal today. I'm still sniffling but I at least don't feel like I could pop a rib from coughing. 
I hope everyone is having a great Sunday.

Katie 
Linking with,
Amaze Me Monday
A Stroll Thru Life
Between Naps on the Porch
Savvy Southern Style 
French Country Cottage 
Stone Gable