Tuesday, May 31, 2011

French Beaded Chandy is Up

 The living room finally has a proper chandelier.
This is a vintage basket style beaded chandy.
 This chandy deserved a ceiling medallion, so I selected this large one.
 I painted the entire thing in Folk Art craft paint, champagne color,
 then used the brown wax to antique it.
I finished it off with Rub n' Buff Antique Gold.
 This task was not high on Mr. Maison Decor's list
 this memorial day weekend.
Thankfully he went along with what was high on my list!
Anytime you work with old light fixtures there may be issues. 
This one did not come with a ceiling cover.
I picked this one up at Home Depot 
and painted it with Rub n Buff in antique gold.
However the cap was too large, so luckily Mr. MD
 was able to use a metal grinder and cut away
 the excess of  the canopy cap so it fit inside the medallion. 
 The chandy and the medallion look great with the mirror and the curtain rods.

I turned on the lights in the room for a few pictures.
It really dresses up the room.



Look what is in the doorway of this pretty french hotel!
This looks just like my chandy, and it was featured on Greige 
this weekend. She saw it in a Paris hotel and loved it~
I guess it really is a french light fixture!
Here was the original light in the room.
Here is the new girl in town.
C'est si bon!


linking to:
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

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Sunday, May 29, 2011

Cottage kitchen decorated with tole

I was inspired by a kitchen I saw to use toleware for my kitchen.
Tole has long been a favorite of mine,
 but as things go, I had not been using my collection
of  mostly black tole trays.
This kitchen from an old Romantic Homes magazine
shown on Cindy's My Romantic Home was my inspiration.
 I reconfigured the shelf above the window, 
and covered it in faux tin tile from Home Depot.
I was planning to have Mr.Maison Decor router the edge,
but that quickly turned in to a disaster.
However it lead me to think of this solution,
and I really like the vintage look it adds.
It comes in sheets, 
and I cut it with scissors after tracing my shelf.
They sell an adhesive tape that sticks the tile to the surface.
Then I painted it to match the cabinets. 
My space above the window is shallow so I searched for small trays.
 I wanted to use pastel colored tole in the kitchen
so I found a few on Etsy. 
Turned out I couldn't see them up there, 
so I plopped two on the window sill.
They are all the same shape and size,
 but I needed to do a little repair work to one which was quite rusted.
It looked too worn and dull compared to the other trays.
 I taped the floral pattern off with blue tape 
and then sprayed it with some paint I had on hand,
otherwise it would have been cream.
You can see the tape being removed to reveal the saved artwork.
Then I used rub and buff to add the gilded edge to two of the trays. 
One was plain, the one lowest above was purchased in perfect condition.
You can't tell that the tray was painted!
 I plan to do a large one in turquoise next.
The pansies and the roses are from my garden,
and are in the old bottles found by my husband.
Like the inspiration pic, 
I hung some pastel trays around the kitchen.
I bought this pretty pink one for over the stove.
Quite shabby, with a reticulated edge.
 It has pink roses and purple violets.
A cute tole wall pocket was hung under the shelf.
I've had this pink tray for 20 years.
Pink tole is my favorite color.
I would love to add a farmers sink.
And marble counters....
The Dash and Albert rug has all the right colors.
I like the cottage look the tole brings to the kitchen.

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Friday, May 27, 2011

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Everybody!
This is a little sketch I did of my mother -in-laws chicken coop.
Her dad made it, and it is no longer used as a coop, but a shed.
It sits in the backyard kind of neglected.
I scraped and painted it last year as it was a peeling mess.
But this is how I really imagine it could look.
Here sits Claire's little coop.
Her dad named the Coop "Ucomin".
He made a sign that hangs about the door.
It has a window in the back that you can retrieve the eggs.
Anyway, it is cute and I think it has a lot of potential.
So maybe I will be working on this area this sunny weekend.
We planted a lawn and you can see it is starting to come in.
I have a few other projects planned for this weekend too.
Another project is the new chandy.
This is a peek of the ceiling medallion I painted for it.
Mr. Maison Decor said we could hang it this weekend.
I've been working on some tole trays for my kitchen...
I bought some miniature ones from Etsy
 and some didn't have a gilded edge...
I trimmed the window shelf in the kitchen and then asked 
Mr. Maison Decor to try his hand at routering.
Oy Vey!
 It was an ugly moment...this was the sample...
Looks like a wild bear ate through the wood.
 I had to come up with Plan B.
Tin tile was my solution, but that is for another post.
I am still working on the kitchen decor, and will be anxious to share.
Until then, 
enjoy the weekend,
and get some projects done!

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