Thrifty Decor: Updating Vintage Lights with Modern Accents

Every time I'm at a home improvement store, I gaze longingly at the vintage-styled pendant lights that would look ever so chic over our kitchen island.  And every time, I walk away thinking, "That's an awful lot of money..."

Our house is an old Victorian, and we have some of the old light fixtures, although they border on great-grandma-tastic with their ornate and flowery glass.

It occurred to me that we happen to have a slightly ancient double pendant light over the dining room table, which I detest there, because it seems so un-spectacular.  (I have chandelier fantasies.)  How I spent ten years in this house not noticing how superb a fit that light fixture would be over the island will forever boggle my mind.

blah blah blah, double pendant over the dining table... 

All the pendant light needs is cooler-looking glass, and they would be authentic vintage-chic!  And way more budget friendly.


While all this brilliance was going on in my mind, I remember the old light fixture in my living room, which also has (mismatched) grandmotherly glass, so I sweet talked my husband into a run to the store to shop for replacements.

I'm charming like that.

In our flurry of activity, my husband started removing the glass from this fixture before photos, so he kindly put it back for a whole 3 seconds so I could snap a quick picture. It's way tackier up close.  This is pre-makeover.

New, seeded glass shades are so vintage and still so right-now, so for under $7 each, we buy three of these babies for the living room fixture.

Because the whole makeover for the living room light fixture only cost $21 so far, I allowed my typically cheap frugal self buy three light bulbs that each cost $7, but they are so darn cute, with old-school style filament that shows beautifully through the seeded glass. 

It was a splurge, but look how snappy!

Moving back to the kitchen, we (meaning my husband) took down the stainless light fixture and brought in the pendant from the dining room.

The kitchen light fixture is sporting a more contemporary shade in a graphic cylinder shape of milky white glass, with a subtle linen-inspired cross-hatching.

We need the one fixture to give enough light for the whole room with only two bulbs, so using white glass and white bulbs offers bright, soft light.  

I'm totally nuts about the patina on the old metal.  And the darling little twisty light switch!

He's handsome, even when wiring, checking for length of the chain to be equal after adjusting it for the island.

Pretty, repurposed vintage lights over the island.  Total cost $15.
Not too shabby.

Do you love to repurpose in your decorating?  This is my first lighting up-cycle.  Usually I work with furniture pieces, but it's fun to imagine the possibilities all around us in our homes.  

Do you have any favorite ways to decorate on the cheap?  I'd love to hear on Facebook or here in the comments.

How to paint old plaster walls WITHOUT painter's tape.

Our Victorian home is from the 1890's.  In addition to tremendous charm and character, it has plaster walls which are not smooth where they meet wood moldings, and there is almost nothing perfectly straight or plumb. 

The word "plumb" is not in my normal vocabulary, but I notice my husband's great displeasure when using his favorite toys - i.e. the laser level or such - at the fact that whatever plumb IS, we are not. He finds comfort at times hearing from new-house owners that they are not plumb at their house either.  

My husband is a detail guy, a perfectionist and amazing at math, so when he does projects, he uses  things foreign to me such as measurements, numbers and things like laser levels and this string that you snap to make a straight chalk line (what is that called?). 

That having been said, you can appreciate why the not-straight-or-plumb-or-level state of things in our house can be troubling for him. He levels the planters outside.  He is amazing.  My brain hurts trying to think about this stuff.

I'm an "eyeballer." In college I studied art, and I am a much more free-handed person when it comes to how I do projects.  Measuring things, trying to figure out where to put the screw for pictures, all of that - it gives me an anxiety attack.  It takes me right on back to high school AP Chemistry (which I dropped), and I can feel the cold sweat breaking out.  Oh my goodness.... I can hardly take it. 

Me with every single solitary thing in our bedroom piled up in a heap. I took photos to avoid starting work.  Nobody actually cares about seeing a photo of me doing a Vanna White in front of a big ol' mess. I know.

So we painted our bedroom last weekend, and we have this plaster-meets-woodwork issue. The walls are not smooth (or probably plumb), so precision tools like painter's tape are not terribly helpful.  

I don't use painter's tape when I paint anyway.  

For me, it's like painting trim is like doing one humongous French manicure.  

Painter's tape won't lie flat on the bumpy surfaces of the plaster, so it's not easy to get a clean, straight line.  Eyeballing it gives me better results.  I'll show you a few of the things I do to get a look I like. 

I always start with the woodwork.  

Paint the doors, because, as you can see, the white I've added is much crisper looking than the aged white on the door.  

Brush along the grain, one segment at a time.  

Extend the white out onto the edge of the wall a bit, as you see here. 

This way you'll fill the spaces and uneven places. 

Here's a great example of the woodwork and the plaster not having a really super-clean edge.  If I taped this, there would be boatloads of space for paint to leak under the tape.  Not cool. The white trim paint going onto the wall serves as a sort of "caulking" effect, visually, closing the space. Or I suppose you could actually use caulking. 

If you're right-handed work from left to right as you move through the room.  That way, you'll always be able to see your work.  

Don't overload the brush, to avoid drips. 

HGTV asked me for permission to use this Instagram photo in their #lovehome campaign! Way cool!!!  

Take the kids up on offers to help.  Just kidding.  I had to suppress hyperventilating to let her try using the brush on a totally un-harm-able part of the trim.  She had a great time. 

My grandfather used to let my mom and uncle help paint the house every year.  True story! He is a saint.  I didn't inherit that gene.  

It's something I would like to get better at, whether it's cleaning, cooking, project-doing.... I'm working on it, but it bumps into my Type-A personality with a thud. I am trying to relax, though.... anyway. 

(Notice the trim paint on the wall between the mop board and window - that's exactly how I like it when I'm starting out.)

"Cut-in" the wall color, from left to right around the trim.  

Extend it at least 1" so your roller won't hit the freshly painted trim!

You can see in these photos, that the cutting-in is where I make the really crisp, clean line. 

Keep your eyes focused just slightly ahead of where your brush IS, so you are looking at where you WANT the brush to be next.  It's a moving the eyes with the hand thing.  You'll feel it when you're "in the zone."  

Let your gaze draw the line you want.  

It sounds artsy-fartsy, but it works.

After you've done the cutting in, you can begin to roll the paint.  I work in areas that are probably 3'x3' at a time. 

We only did ONE COAT to cover the red, because we rolled really thoroughly.  Both red rooms I've painted have covered like a dream.  The navy room needed two coats of taupe paint. 

Lesson: don't be afraid to paint over dark walls.  Seriously.  It's not a big deal.  

(This room we painted with Valspar paint-plus-primer.  I like it on the walls.  I don't think it was worth the extra money on the white trim paint.  That seemed much thinner.  I wouldn't buy that again for my trim.) 

 

Here's another peek at the finished product.   

If you have painting questions and would like my non-professional advice, ask away!!!!

 

And if you have advice for us, please leave any helpful hints right in the comments or on the Facebook Page, so we can all enjoy your tips. 

Master Bedroom Makeover (with Before and After photos)

For Valentine's Day, I redecorated my bedroom as a surprise for my husband. Yesterday, while the wind howled outside, he and I painted our room.  

Because we are DIY rock stars (in our own minds). 

In an Instagram frenzy, I photographed (sometimes in an endeavor to NOT start painting, because starting is the suckiest part of any DIY project) a bunch of pictures of our process and the finished product to show you. Today I'll share the "after" photos, and in a different post I'll show you a few behind-the-scenes glimpses of our work in progress and also offer a few pointers, in case you have "paint a room with hundred-year old plaster walls" on your spring to-do list. 

We did the red walls and the decor scheme you see here in our room when we got married almost eight years ago!!!  It's so time for  a new look.  I way-incredibly-loved the red walls in 2005.  We had a red living room also, which we painted over a couple years ago.  I'm over it. 

What I want now for our room is a fun, playful, inspiring space 

where we can enjoy our time together.  

So much of life is serious.  I want our bedroom to be fun. 

Everything I chose makes me smile.  

Saturated color. Sparkly sequined pillows. 

Wild floral textiles from India. Bold trellis pattern on the drapes. 

And the humongous, acid yellow gourd lamps. LOVE the lamps. 

On each night stand is a shimmery satin Ikat frame holding wedding day photos.

We are embracing all things new, but we always look back to the moments we laid the foundation of this beautiful life together. 

We have an 1896 Victorian home, and this baby doesn't have a "master suite," but we love the character in old homes here in Maine, so we roll up our sleeves and add the modern elements we love one room at a time, and we try to keep as much of the integrity of our old home in tact as possible.  

See the pretty wide plank floors?  Our other bedrooms have floating wood laminate over them, but ours we kept original.  I love it!

I'm really thrilled to see how the globally inspired textiles and colors work so perfectly with the very ornate, traditional furniture we had. The balance and contrast is interesting.  Plus it makes me not-sick-of-the-furniture, which is good, because it's what we have. Warm gray walls showcase all the colors in the room really well. 

One of my favorite things about design and fashion right now is that we can play with color, pattern, and line to make something very eclectic and chic.  We can take elements of style from different countries and different periods of design and pull all our favorite pieces to make something unique.  

(Not to mention that I'm SO excited about neon making a comeback.)

In my decor, I use a lot of symmetry, which is a traditional element (or perhaps a reflection of my Type A personality).  Maybe my New Year's Resolution in 2014 should be "Try to decorate asymmetrically." I'm think I might be getting hives just thinking about it...)  

I try to avoid "matching" things, because I enjoy finding pieces that "go" (a fashion strategy a la What Not to Wear, which I apply to home decor as well). 

Pulling together pieces that don't "match" as much as they "go" can give your space a sense of having items that have been collected over time.  No one has to know you found them all for a bargain at one marathon HomeGoods shopping spree, right?

Thanks for taking a look at my new bedroom!  I'd love to know if you have a decorating project underway and what items or colors make you smile in your favorite places.