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.

{Vintage Thrifting} Colorful Global-Style Table Decor

Finding ways to add personality to my home on-the-cheap is one of my favorite hobbies.  I especially love hunting through vintage thrift shops and antique stores, yard sales, and (of course) HomeGoods and Target.  

Right now, I am obsessed with international elements (and peacock feathers) in my decor, so I had fun pulling together some wild and crazy colorful, playful gems at a local vintage shop, Between Friends.  (If you're in Maine, you should be sure to pop in!  Classical music playing and beautiful treasures from all over the place are set out like total eye candy. This is a totally unpaid endorsement.)

Take a peek at the fabulousness I found!!!

The brights and neons are so on-trend this season, so I couldn't pass up this colorful ethnic tapestry that just so happens to be the perfect (can I say that again? PERFECT) length and size for a table runner!!!! 

Oh my gosh, I'm going to have a dinner party, like, TODAY just so we can gaze lovingly at this table runner...

These crazy candle stick holders had to come home with me!  (I don't know if they're actually kind of hideous or if they're really beautiful - is it weird that I consistently once in a while am drawn to design items that I love, even though I find myself asking that question?)

They're a wooden base with cut and nailed tin applied.  So wild! It's possible they are either someone's Industrial Arts class project OR that they originate in some exotic place half the globe away.

(I love the element of story that exists within vintage items, and I realize the shop class version is very possible in this instance. To me, they're way-cool.)

Hanging on a back wall of the little store were bright yellow tapers.  What's better than seeing yellow tapers on the dining room table, with a yellow couch just through the double doors, right?  Divine.

               

I thought I was done, when I spotted two lone (are they "lone" if there are two???) peacock feathers!!!!!! Really?  I think I'm in heaven.....

 ... all things peacock-feather, 

I love...

 And what could be more perfect than a tall, cobalt blue bottle to stand the feathers in as a centerpiece?

                     

 A year ago, I was antiquing at The Schoolhouse Antique Mall and found these really sweet orange and hot pink embellished napkin rings.  (They had tons of great retro kitchen goodies - I even found a tea towel from 1979, the year I was born!  It had a calendar on it, so I had to have it.  It's crucial I know which day of the week any dates from 1979 fall on, right??? Or so I told myself.)

The natural fiber napkins and the round woven placemats are from the clearance section at Target this winter.

Mixing neutrals with brights is an instant mood booster, I think.  

And remember one of my favorite rules of style: 

"It doesn't have to match, it has to 'go'." 

-Stacy London

Do you love thrifting?  

Love using vintage pieces in your decor? 

What's your favorite thrifty find?  

I'd love to hear about it (or see a photo!!!) on Facebook.  Be sure to "like" the page, so we can keep  in touch over the next cup of coffee.  

Have a friend who loves decorating?  Please invite her to come by!

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.

{decorate} Part 2: Stealing fashion tips for great interiors

This is where I continue to paraphrase from Stacy and Clinton, generally stealing their ideas about the elements of a great outfit and apply them to decorating our houses.

Because it's really all the same.  Color. Texture. Pattern. Shine.
(We are almost professionals now.)

We talked COLOR the other day and I gave you some cool links to use to get your color creativity going. Today let's chat about texture while we have our second cups of coffee.

I'm really still trying to incorporate intentional use of texture into my interior, because I notice that I keep buying things that are velvet, and Stacy and Clinton probably wouldn't approve of this.  For example, I have the famous YELLOW COUCH, which is velvet.  And across from it sit two lovely silver slipper chairs (also velvet).  I think that's probably not cool.  I was more color-focused, and I really am troubled now about this texture infraction: 

(yellow couch with silver slipper chairs.  both velvet. clearly not thinking about mixing texture. oops.)

I made you a nifty "Texture" board on Pinterest!  Wanna see?  

What about you?  Do you love to mix textures, or is it kind of intimidating?  Do you have certain textures you really love to use together?

I'd love to see a space you're working on if you want to share one on the Facebook wall!

Project Marriage Sparkle: Getting playful in the bedroom (aka my bedroom decorating frenzy)

Ok, here's the backstory:  My handsome hubby and I are in a small group at church (if you don't know what that means, it's when there is literally a "small group" of people who get together regularly outside regular church time, and it's way-cool for building friendships and growing spiritually and for laughing a lot), and our small group is currently reading "The Good and Beautiful Life."

And we have homework.  Which is cool, because I'm sort of a nerd about stuff like that.  I underline and dog-ear all the pages and make this whole thing quite serious. 

Which is a little ironic.  Because our homework this past time was to PLAY more.  

Wow.  Really?  That's not deeply spiritual or anything, is it?  How on earth is that going to make me more like Jesus? I don't get it...

But on I read. Some things hit me.  Stuff I've been missing out on, because for a while I've made being a Christian too "serious" all the time (and I think it's important to be serious about our faith, don't get me wrong, but I was all "work, work, work," you know?).  I was sucky in the "fun and spontaneous and playful" department.  (Perhaps you clued in on that with my startling confession of "clear liquids in the den" being how my man and I decided to really cut loose and live more laid back lives - haha!)

So, being the superstar student that I am, I decided to tackle this playful business for real.

"Spontaneity is one of the spiritual benefits of play... We relax... We play because our God is good. Grace is sufficient for us. God wants us to be full of joy, and play is a way to experience the goodness of God and the richness of life."

"Play" is the perfect way to find sparkle.  And you know I've been all about us living really vibrantly and fully engaged lives, which I'm dubbing as SPARKLE. 

And what better time than Valentine's week to PLAY!? 

Tuesday, while I had the day child-free, I went where all smart women go to play: HomeGoods.  We've been wanting to redo our master bedroom, because we haven't since we first were married eight fantabulous years ago!!!  Here's the "before" photo:

We are beyond tired of having red walls. Been there, done that.  Over it. 

I had this whole sooooothing monochromatic whites and soft metallics color palette in my mind... with beads and pearls and all sorts of things that would cause our Type-A personalities to feel stressed when the 4yr old climbs up on the bed with a sippie cup or snack, because it's all so high maintenance. 

And then HomeGoods happiness happened to me. 

I found some goodies that totally rocked my world. So I texted some pics to hubby (who picked the same exact wild and crazy humongous neon yellow lamps I loved - we were SO meant to be married) and he sent me back the most romantic words known to womankind: "Buy what makes you sparkle." 

He gets me.  He is the greatest, most romantic and awesome man ever born on earth, and I love that he wants me to sparkle inside! 

Side note: He also knows I am the most frugal and budget-conscious woman alive, so he could speak these words without terror striking his heart.  Credit card debt and over-spending do not sparkle make.  Can I get an 'amen'? 

Anyway. I digress.

I have pics for you of some of the elements in the new bedroom, but I won't show the pics of it put together til we paint the red walls a new color, because they just irritate me in photos now.  Sorry. 

But please know that in a fit of super-woman strength I somehow hoisted the ends of our gigunda bed up to very awkwardly yank the area rug out, only cutting my hands in 3 places and not even giving myself a hernia! Then, in a 30-minute stretch, I pulled every single decor-item out of the room and replaced it with the new stuff so my hubby could walk in and be surprised after work!  

I think this was worth 3000 Weight Watchers exercise points.  This is a claim not supported by the Weight Watchers organization but for which I offer the proof being that I lost one whole pound by the next morning... Could decorating be slenderizing?  

My inspiration for the pieces (please forgive the poor light quality, because the red walls bounce weird light back... it will be good to take pics after we paint) is the variety of ethnic influences and bold colors in fashion and home decor right now.  I am enjoying playing with different patterns and textures and looking for pieces that "go" more than "match" (thank you, Stacy and Clinton & "What Not to Wear"). 

small area rugs - on on either side of the bed, which leaves more of the room's 100yr old painted pine floor exposed, which I love

grommeted drapery panels pick up the neutral shade that runs through the fabrics and has a simple, graphic quality that is both modern and a nice compliment to the more busy designs on the bedding and rugs

one of two beautiful paintings - the other is like this but in whites.  they bring some unity to the space because they are a contemporary interpretation of a floral but the color pallet and round shape of the flower is picked up in the bedding

wild and crazy textile from India for the bed quilt - I love the international flavor in design right now and the mixing of elements that are global and look collected rather than pre-packaged. it's more playful. and the colors here make me smile and inject energy into the room. and marriages deserve  bedrooms that inspires playfulness and joy!

some of the pillows - ikat, sequins, embroidery, pleated silk with organic embellishments like wooden buttons - so pretty (only not so photogenic today with the weird red-wall-lighting - you'll see)

We have beautiful ikat fabric-framed photos from our wedding in the room and some pretty Turkish glass with shimmery oranges and gold to hold perfumes and even some lovely plants (which I now know how not to kill - thank you, Tessa!) to make the space come alive.  

And wait til you see the lamps that are my new favorite color: neon yellow!  It's the new black, I swear. It goes with everything.  I may write a whole post about neon yellow, because I'm head-over-heels in love with it.  The lamp is TALL and gourd-shaped and fantabulous!  

Valentine's Day is the perfect day to do a special something for your spouse to add some SPARKLE to your marriage.  

To play.  

To create.  

To be inspired.  

And if you don't have a spouse, Valentine's Day is the perfect day for you to do something beautiful for yourself or to give some sparkle to a bff!  

How will you invest in play and in sparkle today?  What influences your design choices? Let me know!  It's inspiring to hear from friends. 

And the answer is "Yes, you can hire me to redecorate your home, if you want your space to be filled with things that are unexpected, joyful and reflect your unique sense of sparkle."