Faux Painted Chandelier...

Honey, I shrunk the chandelier,
and painted it too!

Seems like all I've had to share lately is lighting (and I have one more exciting one coming up soon). But having the painting done and the chandies installed have been two of the bigger things that we needed to accomplish first. The painting is completed except for that one wall of the kitchen that needed dry wall patching.(where the cabinets and desk counter were removed). Hubbs, Aly, and myself did about 2/3 of the house and our contractor/handy guy and his brother did the rest. You can see below how the Ben Moore Smokey Taupe turned out. I'm so happy I stuck with it, it does change color with the lighting during the day, but all in all it's just the perfect light gray/beige, and I think it will "go" with everything we have.

So when we moved we took down and crated up my "in your face" frenchy chandelier from the Dining Room. It seemed enormous due to the low ceiling height and ended up feeling like it was right on top of the table. But...I love it and even though it was big, it had just the right Country French feel I was going for.

previous home last Fall

I loved the twigs and vines wrapped around it from last Fall and Christmas. I packed away the little linen shades, so I'm hoping to find those soon.

(This is a photo from that time that shows the canvas print 

someone was asking me about a couple of weeks ago.)

So the jest of this blog post is that even though I love that hunky chandy, once it was installed at the new house, it just wasn't the right color any longer. The gold and platinum paint finish was just too bright and stuck out like a sore thumb. Our new house has most of the metals in black and dark bronze, so a gold chandy in the open Dining Room just wasn't going with the flow.

Here's the new space when we first got the keys. This is the old fixture and old wall color.

So I wanted to try to tone the chandy down a notch or two and make it blend in more with the rest of the metals. This black railing (which I'm NOT in love with) is staying for now. The gold was just too noticable. I headed to Michael's and grabbed these supplies to make the transformation...

The bronzing paste wasn't quite dark enough, so I added a little black to take it to a darker bronze. I found the black at Lowe's. The bronzing paste and enamel are both oil based so they mixed up well, and went on easy.

Hubbs fixed me a "paint station" alongside the ladder, so I didn't have to keep getting off to add more paint to the sponge. That saved a bunch of time and effort.

I worked in layers, putting on a darker coat first, then sponging in the antique gold paint on top. It's just a trial and error process. I'd have to have someone come and look at it with me at intervals, just to make sure it was looking right.

I can't say I like it "more" or "less", it just needed to be different. So please don't tell me it was better all bright gold and platinum. It just wasn't working for the new space. That's one of the things you have to consider when you have an open floor plan. You can see more of the gold at night when the bulbs are lit, otherwise in the daylight it looks dark bronze.

All in all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out; it looks like a real antique to me now. The lower luster of the darker metal paint finish looks like oxidation. But it did shrink in size. What seemed huge at the other house, seems a lot smaller here. I know it's the height of the ceilings, because the Dining Room area itself is smaller. With my big furniture I'm sure I won't be able to get much else in there. The little shades may not make it back on, I think it looks a little more elegant without the shades. hmmmm...

I'm giving you a peek at my new entry lantern. That's another reason why the chandy had to go a darker bronze. I'm going to tell you all about it soon, It's from a new sponsor and I'm totally crushing on it!

The carpet stretching will be done tomorrow, the carpet cleaned next week, then some things can start coming over from the storage units. Our guys can hopefully start on the outside later this week. The landsaping has to have areas redone and new plantings, plus building new shutters and door paint. Things are rolling along, and it's exciting to see it all come together. I'm so glad we've had time to get these things done ahead of time. As hard as it was to move to a lease house, it's proven to be a life saver, literally.

On a side note, the flu had me down for almost a week. Such poor timing. It's all a blur. I coughed and/or was in a Nyquil induced sleep coma for most of it. This last Saturday I MADE myself get up and over to the new house. Once I was there I got a few things done, but that stuff really took it out of me. I'm so glad Hubbs didn't catch it. It was a bad week. you all take care of yourselves...

I'll be joining in on these great weekly parties:

Show and Share at Coastal Charm

The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Daily Cup at Mrs. Olson

Treasure Hunt at From My Front Porch to Yours

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Hope you all are off to a good week, 

now I have to play catch-up on everything else...

xoxo,

House Progress...

After working all weekend painting at the new house, I've come down with some kind of flu or virus. Who knows what this junk is, but Sunday it started with a sore throat like maybe just allergies, and by yesterday morning I could barely swallow. I'm better today, but have laryngitis. bummer. I'll survive.

We did get a lot accomplished over the weekend; our younger kiddo came over to help and between the three of us we finished painting the living areas of the lower level. (2 bedrooms, bath, hall, family room, and small kitchen/bar area)... yay! I don't know why I didn't get any finished photos, it was late and I'm sure the lighting wouldn't have been the best. But we can cross that huge job off the list!

Here's the World Market Gray Vintage Chandelier I tweaked a couple of weeks ago. It was just installed, so I need to straighten the arms a little, but it helps get this area moving in the direction I'm headed. If you look closely next to the window, you can see the first coat of the Benjamin Moore Smokey Taupe paint. It's a warm browny gray, and I think we'll be using it throughout the house. I had a lot of angst over choosing the color, but after two coats, and getting rid of the original color, it's turning out really pretty.

This is an area I didn't show you in the earlier house pics. It's the kitchen eating area, and I knew we were going to change things up in here with a little demolition. Some of you will probably think I've lost my mind, but this is a nice size area, 11x14, and it was completely taken up with cabinets and a counter the previous owner had installed as a homework station for her three kids.

If I were to leave the cabinets and counter, I wouldn't have room for my white kitchen china cabinet or much of anything else. So our guys removed them and are in the process of filling holes and moving electrical outlets. The cabinets are being re-installed in the laundry room, so I'll still have access for kitchen items that I don't use often.

(Kitchen China Cabinet and Farm Table from the old house)

I think the space will even out nicely when the furniture gets in.

Here's Hubby scrunched into the tv niche in the basement. It's a little larger than the one upstairs. We thought painting it the same color as the walls would help make it look better. We'll see...these tv niche things are making me nuts!

I finally decided on area rugs and they came last week. (yes, I just went with the black) They are gorgeous, and have a little trendy take on a traditional oriental rug. (Hint...there's some major pattern going on) Here's a peek. Can't wait to get the painting done to roll these babies out.

More on the rugs later...

time for a throat lozenge and a nap.

joining in on these parties:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

xoxo,

Finally...September

The weather might not have realized that it's the start of all things Fall,

but the calender says it's September, so it's good enough for me!

Last January and February when I was packing up all my boxes of faux flowers and Holiday decor to take to the storage units, I tried to grab a few Fall things and keep them separated to bring to the lease house. Back then I had no idea where we would be this Fall. Fall was about as far from my mind as it could get, but I'm so glad I had a little forethought to do it.

I have tons of Fall stuff over at the storage units that I might not find or unpack till months down the road, so these few little things will have to do for now. Decorating here at the lease house is slim pickins, as we will probably be moving by the end of the month. This little house is filled with boxes and odds and ends from the "clean out" of our old house, so just a taste of Fall will have to do.

This little paper mache squirrel was a gift from my younger daughter several years ago, and he always has a place of importance. This year he took up residence in one of my Pottery Barn lanterns here on the old trunk, that we've been using as a coffee table.

The base "tree trunk" is really a little box and the squirrel is the lid.

This is one of my wonderful Pumpkins that I bought from Becky at Timewashed, last year. She's in full Fall mode, so check out all her creations HERE. If you want something special, just let her know. She sells out before she can get them listed.

I made these late summer sunflower bouquets a few years ago for my antique mall space, and saved a few for myself. The urn is from Pottery Barn a few years ago, and it's one of my favorite decor pieces. This was last year...

Here it is from a few years ago...

...and my favorite version from 2012.

No dried hydrangeas or pumpkins yet,

 just a scraggly ivy that's managed to hang on.

I'll check back with you on a house update. I've been tearing my hair out over the right paint color. Seems that Ben Moore Smokey Taupe changes throughout the day due to lighting. The old paint that was pinky/sandy/fleshy/salmon has been driving me crazy cause it reflects on my new paint. I cannot get that suff covered up fast enough! It's taken a few sessions of my husband talking me down from the ledge to finally get it settled. See that sofa in the background? Somehow it wants to read as dark khaki/green at the new place...just a few of the issues with paint.

more to come, soon.

the new house saga continues...

joining in at these parties:

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage 

Shabbilicious Friday at Shabby Art Boutique

xoxo,

We have the keys...

...to the new house.

 yay!

Now the work starts. 

Amazing how once you get the keys, the rooms become smaller, you see all the spots on the carpet, and the woodwork and trim change color. (Plus, because the yard wasn't watered we now have a sad dead maple tree to take out and replace...insert mad and unhappy face) We're glad we don't have a deadline on moving in as there are several things that need to be done ahead of time. That's one of the things about a move that make it so stressful; trying to move all your own stuff in before things can be cleaned. We always try to leave a house in better condition than when we moved in. I don't want the new owners of my old home badmouthing me because I didn't clean out the fridge, wipe down the cupboards, or sweep the floors. (just a few of the yucky things to clean up)

source

Immediately after signing papers, we started slapping sample paint on the walls, I didn't think any of my first three samples would work because they were too light. Then I went back to the store and bought 2 more samples...too dark. Then I tried mixing samples...still too dark. So the way it looks now the Smokey Taupe from Benjamin Moore will probably be the winner. I had a wide range of grays and the grays with a hint of blue just didn't work at all. The woodwork has a touch of "sand" color, so the Smokey Taupe works, giving contrast but not too much. It also doesn't play up the color of the woodwork, which I wish were more of a true white or off white.

This will be a working weekend for painting. I'll be doing the cutting in, and Hubbs will be rolling. He's not fond of the painting process, but we're going to try to get a little done in the bedrooms/soon to be offices since our handy guy can't start till next week. I'm itching to see the change in the spaces with paint. I have an area rug on order that I'm not sure about...lot's of gray in it, so I want the paint up before it's delivered so I can make a decision.

I'm in love with this rug from Haverty's, but I don't know if it will match all my "stuff". (the leopard print pillows are a must-stay) We'll see... they also have one in brown which may work better.

Here are pics of the new sofa and loveseat at the lease house this Spring.

Gosh, looking at these pics, maybe I just need to stick with the black. The rug I'm using now is too small, and I wanted a lighter look at the new house because of the lighter hardwoods. But here's another Haverty's option...

Now, I'm really confused...

Ok that's it for now, just keeping you posted on all the fun!

Have a great Labor Day Weekend.

I'll be checking in with the progress...

joining in at these parties:

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Treasure Hunt at From My Front Porch to Yours
Home Sweet Home at the Charm of Home