Chandelier Inspiration!

Antiques are great inspiration.  What better inspiration for a chandelier than the one below:

Notice the details of the plasterwork on the ceiling.

The one above looks so feminine and graceful to me.

The cobalt blue glass and gems adds some contrast to this slightly simpler chandelier.

The one above is amazing.  I love the shape.

What's not to like about this chandelier for a grand entrance?

A closeup shows the figures around the base.

And there's a matching wall sconce.

Of course you would need a half dozen of these chandeliers to make the right impression!

Here's another one in a bedroom.   How would one get up on that bed?  I don't see steps..

Here's another style, notice the swans below the candle cups.

Here's the perfect chandelier to put over a game table.

The one above is perfect to light up your painted ceiling!  Most of the chandeliers are empire style, which is a bit out of favor, but it never has been in my house.

Or if you can't afford a painted ceiling, you can always add some decoration to the ceiling.


Last week I was in Germany, and got to view some fabulous interiors in many palaces and castles.  Most of them don't allow interior photos, but a few did. Nymphenburg Palace and the Residence Palace in Munich did allow photos without flash.   As I walked through these magnificent structures, I thought how opulent they lived, and how easy it is for us to live with beautiful things as they did--without bankrupting a nation.

Above is a Julie Neill chandelier.  It has the same feel as the antique ones, don't you think?  I am always on the hunt for things with good lines.   Of course not having a chandelier in my dining room has had me on a quest.

More on my trip to Germany later.  In the mean time, visit Peonies and Orange Blossoms' blog to read about a great pumpkin festival in Germany!

Expectations...and Reality

I blogged last month that I ordered a wonderful lamp on One Kings Lane.  It arrived and was not the same as the photo.

I was so excited about it, but here's what arrived:

The handles were white, and the rest of the alabaster was brown.  It made the lamp look really bad.  Plus there was a huge chocolate brown chunk on it.  So off it went back to OKL.  They were very gracious about it not being what was represented and took the return. 

Casita Progress:

We worked to finish up the tile job on the casita bathroom, and are almost done.  The shower has been completely tiled, only grout is missing.  We're saving that for the next trip.

The tile is marble Venato.  I really like it because it appears to me to be a cross between statuary, carrara, and calacutta.  While we hired out everything in the project, we decided to do the tiling ourselves, as we think we're so picky that we wouldn't be happy with anyone's work....  

We are so slow, we couldn't earn a living laying tile.   The bathroom floor is a 1x2" herringbone white marble (Venato) tile, and we used a 3/4" hex on the shower floor.  We ran a border of 3" x 12"  around the edge of the shower (and bath) floor, mostly for cleaning purposes.  I wanted to do a 3/8" border of grey marble between the field and border, but got vetoed as I always come up with really difficult things to do.  However, the most difficult thing we did was put in a floor heater.  The internet suggested we use floor leveler after puting down the floor heater.  It was AWFUL.   It made the floor really uneven.  We will never do that again.  I think chiselling into the concrete floor would be easier than the mes we now have.  So there's a few uneven floor tiles in the mosaic.  My husband says that was caused by me being too cheap and not ordering enough tile.  Oh yea, we did run out and he was manufacturing 1 x 2" tiles to put under the vanity..... I didn't mean to be so cheap, I miscalculated..and we made it work as the tile was from the east coast.

The floor is grouted, walls are not.

The vanity, wall sconces and mirror is from Restoration Hardware.  With the 10 foot ceilings, I like the vertical space the sconces take.  I won't ever feel really great about placing the vanity as the marble slipped out of my sweaty hands smashing my husband's....   So yea, the top is heavy and get 3 people to lift it in place.

So we left sunny California and 100 degree weather for Portland 64 degree weather.  The Molineaux roses around the fountain have a profusion of blooms, wish we could have stayed to enjoy it.

I'm planning on attending Expo this weekend and hope to tell you all about my great finds!  Have a great weekend.

Let there be Light!

I love using antiques in furnishing the house, but when it comes to lamps, there aren't alot of options.  Electric lamps really didn't come into common use until the 20's, so antique electric lamps aren't something I would look for.   I do have a few 40's lamps:

The lamp below is a brown transferware.  I snapped it up because it was transferware, although not terribly old.

The glass column below is from the 40's or 50's.   I like the clean lines.   It is a favorite lamp because it throws out a decent amount of light.  

 I love staffordshire.  The figures are whimsical and fun to display.  However I don't like a ton of clutter, so I try to repurpose my collection into lamps when I need something.  The easiest thing in the world to do is to make a lamp by getting a wooden plaque for a base at a craft store.  I usually spray paint it black.  If you don't sand it well, you wind up with a piece of wood your dust rag gets caught on.

If you want to do it yourself, look for a lamp part called an adjustable figurine arm or figurine pipe, on Ebay or a lamp store.  Drill a hole in the bottom of the board, and then assemble the electrical fitting on top of the pipe--and you have a lamp!  I do not glue my object to the base--that would ruin the item.  However, I do use a project called Quakehold so the figurine doesn't get bumped off the base by others.  It's like a gum.  In fact, I periodically replace it, as I found it petrified in my mom's house.

One of my home-made lamps

 The lamp below has a decorative base.  I suppose you can find these vintage  bases on Ebay.  I found mine at an estate sale many years ago.  I like the ones with adjustable necks, so you can play with the proper height of the shade.  I swapped dogs on this lamp,  the original dogs were 3" higher.

Most of the lamps in my house are objects turned into lamps.  Below is a camel lamp.  When I purchased it, it had a tiny riser, which I changed to a 3" riser so you could actually see the camel.  It's a dark linen shade.

Estate sale find

It was  easy to turn this candelabra into a lamp because the center post was hollow.    I used some candles in it.

I have purchased a few other lamps in the past few years.  I don't think I will ever tire of this glass lamp.

In getting ready to furnish the casita for my parents, I have a need for some lamps.   I did some impulse buying over the past few weeks.  Tuesday Morning had a cute pair of lamps that I got for the bedroom.  They are low slung, and perfect for the nightstands that have windows behind them.  They have a nice rustic linen shade which I have been wanting to try out.   It looks more like a burlap shade.  The price was right, $49.

Sometimes Tuesday Morning has cute things.  I also found these chicken wire baskets for $5-$10.   They'll be great organizing the pantry.

I keep trying to buy things on One Kings Lane.  It seems like every time I try to purchase something, it gets sold before I can make the purchase.  Today  OKL had Visual Comfort lighting on sale.  I was hoping to spot a lamp for the main room in the casita.   I sort of hate OKL because you really only have a minute or 2 to make up your mind.  OK, 10 minutes if you put it in your cart.   I spotted this wonderful alabaster lamp.  I just love the neoclassic shape.  Does it seem a little squatty to you?  I am not sure about the shade.  Given the quality of alabaster, I am thinking about the texture and color of the shade.   Sometimes I like using parchment shades.  I am not sure of the exact color of this shade, we will all wait and see.  I know I don't like start white shades.

I was considering a wood baluster lamp below from Pottery Barn, but they are sold out.  It happens alot with Pottery Barn--if you like it, buy it. Don't wait.   They were around $169, a good buy

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OKL actually had a similar lamp in alabaster below, but I fell for the urn shape instead.   I would have gotten a pair if I'd gone with these.  Price was $289/ea

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The other lamp I was looking at was at Wisteria.com.  The price below is $299 at this time.

OKL had another lamp I really liked (below), but I already have a couple of barley twist lamps.

Please read how Delores at Vignette Design did a lamp rewiring project (see below--Thanks Delores)  Click on the photo or link to read her story.

Below is a statue I am contemplating turning into a lamp after seeing her cute project!   

So today I bought the lamp below because I really liked the shape.   I'm not sure if I should have stayed true to my original design and stuck with the wood lamps.  It will wind up in the living room of the casita.  I wanted a natural material, wood or stone.  I am thinking I will go with darker wood tables, and that the alabaster is a safe color choice for me.

I'll let you know when it arrives.

I didn't address lamp shades today.  That is a separate topic I'd love to cover soon!

It's another rainy day in Portland (OR).   At least we didn't have any tornados.  My daughter seems to be spending every day in the basement of her building in St. Louis.   Even California got in on the action.  My parents had a couple of tornado's less than a mile from their farm in Glenn County, CA.     My husband said he was calling the news station to report that his father-in-law's farm looked like it was hit by a tornado... (except it's looked like that for the past 15 years).  Please keep the people in the Midwest and South in your prayers.