My Favorite Lighting - A Chandelier

In looking around my house this weekend, I realized, I really have a thing for chandeliers.  Not that it came as a shock to me.  I absolutely love chandeliers.   A chandelier can completely change the look of a room.  For years the only place I had a chandelier was in the dining room.  I don't know exactly when it happened, but somewhere along the way I started adding chandeliers to many of the rooms in my home. Each chandelier is completely perfect for the room it was chosen for.  This little beauty is in my daughter's bathroom is one of my favorites, and cost very little.  It was less than $100 from Home Depot but the impact it makes in the room is priceless.

Below is the Schonbek chandelier we have in my daughter's bedroom.  When I saw this in the lighting store I knew it would be perfect.  My father and husband added the electrical box to the ceiling so that she could have a chandelier.

Here is the perfect solution to my fan issue in my master bedroom.  A fan with a chandelier attachment.  I found this at Lamps Plus, an online lighting store.  How clever.

This chandelier is between my master bedroom and my master bathroom.  My husband had a business trip to Prague.  I knew that they were know for crystal.  I asked him to bring me back a small chandelier. I didn't give him any other guidance other than I wanted it to be beautiful (no pressure there...right?).  He rose to the occasion and brought back this gorgeous chandelier.  One little problem...when we opened the box the chandelier was not put together at all and there were no real instructions...the only piece of paper in the box was in another language with a picture showing the crystal placement.  Luckily my husband is very handy and together we were able to figure it out.  But there was one more issue...the canopy (the silver part you see at the ceiling) on a european fixture is smaller than one from the United States.  The silver canopy didn't cover the hole in the ceiling.  Therefore we had to buy a ceiling medallion to cover up the existing hole in the ceiling from the American fixture than used to hang there.  It was so worth the extra time it took to deal with those problems in order for me to have this stunning fixture hang in my home.

This is my latest chandelier.  When we bought our home we picked a very basic ceiling fixture.  We lived with that fixture for ten years.  The biggest issue was that we could never clean the fixture as it was not on a light lift.  That was the main reason for delaying buying a new one.  I wasn't going to invest in a chandelier that I couldn't clean.  When we found out we could have a light lift retrofitted into our home, we began our hunt for the perfect chandelier.  For me the best choice was this gorgeous chandelier from ABC Crystal.  It changed the whole look of the house.  You can check out here how I decorated this area above the front door in my two-story entryway.  

Ironically, my chandelier in my dining room does not have any crystal.  My dining room has more of a french country feel to it.  I still love this chandelier (even without any crystal).

 This chandelier is over our kitchen table.  The kitchen has an English/French country feel to it.

I love the uniqueness of this chandelier.  It is over our kitchen island.  I get more emails on this chandelier than anything else in my home.   It is also from ABC Crystal.

Last but not least is my powder room chandelier.  The perfect lighting for that room.

Although I'm running out of places to put a chandelier, I am also sure this won't be my last chandelier.  Do you love chandeliers too?  Let me know what you think.  I love and appreciate comments.

 -Judy

My dining room

A formal dining room is a great room to have in a home.  It is a room where you can decorate differently from anywhere else in your home.  It's an opportunity to have a warm, inviting room, where you gather with friends and family sharing food and stories.  I enjoy using my dining room.  I am guilty of only using it when we have company.  However, we love to entertain, so it is used much more than just on the holidays.

This is my dining room now.

Another view of the dining room

This room has had several transformations.

This is what my dining room looked like shortly after we moved in.  Right away I bought the furniture.  The chandelier was from our townhouse and I knew it didn't really go, but we used it for a while.  It stayed that way for about a year or so. (The walls were white...I don't know why it looks like we had striped wallpaper...we didn't).

This is what my dining room looked like when I finished it the first time.  The mouldings were added a few years after we moved into our home.  I have 9' ceilings in the dining room, so the ready made drapes didn't go high enough and didn't do the room justice.

Last year I decided it was time to update this room.  I was over the pastel colors.  We debated back and forth about changing the red wall color.  I kept it because I do like a deep red/burgundy in a dining room (not to mention everyone I asked told me to keep it).  Technically, it's supposed to stimulate the palette.  I don't know if that's true, but it does go with the piano in the adjoining room.

It all started with Calico Corners having a sale.  The salesperson I deal with all the time sent me a postcard saying maybe it's time to update your dining room drapes (smart girl - am I the only one who calls back when they get one of those post cards??).  I agreed...however, I gave her a big challenge.  I wanted stunning silk drapes, but didn't want to break the bank.  I met her in the store and came across this fabric.  It is silk with a tone on tone subtle floral.   I needed a total of eight panels.  It was usually $75/yard, but it was marked down to $25/yard. Apparently it was slightly off from the dye lot on all the other bolts.  She brought it out to my house and as it turns out this "mistake" on the dye lot went much better than the right dye lots.  I'm not sure how the rest got set up, but by the time she was done with the sale discount and the end of bolt discount and who knows what other discount, I ended up paying only $15/yard for this gorgeous fabric.

I also picked out rods, rings and finials that we on clearance at 50% off plus another 20% off.  It was truly a great deal.  I sew, but with this nice of fabric, I wasn't taking any chances.  I let Calico Corners do the right job.  I love the pinch pleats.  My husband's favorite part...he didn't have to hang the rods.  One of the many benefits of letting the professionals do things once in a while.

While the drapes were being made, I knew I needed to replace the area rug.  My other rug was way too pastel for my liking anymore.  I didn't want to spend a fortune, but wanted a beautiful rug.  I was in my favorite store, Home Goods, when I found this rug.  It was the perfect colors, 100% wool, dense and the right price (I believe it was like $150 for an 8x11).  I couldn't get over how nice the rug really was.  When I got it home it tied all of the colors from my kitchen (in the adjoining room) in with the dining room.

I updated the artwork and the buffet lamps.  The art is from Home Goods.  $14.99 each - $60 total - you can't even buy the frames somewhere else for that cheap.  Most important...I love them.  Perfect colors.

The buffet lamps are the same inexpensive lamps I had gotten years ago from Linens and Things, but I replaced the shades with shades from Home Goods (of course, where else).  Now they look like expensive lamps.

This is the other side of the room.  The lamp was bought at this years Ethan Allen sale (it was the other thing I got in addition to my daughter's armoire - see here to see armoire).  I have lusted after this lamp for years.  I would have liked two of them, but someone else got the other.  Actually the woman had two of them in her hand and as soon as she decided she only wanted one, I grabbed the other.  It was 60% off it's usual price.  I'm not totally in love with my tablescape on this side.  I need to work on it.  I love the mirror, however, I've never been sure it's really large enough for the space.

How beautiful is that lamp!!!

The floral arrangement is the same as before.  However, I changed out all of the pinky/peach flowers for the burgundy flowers.  The candle sticks are from Home Goods, as are the battery operated candles (safety first).  I can't be trusted lighting candles in the house...I would never remember to blow them out. They had me in mind when they invented these.

Table runner from Pottery Barn.  It went perfectly with the set of four pictures above the buffet as well as the bird cage in the far corner.

Let me know what you think of my dining room.  I really love and appreciate your comments.

-Judy

I have a thing for chandeliers

In looking around my house this weekend, I realized, I really have a thing for chandeliers.  Not that it came as a shock to me.  I absolutely love chandeliers.   A chandelier can completely change the look of a room.  For years the only place I had a chandelier was in the dining room.  I don't know exactly when it happened, but somewhere along the way I started adding chandeliers to many of the rooms in my home. Each chandelier is completely perfect for the room it was chosen for.  This little beauty is in my daughter's bathroom.  It was less than $100 from Home Depot but the impact it makes in the room is priceless.

Below is the Schonbek chandelier we have in my daughter's bedroom.  When I saw this in the lighting store I knew it would be perfect.  My father and husband added the electrical box to the ceiling so that she could have a chandelier.

Here is the perfect solution to my fan issue in my master bedroom.  A fan with a chandelier attachment.  How clever.

This chandelier is between my master bedroom and my master bathroom.  My husband had a business trip to Prague.  I knew that they were know for crystal.  I asked him to bring me back a small chandelier. I didn't give him any other guidance other than I wanted it to be beautiful (no pressure there...right?).  He rose to the occasion and brought back this gorgeous chandelier.  One little problem...when we opened the box the chandelier was not put together at all and there were no real instructions...the only piece of paper in the box was in another language with a picture showing the crystal placement.  Luckily my husband is very handy and together we were able to figure it out.  But there was one more issue...the canopy (the silver part you see at the ceiling) on a european fixture is smaller than one from the United States.  The silver canopy didn't cover the hole in the ceiling.  Therefore we had to buy a ceiling medallion to cover up the existing hole in the ceiling from the American fixture than used to hang there.  It was so worth the extra time it took to deal with those problems in order for me to have this stunning fixture hang in my home.

This is my latest chandelier.  When we bought our home we picked a very basic ceiling fixture.  We lived with that fixture for ten years.  The biggest issue was that we could never clean the fixture as it was not on a light lift.  That was the main reason for delaying buying a new one.  I wasn't going to invest in a chandelier that I couldn't clean.  When we found out we could have a light lift retrofitted into our home, we began our hunt for the perfect chandelier.  For me the best choice was this gorgeous chandelier from ABC Crystal.  It changed the whole look of the house.  Now I really have to address that window above the front door.  Any ideas?

Ironically, my chandelier in my dining room does not have any crystal.  My dining room has more of a french country feel to it.  I still love this chandelier (even without any crystal).

 This chandelier is over our kitchen table.  The kitchen has an English/French country feel to it.

I love the uniqueness of this chandelier.  It is over our kitchen island.  It is also from ABC Crystal.

Last but not least is my powder room chandelier.  The perfect lighting for that room.

Although I'm running out of places to put a chandelier, I am also sure this won't be my last chandelier.  Do you love chandeliers too?  Let me know what you think.  I love and appreciate comments.

 -Judy

Powder Room - Before and After

After we completely gutted and re-did our kitchen, the powder room off of the kitchen seemed lacking in comparison and needed some updating.  However, after living through the kitchen remodel, I didn't want another gut job.  I wanted to see if I could update the bathroom for under $1,000.  The bathroom is small, so it's a little tough to get a full picture.  These are the before pictures:

The view from the kitchen

This particular wallpaper seemed to date the bathroom

I looked into replacing the countertop with granite.  However, it is an odd shape, so the granite would break my budget.  What I did do was add crown moulding, a classic damask wallpaper in grey/blue with silver tone damask which helped add to the sparkle I wanted, a new crystal chandelier, new faucet, new shower curtains, new mirrors, pictures and an update to the lighting fixture over the sink.  Here is the after:

Mirror from Pottery Barn, pictures from Home Goods, chandelier from internet lighting store for under $100

The beautiful wallpaper actually made the countertop look like it belonged.

The mirror is from a local lighting store.  New faucet from Lowes (very easy to install yourself - my husband installed it in less than 15 minutes)

The shower curtains and the rings for the shower curtains are from Home Goods.  I framed out both sides of the shower like a window and the ties are made from left over silk I had from the cornices in my master bathroom.

This is the lighting fixture over the sink.  It was a basic Home Depot lighting fixture we had put in years ago.  It used to have the lights facing down with different glass.  I went to Lowes and purchased two new lightbulb covers for less than $10 total.  Then I flipped the fixture so that the lights now shine up.  The two pieces of crystal are actually magnets and are meant to hang on anything metal.  I purchased them at another local lighting store.  They cost $12/each.  What a difference for very little.

I love my new powder room and I did come in under budget.  The largest expense was the crown moulding as I had a professional do it.  I'd love to hear what you think.  

-Judy

You can check out my powder room at Centsational Girl

I'm joining a few linking parties today.  Come check it out.

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