Kitchen, Glamourized

Is this Heaven?

No, just a gorgeous kitchen.

But I could exist for eternity in this space.

I happened upon this kitchen over at The Kitchn

Wow! The over the top glamour of this place!

I love everything about this kitchen.

I go along thinking I'm pretty happy with my own little galley kitchen and then I see a kitchen like this

and suddenly my own seems so dreary and small.

Doesn't hurt that it's open to a family room.

I love the wood floor and the rustic beam above and of course the chandeliers, carrara marble.

Notice the pair of lamps flanking the sink.

Oh...doesn't that look great? 

This is the before...hard to believe it's the same space.

The owner, Shawna had the brilliant idea to take the space underneath the stairs and turn it into a pantry!

Here's that heavenly shot again.

See more photos and read all about this kitchen over at

http://www.thekitchn.com/shawnas-glamorous-custom-kitchen-194453

There are lots more kitchen tours on that site.

I was lost inside the site for a good hour looking at kitchen tours.

I just love a good kitchen tour!

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Garden Chandeliers

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The garden is a perfect spot for the romantic lighting of a chandelier!

The first holiday of the summer is upon us.

Happy Memorial Day!

I'll be sure to go to my neighborhood Arts Festival at least once.

and I'll be spending a lot of the weekend at 

selling lots of outdoor furniture and cushions I expect.

These are some of my favorites.

Much of this is 20% off through Monday.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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I'm rich in...

Chandeliers and Weenie Dogs!

A couple of years ago... I found myself suddenly unemployed. I was fired. It was shocking...It was unfair...I didn't know what I was going to do. I've since moved on and realized being fired from that job (after I'd been there over six years) was a really good thing and led to many more opportunities (and friends)...and I certainly learned a lot of new things and ended up in a better place. (Kaysee, if you are reading this, I'm simplifying and leaving out details to make this a more inspiring story) and for everyone else...ignore that message to Kaysee.

Anyway, a few days after being let go -  I'm sitting on my pink sofa and whining to my friend, Deidra about how I don't know what I am going to do now that I'm suddenly out of work because the amount of money I will have coming in will be substantially reduced for a time, at least. I was complaining and whining and probably crying a little (or a lot) and Deidra looked at me as serious as can be and said, "Well, the good news is...you don't need any more chandeliers". (as she glanced above at my huge living room chandelier) and then gazed into the dining room to another. "So", she continued on..."you've got plenty of chandeliers, so you'll be saving money by not buying any more of those". I started laughing and agreed...I have so much already...I could squeeze by for a time. (not that I'm financially well, off. I am not. I skim by. But I have enough....enough that I should just be happy with what I have). 

So now I'm going to share some of my riches....my chandeliers. I have a few more than these but they aren't up yet or are in the middle of being redone. I'll show the rooms all these are in soon...but still have little projects in each room I want to do before I share. 

Here we go...

of course you've seen this one before....but this is the one that Deidra looked up at when she told me to get over myself.

This one hangs in the breakfast nook. And belonged to my Tata (maternal grandmother). She lived in Highland Park, Illinois before she moved to Oklahoma to be closer to her daughter, my Mom. This chandelier hung over her dining table in her chic apartment.

I always imagined it came from somewhere in Chicago like Marshall Fields but one day when Mom was here I asked her..."Where did Tata get that chandelier"? "Did it come from Chicago"?

Mom said..."No... she bought it here after her move...I think at Penneys or maybe it was Sears". 

That knocked a little of the glamour off of it. But I still love it because it was her's and it looks good with the periwinkle ceiling in there.

This one is in my kitchen. I bought it off ebay. I love it but it would be better if it hung lower over an island but alas, I have a galley kitchen and no room for an island...so it hangs high.

I've got to do something with those cabinets. I'd love to get rid of the soffit or at the least add a bunch of crown molding. It's on the To Do list.

This one hangs in the corner adding some much needed light in the kitchen. I bought this one at....brace yourselves....Walmart. It was a truly lovely shade of silver but I wanted white for the kitchen. So I painted it. But I loved it in silver so much...I went back and bought another for the bathroom. Eeeew! I can't believe I just told you that two of my chandi's came from Wally World. But they were like $49 each and they were the right size. They don't have them any more, but Lowe's has some really great small ones right now that I'd love to add to my house. 

No, no, no! Deidra says I have enough chandeliers. (drat)

and here it is in silver...in the hall bathroom

and another in the bathroom...I have two of these, in front of the mirror.

I promise I will show this whole room soon. I'm planning on making a skirt for the pedestal sink in there and I just haven't been able to get to it because I've been working so much lately. But I think I may be able to do it this weekend.

And the living room chandelier again, just because I love it so. Bought it on ebay. It is vintage. The seller thought 1920's but I think later than that...but not sure how much later. But it is not new by any means.

So after Deidra's little speech to me about chandeliers and believe me she is always teasing me about them, what does she give me for my birthday? A chandelier! It's sort of a miniature version of the one above but new. It has some amber prisms on it...which I plan on replacing with either clear or aqua prisms. 

I'm not sure where it will go in the house...but I'll find a spot. I also have a really, really cool art deco chandelier waiting to be hung in the dining room. That room is really a disaster, I've got to get it pulled together. Deidra would agree and actually has told me so. She comes in my house and says, "This room would be so pretty...if you'd finish it. When are you going to do that?"

That is when I yell at her and tell her "I'm working on it! I am busy at my job! Are we going to the movies or what"?

So what's the weenie dog part of this post? I tell Mom that we might not have much money but there is one thing that we are rich in and that's... weenie dogs. She always rolls her eyes at this.

So I always tell people. 

"I'm rich in Chandeliers and Weenie Dogs"!

Those are the two things I have plenty of and have the very best of.

What are you rich in? Please tell me.

sharing at

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Just a little more love...

Well, Valentine's Day is wrapping up.

I thought I'd share a few more pictures of lamps in my house. And I had several requests to see more of my chandelier in the living room. I have chandeliers all over the house and will be posting pictures of them very soon.

This chandelier that hangs in the living room, I bought on Ebay. I was told it was from the 1920's but I think it's a little newer than that...but not sure exactly the age. There was one exactly like it in the first Shabby Chic book. I got a great deal on it because the photos of it on Ebay were terrible. It wasn't lit in the photos but they said it worked. I could tell from the photos that it was the kind of chandi I'd been looking for. I guess since the photos weren't great, no one else bid on it. I was thrilled to get it for about 1/4 of what it should have cost. I could not have bought it otherwise.

The ceiling medallion I painted to look old and painted over...I didn't want the colors of the flowers, shells and leaves to be too noticeable. So I painted the detail and then crackle painted over it with the blue. Then added a few highlights on top till I had the look I wanted.

I bought this lamp a few years ago at Tuesday Morning. I painted it white, shabby chic'd it and recovered the shade.

This is one of my favorite lamps...and one of the least expensive and one with the least amount of work put into it. I got this lamp at Garden Ridge.

I added the beaded trim and then some aqua colored french wired ribbon and a rhinestone belt buckle, a few silk flowers with rhinestone centers. Lastly I tucked in photos of Jean Harlow...I have many images of her around the house. She represents the old Hollywood Glamour I strive for in my home.

This art deco clock lamp I bought many years ago at The Lakewood Flea Market in Atlanta, Georgia. The shade on this lamp has had several incarnations...and it may have another soon. I'm much more into silver than gold...and I am fighting the urge to paint this lamp. I probably won't...since the gold is original and it's in excellent shape. But I think I would like it more in silver...what do you think?

This one I bought last summer at Antiques Avenue, here in Oklahoma City. It's really a plant stand. I just placed the pink paper shade where a pot would normally go. It was already white...with chips and rust spots...just perfect. Please ignore the base board that needs to be repainted...it's on the list of things to do. It was removed and put back when I put in the fireplace and suffered chipping because of that...so it's on the list to be repainted. But then all the woodwork in the house is on the list to be repainted and that's a daunting task...so just haven't done it. 

This one I've had a very very long time. I bought it right out of college at Buchanan's Flea Market in OKC. It's a bakelite boudoir lamp. I took it to the "Antiques Road Show" when they were in town. They said it was worth about $300. I paid $25. I like the quirkiness of it. Although it really doesn't look that good in this spot of the house and I'll probably move it soon. 

This one is very special to me. My Dad made it for me from a silver teapot I brought home from a thrift store. I'm always putting small lamps on top of books to make them taller. The shade I covered with some Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic fabric.

And finally, last week in the mail I received these Shabby Chic coasters (they used to sell these at Target). I bought them off of Ebay. I've bought quite a few of these because they are part of my over the top mirror decor project. I was so happy to find four more of these coasters. I'll show you later in the week what I do with these. 

See that fabulous silver leaf looking tray? It came from Target on sale in their After Christmas stuff at 75% off. I kind of have an obsession with mercury glass. I've told myself I will not buy another mercury glass candlestick no matter how good the price. But that mercury glass pear...I could not resist when I found it last spring at Marshall's. 

This post part of at Show & Tell Friday over at My Romantic Home

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