Precious Metals

I love Z Gallerie for their affordable furniture and fantastic accessories...I'm so excited for the new spring arrivals…especially all the silver and gold!

I adore the Sequoia Console Table...beautiful natural form and hand applied silver leaf...can it get much better than that?

I think this would be perfect in my bedroom!!!

Glamour emanates from the Hudson Floor Lamp in its shiny stainless steel.

The Axis Dining Table could be one of my top picks for my dining room table.

I think a pair of these Troy Sconces would give off the sexiest golden glow!

images via Z Gallerie

The Waiting Game

Our local Williams Sonoma Home is closing and I scored the Metropolitan Rectangle Chandelier for our foyer...I can't wait to get it home on Wednesday, it's been a month already and it's killing me!



I'll post a pic of it installed hopefully next week!

Vintage Shopping Trip

On the last day of my vacation from school, I wanted to take a quick trip to Downtown Dallas to one of my favorite vintage shops …White Elephant Antiques. They have absolutely everything from vintage modern to classic country. I was on the lookout for some mid-century modern items for the home…I found a great ottoman that I am going to recover with a fab velvet and a set of 4 upholstered  chairs for our card room in grey velvet….still debating on getting them on the account that I will eventually need to recover them.

Check out my other great finds!

I have been wanting this for a while...so beautiful!

One of my obsessions...lamps! Love these chrome beauties!

Love a touch of industrial chic

If this matched my home...it would have been all MINE!

Lacquered and reupholstered...these could be fab!

Cute set of teak nesting tables...

LOVE these lamps! Very Hollywood Regency!

Great little pair of faux bamboo side tables!

Beautiful landscape painting...but I think it was going home with someone:(

Awesome teak table!

Mid-Century Lounge chair...Awesome!

Master Bedroom Blanc de Chine Lamps Part 2

I finally finished my master bedroom Blanc de Chine lamps! They look so gorgeous! Here are the steps I used so that you can recreate your own…

I had the lamp bases made by Ace Acrylics, an acrylic company in Dallas. Make sure to ask for a teardrop figurine base. I made mine 1" thick and about 1" larger in diameter than the figurines.

I ordered all the lamp parts from Antique Lamp Supply. You will need:

• 6 of 3/4" dia. Knurled Brass Locknut (20711)
• 6 of Plated Steel Lock Washers (22702)
• 2 of 3/4" Steel Washer (22720)
• 2 of Bent Figurine Pipe - Add 3” to height of figurine for correct size
• 2 of Leviton Brand, Complete Socket for 3-Way Bulbs, w/Uno Thread (40207G)
• 2 of Clear Silver, 18/2 Plastic Covered Lamp Cord Sets (46813)
• 2 Brass Harps – Height depends on lamp shade you are using

The first step is to refinish the brass figurine pipe and 2 of the knurled brass locknuts. I tried to spray paint mine with a chrome finish paint and it kept on dripping no matter how light I applied the paint! In the end, I decided to silver leaf the pipe & nuts instead…they turned out looking a lot better!

Now you are ready to assemble the lamp…this is the order of the parts going from the bottom up!

Below the hole in the base…

20711 – Knurled Brass Locknut

22702 – Steel Lock Washer

22720 – Steel Washer

Above the hole in base…

22702 – Steel Lock Washer

20711 – Knurled Brass Locknut –Refinished

At the top of the lamp…

20711 – Knurled Brass Locknut

22702 – Steel Lock Washer

Harp Base

40207 - Lamp Socket

Once everything is assembled on the base, you will need to thread the clear lamp cord up through the bottom of the base and out the socket. Tie a loose knot about 2 inches below the top of the wires. This is to keep the wires from easily being pulled through once the lamp is assembled. Connect the two wires onto the two screws of the socket set being sure that they are secure (it doesn’t matter which wire goes to what screw).

Next, push up the knot of the lamp cord to just below the lamp socket and gently pull the extra cord through the bottom of the lamp.

The next step to assemble the lamp is to put the socket cover over the lamp socket snapping it into place (the slit should be facing down and to the front for the switch). Finally, you can glue your figurine to the base using appropriate glue for both materials.

The last steps are to install the harp into the harp base and add your choice of lamp shade and finial!

If you get lost…you can go to http://www.antiquelampsupply.com/howto.php and click on the How-To -Book of Repairing, Rewiring, and Restoring and look at page 27-31.

Enjoy!

Master Bedroom Plans

I am ever so slowing finishing up decorating my Master Bedroom. We finished making the upholstered bed this summer and now I just need to add in all the finishing touches…drapery, lamps, artwork/mirrors, and reupholstering my Milo Baughman swivel tub chairs. I got them from my favorite source for a steal…eBay! I think I am going to do a soft blue-gray velvet or chocolate brown velvet. I’ll have to make a trip to my favorite discount fabric store and see what catches my eye!

Since I am a teacher, I have the next 2 weeks off and I plan on making the most out of every single day! I have lots planned today and can’t wait to start on all my projects on Sunday!

Stay tuned for detailed info on how-to make an upholstered bed and how-to make the Blanc Chine lamps!




My Baughman chairs BEFORE!

Holiday Lights

I love driving home each night and seeing the house all decked out in lights! It really brings a huge smile to my face each time I turn the street corner. Last year we got a bargain on all of the lights and I was surprised that we used every last box! One trick we learned when putting the lights up was to use hot glue to attach the lights around the brick/stone. It easily peels right off when we are done and requires nothing special.

This year we also added shatter-resistant ornaments to the garland. It really looks gorgeous!

Last night I also tried to take some pics of my kids for our annual Christmas card. I make every single one by hand and was thinking about scaling back this year, but was touched when someone told me how they hang it up at their office.  I guess I will have to crank them out this weekend! I will upload pics of last year’s card for those of you that need inspiration. I had some monogramed stamps made at Zazzle.com…I can’t wait to use them on the envelopes.