Bloggy Hiatus

Okay, so my paint hand got tired. My local Ben Moore store ran out of paint. Aliens ate my paint brush.

No No No No No No No NO

I've decided to give up home renovations for the next two weeks and do something that doesn't include paint, hammers, drywall, plumbing, gardening, or any other home improvement vocabulary. I am running away to play! PLAY. Did you hear me people? I'm taking a well deserved break and am going to go PLAY. Play at the beach! Play with friends. Just play.

I'll be back in September sometime to show you what I'll be working on this fall.

Another Lamp Redo

I'm so excited. I'm going up to Northern Virginia on Wednesday this week to work with a friend of mine. We are going to put some items in some big organized garage sale next weekend. I'm spending some time working on items I want to sell. It might be nice to get some money rather than spend it all the time. Besides, I'm running out of room for lamps!

So, here's what I've been working on today:

The Before:

With Primer:

The After:

Not sure that the shade is perfect, but it will do.

What do you think?

I'll be back tomorrow with a bunch of other items I'll be taking with me north.

How do you like me now?

Remember this?

I picked it up at an estate sale in the 'hood a few weeks ago. It was a gilt and plaster light with thirty + years of grime.

Kinda gross, eh?

Well, look at me now:

Isn't it amazing what a coat of paint will do for you?

I took it down to the basement, took it apart, cleaned it well, rewired it and gave it a new chain. The chain that came with it was more foul than I care to remember. Sticky, dusty, and just down right grimy. Erg. But now, we're fancy, and shiny, and purty!

Problem is, I hate the light it casts! Remember those old police shows where the suspect was interrogated under a bright, harsh light and everything else was dark? Yeah, that is what it reminds me of. So, I need to figure out a way to make a diffuser that can be removed to change the bulb...any suggestions?

Paintapalooza!

I'll let the pictures do the talking:

I can't believe I lived with the ugly for so long.  Obviously, I am not quite done.  I'm still painting the balusters on the stairwell, hence the blue tape.  I'm working on putting in missing moldings. I also have a stencil for the risers.  My hand needs a few weeks to recover before tackling those jobs.

It feels so much cleaner and fresher.  Looking back, it amazes me that we could see any potential in that hideousness.

The color is Valspar Granite Dust and I really love it.  It's a very green grey that changes color drastically through the day, sometimes a deeper grey, others very green.  I love how color does that.

What do you think?  Not bad for two years worth of work.


I've linked up to Remodelaholic's Friday Link Party

Garden Update

While Paintapalooza continues, here's a quick garden update.  I took a paint break to tackle more on the hill this weekend.  I was having trouble keeping the upper portion of the hill weeded because I couldn't reach it.  So, I installed several stepping stones for foot holds.  And that has made all the difference.

Compared to where we started the summer:

Working

I got sidetracked by socializing, but I'm back on the job.  I've been working like crazy since Sunday and hopefully by the end of the week I will have a crazy before and after post for you full of pictures.  In the mean time, you'll just have to content yourself with this sneak peak:

More Thrifting

Okay, so that first week was really productive, and the second week, no so much.  Some of that hasn't been my fault though.  I've spent way too much time waiting on other people.  Waiting for the door guys. Waiting for the tire guys.  Waiting for the car inspection guys.

While I was out hitting the thrift stores the other day, I did find a couple of other treasures. What can I say, I was so close, it seemed silly not to stop and look. Famous last words.

So, this is the treasure I'm most excited about.  It's a concrete urn and it's very similar to the one that came with the house on the terrace:

Nice blue sky.  Anyway, there's a second full base pillar up there that is kinda empty and lonely.

So, I thought a coat of white paint, some soil and the lonely planter will finally have a friend.

Then, I also saw these two sofas (crappy Iphone pics):

Each are going for $65.  I like the style of them.  They both need reupholstering which I've not ever really done, but they could be kinda cool for a couple of hundred dollars worth of fabric.  I could end up with a decent couch...  I don't think I'm going to be able to convince P that I have the skills to reupholster one of these.  I dunno....I'm just sick of having a non-functional living room.

And, at a yard sale last weekend, I found this for $10 smackers (World Market sticker on the back said $99).

Ignore the gold rim, that's the coffee table.

So, what do you think, yes or no on the sofas?

Stop me before I lamp again.

I have a serious lamp addiction.  Let's set aside my chair addiction for a moment.  I haven't bought a chair in months a week or two.

Hello, my name is Tamisha and I'm addicted to thrifting lamps.

I was out on the east end yesterday to get tires (ugh, is there a more unpleasant way to spend money??), so I thought I'd run by a few of my favorite thrift shops.  And I found these beauties, and at $7 a pop, how could I resist???

Aren't they gorgeous?  AND they have that detail all the way around and they are heavy.  They are going to need a fabulous pair of shades which will cost me a small fortune as I have great (read: expensive) taste in shades.  I can't decide if they need to stay that creamy yellow or go a celadon green. Or go a really deep, dramatic color with a black shade with a gold liner.

But, as I looked around my mishmash living room (still no couch - damn cat), I noticed something, see if you can see it:

Do you see how many lamps are in this picture????  SEVEN.  If I were all fancy, I would actually have a picture of them numbered, but I'm not, so I'll give you a lamp-by-lamp show:

Flanking the left and right side of the photo of the whole living room are these graceful ginger jar items I found at Fan Thrift.  I hate the tacky Target shades, but have been too lazy to go find better ones.  I love their lines and the modest autumn flowers.

Just to the left of the right-most lamp is this lovely:

The shade is in good shape and it's silk.  It has a black wooden base and has lovely green and blue leaves.  Again, note the graceful shape.

Remember these I picked up at DT2 last month?  I have done nothing more than sit them on the end of the bench.  I still love them.

Again today's treasure:

And this one stainless steel lamp I have way off the left outside the whole living room pic:

Bleh. 

That's a lotta lamp for one room.  I'm thinking if I can find tops, I'll de-lamp the ones I got today and set them on the fireplace mantle.  And homage to chinoiserie.  

Keys to the Castle

So, I've been planning this project for the past SIX months or better.

We found a pile o'keys in one of the kitchen drawers when we bought the Domus.  Skeleton keys, car keys, luggage keys, deadlock keys, all kinds of keys and even a couple of fun key fobs.

So, with a dozen thrift store 8x10 frames, a can of spray paint, a couple of yards of muslin and a hot glue gun, I ended up with this:

Hanging them was kind of a bugger, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.  I used 3M velcro picture hangers which are brilliant.  In addition to keys, I used a couple of knobs we had laying around, and several Coptic crosses that a friend had given us years ago.

The frames are not pure black, but have a bit of highlighting with some rub and buff.

I am really pleased by the way it turned out.

What do you think?  You like?

Yard Work

Spent the morning (like from 8 to 11!) pulling weeds off the herb hill (you have to say that with a cockney accent and drop the "h").  The front is looking pretty spiffy if I do say so myself.  I moved around a few herbs that were being crowded out by others or weren't getting enough sun.  

 Doesn't the front look so different from when we bought it?

The hill is looking more lush:

 A pepper ready for its closeup!

 I know it doesn't look it, but I did a lot of weeding, like 4 buckets full today.

We started a veggie garden up next to the house.  It's a small plot, but it gets lots of sun and has good soil.  We had several "compost volunteers" and we planted several tomatoes, eggplant, raspberries, and squash.  We harvested our first zucchini the other day and it's on tonight's menu.

 From the terrace:

Almost ready to pick.

And the view from the terrace.  I never get tired of this view.