My New (to me!) Chandelier.

I love chandeliers! They epitomize elegance. You can use them in a traditional decor as well as a shabby cottage chic, Paris apartment or eclectic funky country decor.

I have been every fortunate to score five chandeliers over that last few years. I have never paid more than $10.00 for each of them. My largest and most elaborate one I paid a mere $3.00 for!!  (start the car, start the car!...no really....the guy selling it thought it was truly very ugly.....but what do (most) guys know about chandeliers anyhow!??)

I picked my latest chandy up at a yard sale last Saturday while I was on my way to Mike's Barn. (See previous post). I had stopped into said yardsale the day before and the owner was asking $35.00 for it.  So.....I waited until the weather changed to rainy and windy conditions and stopped back at 2 in the afternoon and offered him $10.00. He gladly said, "Sure!". 

Here "she" is hanging from a vintage birdcage stand.

She still had the ceiling attachment connected and the wires had just been cut, so I knew I would need to rewire it. She was also very dirty and grimey. Normally I would just get out my Wundex and paper towels to clean the crystals, but I wanted to make sure she was thoroughly clean.

So I took her apart....very.....very....carefully. I took a pic of the sequence of fittings so I would know how to put her back together. I washed the crystals in a plastic tub with warm soapy water in it. I rinsed in clear warm water and wiped carefully with an old terry towel.

I had a small jar of antique gold leaf paint so I used it up on the frame and fittings.

I went to Lowe's yesterday and picked up a roll of gold lamp wire, a new plug and an inline switch for about $12.00.  And......here she is in her new "dress"!!

She is radiant once more!

I'll post another picture of her this evening once it gets dark.

Have a wonderful afternoon.

Warm hugs, Laura

P.S. Here is an evening pic.

My First Visit to Mike's Barn, West Lake Ontario

Last Saturday I decided that it was high time that I visit Mike's Barn in West Lake, Prince Edward County,  Ontario.

Mike is owner of Funk & Gruven A-Z Antique Store in Belleville, Ontario. It is a fabulous store full of all different styles of antique furniture, lamps, dishes and collectibles.  The Barn, in contrast, is full of  antique furniture "in the rough" and you will also find boxes full of "buried treasures".

The Barn is located at 1305 County Road 12, West Lake Ontario.

This is Mike walking down the gang plank from the barn entrance. I found it difficult to take pics inside the barn because the lighting was inadequate on that particular day, but suffice to say that it is full of architectural building things (large collumns), old windows, beams, and a nice collection of "shabby" old country kitchen cupboards. (I love old cupboards...have a collection of 8 I think!!!)

This is a kitchen cupboard that was in the driveway of the "shed" which is another building on Mike's property. I loved this cupboard for its simple lines. Can you see the tongue and groove boards at the back? I imagined this cupboard painted medium 1940's green on the inside and cottage white on the outside with reproduction green glass knobs and handles from Lee Valley.

I considered buying this gorgeous French Provincial bed.

It is in dishevelled condition, but that is what I found endearing!! There is the headboard, rails and footboard. Mike said he thought it would look pretty refinished and in a little girl's room. I thought of stripping it all, and using the pieces to make a grand wall shelf with broken china mosaic inlaid where the upholstery would have been.

There were a couple of vintage birdbaths in the driveway. One small.....

And one large.......

This shabby PINK jam cupboard caught my eye, also!!

I think this is a Woodard iron patio dining table and chairs from the 1950's. It has the original black paint on it that is a bit chippy. You could use it "as is" or easily strip it with chemical paint stripper and repaint it in your choice of colour. I think???? it was $100.00 for the set.

I had fun rooting around in the shelves that were outside.  There were drawers and boxes full of all sorts of things!!  This is where I found my special teacup and saucer and the dove bookends which I blogged about a few days ago.

Here is a shabby old wall cupboard leaning against the west side of the barn wall. Don't let the rough condition scare you! With a little TLC and elbow grease and paintstripper it could be turned into a fabulous wall storage cupboard!

A few treasures.......

I found this small white cupboard in the hayloft section of the barn. I thought it may be an old radio cabinet.....

And it was!!!  Mike said, "It's going to need some TLC". and I replied, "I'm pretty good at TLC!!" (wink!). He carried it down for me so I could get a closer look, but I had already pretty much decided to buy it!! Someone had modified it into a shelf of sorts.....it was open at the back of the cabinet. BUT.....I was more interested in what the front looked like!!

I got it home and started to work on it on Sunday.

This is what I found......

after I started removing the extraneous pieces of plywood from the earlier modification.

Do you see that fabulous dentil molding??

And the side panels.....

The walnut veneer on the top was beyond redemption, so I just peeled it back with some force and a putty knife.

It revealed a flat hardwwod top. 

The front "skirt" has a pretty medallion.

Aren't the legs sweet??

Most of the old white paint came off with a paint scraper, then I tackled the rest with Heirloom Fast Acting Paint Remover. I used the putty knife to scrape off the gunk and also a small steel brush and steel wool.

Back view.

And front view!

More pretty appliques!

Sooo....this is as far as I have come with it. There is a shelf in the middle which is waiting in the sidelines.  I am going to think about how I am going to refinish this darling little cupboard. I have considered painting it a semigloss pure white and doing broken china mosaic on the top. What do you think I should do?? Any suggestions out there??

I await your reply!!!

Have an exquisite day!!

Warm hugs, Laura

Revamped TV Credenza

I guess I am on a roll as far as blogging is concerned. Today is my third posting in as many days!

One day last fall, while wandering through my favorite thrift store, The Salvation Army Warehouse in Belleville, I spied this long oak dresser that had been crackle painted white. It was very heavy and sturdy, so I thought it would make a great TV credenza for our new large flat screen tv.  The finish was crappy, but the price was right...$10.00!!! (ten) So, we happily used it as is for many months, until a few weeks ago, when I had dear hubby and son take it outside so I could work on it. I had decided to revamp it to go with the other furniture I had refinished. See that posting here

http://laurasrosegarden.blogspot.com/2010/09/familyroom-furniture-makeover.html

The crackle finish was sound, just uneven, so I opted to just sand and paint the base without going through the mess and hastle of stripping it

The top finish was gross! GAG! I could see a lovely oak grain beneath so......... I stripped off the crackle finish and revealed the beautiful oak.

You can see that there is lots of storage in it. The cupboard on the left houses our stereo and the drawers store our DVDs, the Wii and other tv/computer-game-stuff.

Here you can see the oak nicely!

This is after one coat of Minwax brand English Chestnut stain and one coat of satin urethane. The base required just one coat of Laura's Cottage White paint (CIL Melamine oil based paint) 

This is after!

I just love it!!

Hubby still needs to hook up the stereo, but  he's been working overtime getting ready for teaching his new computer networking course.

So stay tuned because I am now working on a three piece bookcase wall unit. I have the centre piece finished. Here is a pic to tease you with!! You can see that I painted it my signature cottage white, but I had hubby remove the corrugated plastic from the back and I replaced it with pine beadboard strips that I stained English Chestnut to coordinate with the other furniture. Hubby and son took the cupboard on the right to the garage this morning, so I will be painting that later today!

When it's all finished, I'll do a grand tour of the familyroom!

I hope you have a lovely day!

Warm hugs, Laura