Painted Chandelier- sprayed to coordinate DIY

The latest issue of Country Living features a home with the very hot trend of blue and white. In the bedroom, designer Emily Henderson sprayed a floral chandelier to a solid blue which completely updated the look of the piece. I would not recommend doing this to a chandelier of any value, or one who's fortune could change. But, a chipping, dented, chandelier that might have a bit of rust, perfect!  And, I have a collection of chandeliers for you to choose from, all are available from Hanna Antiques at a reasonable price!

Note the "bright idea" from Country Living May 2014

Now, DIY it! Good spray paint, something to hang it from outside, and some paper covering the candles and sockets and you are ready to go!

Here are some lamps for you to head over to Hanna's and pick up for your project.

I think all of these are under $200 many closer to $100! Head down to Hanna's and in the words of Jack Horkhiemer "keep looking up!"

Well-made Wednesday- beauty edition

Like many women, I like beauty products and potions. Recently, I became overly frustrated with the volume of loose powders I had and the lack of great containers. I like the design of the L'Oreal loose powder with the brush top. I do not like the powder that is suppose to "shake" through the bristles or the containers with a puff that I can easily spill. I am also too cheap to just throw them out because they are poorly designed for my needs. So, my weekend "project" was to combine all my powders and put them in the "good" containers.

Popping and prying the lids off was the hardest part!

Everyone into the bowl!

Interestingly, the darkest color was actually the "concealer" powder.

Stir with a whisk to blend!

I refill the containers and had a bit left over to store in the cute polka dots container from Clinique.

Now that I have these mixed and in usable containers, I will use these up faster! I would only recommend doing this with new powders, or powders that only you have used. Otherwise it is rather un-hygienic.

When laws and design combine- finding warm indoor lighting in 2014

Warm light will be a bit more of a challenge for the home in 2014. The move toward CFL- compact fluorescent light- bulbs and the new ban on traditional incandescent bulbs, heralds the time for a little lighting education.

Incandescent bulbs are not as energy efficient as a CFL, which is good for your budget in the long term. However, the light they produce looks different and they will make the colors in your home look different. And by different, I mean that the colors will not only skew, but possible will completely change the levels of color in your color palette. So that, the palette you created so carefully, could no longer match. This can be helped with a little knowledge of the science of light.

Light is actually a physical manifestation of heat, if you will. So the color of light, and it does come in colors, can be expressed in a measurement of temperature. Color temperature refers to the color of the light and is represented in Kelvin degrees.

Your light bulbs typically refer to cool or warm light, which in itself is a temp. reference. We are used to incandescent bulbs, which are warm by nature and in the range of 2700 degrees to 3300 degrees Kelvin. Warm CFL's also fall into this range, but on the high end. The higher the number the cooler, or more blue the light. Note the differences in the office spaces below and imagine what that will do to your carefully selected warm grey living room!

Chart from Control-led.com

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Cool florescence bulbs are 5000 degrees Kelvin (represented as 5000K, typically). Bulbs known as "full spectrum" like the brand OTT light, offers light that is 5500-5900K. These bulbs are used for task lighting for artists, especially quilters where color is critical, and for people with Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is a type of depression that responds to light therapy and often occurs in the winter months.








Daylight is 15,000 degrees Kelvin and is very blue. Sound strange since the sun is considered orange? Try taking a photo on a sunny day and look at the shadow. Blue.

Image found on Pinterest by Elizabeth  Bunsen

Home Depot's Eco-Smart soft white bulbs

Now, how does this relate to home lighting? As most people associate home with incandescent light color and they are being discontinued, homeowners need to learn to read color temps on their light bulbs to get the warmest- lowest temperature- CFL bulb in order to have the light they perceive as correct and for the colors in their home to still go together. I have been using the brand Eco-Smart from Home Depot and I like them very much. The light is consistence, the bulbs are long lasting, and they are inexpensive.















Another way to do this is to use lighting fixtures with yellow glass shades or lamp shades lined in gold or made from fabric on the yellow side.

Antiqued Metal Drum Table lamp from Restoration Hardware

Gold lined lampshade in Peacock from Love Frankie

Dimple glass pendant in Champagne

Amber Craft Show Glass Pendant

West Elm's Panorama Chandelier is golden mirror glass

Lastly, CFL's  and other fluorescent bulbs should not go into the landfills, thus the garbage can. They contain heavy metals like mercury which will leach into the water supply. I am glad to live in a city that offers "Hazardous Waste Day" on Earth Day weekend. I can recycle everything from used fluorescent bulbs to old paint, and out of date prescriptions. I keep a box going the garage with "special recycling". If your city does not offer this service, write your city council person. In the mean time many stores that carry the bulbs offer recycling. Encourage them by purchasing your bulbs there and recycling them there as well.

Fall pumpkins from recycled books

I love what people do with used and unwanted books. I played around with the idea of the pumpkin made from a book. And added my own methods and look.

It is perfect for Halloween, as well as Thanksgiving. I love a season craft that bridges two holidays.


I started with used books from the free bin in front of a local used book store.


My requirements included lots of pages, clean pages, and a good spine.

First I cut off the covers and spines... these maybe a future kindle covers! Then I began carving the pumpkins shape (half a pumpkin, actually) with an x-acto knife. A knife is easier than using scissors.









HINT: use the bottom of the book edge for the bottom of the pumpkin to add stability and save some cutting time.

Then I cut jute rope to a length that went the length of the spine. One end is hot glued, the other is wire- wrapped. The wire-wrapped end is the "view" end. The other end goes in the center of the pumpkin.











Next, using hot glue, attach the rope to the center of the spine and glue the book all the way around the rope. Then flex the book pages to make the page spaces as even as possible.

Lastly, I choose to add seam binding loops and Spanish moss at the top.

Cute, cute, cute and easy to make with, most likely, things you have around the house!

Storage quest!

 

I'm on a storage quest. I want vintage-esque/ used/ recycled, metal and uber functional. I care not the color or if it is a bit rusty as I plan to paint it/them lovely colors. Bringing the office home is not a new concept, but more home office probably lack the accessories that work offers and leaves you spinning your wheels searching for something.
I am making a conscious decision to purchase metal and used. For one reason, I like the durability of metal, for another I want to encourage recycling when possible. Lastly, I want to resist the "quick- fix" urge to by the plastic, on sale, bulky boxes from the craft stores. Metal always seems cleaner than the plastic items anyway! And I can paint them in the colors of my choice.
Valspar has launched an array of fantastic colors that are well suited to painting metals and changing one's mind! I'll admit part of the attraction to the product was the new can design! I love the look of the cap-less design and the new design will alleviate the "spray paint finger" I always seem to have which requires a new manicure!

 On my quest, I found a fantastic small metal file drawer at the Hoover Antique Gallery. The finish is so nice, I haven't painted it yet! And I am still thinking about a beautiful eggplant storage drawer that I didn't buy! So, today I will be questing a different antique gallery for more metal office storage!

My computer's hotness level!

So, I have a hot computer. Yes, it's a real looker in brown plaid with a touch panel on the top of the keyboard to adjust the volume. But my computer's hotness was temperature related. (sigh)

See, isn't the volume slider cool!

I've been diligently typing, adjusting, grammar checking and looking for images for my final paper to complete my Master of Arts in Interior Design. All of this has caused my computer to break into a sweat! And frankly, I do not need hot air blowing on me in the summer. So how do I fix this problem on grad student funds! After quite a bit of Internet research, which contributed to the problem. I came up with two solutions, one was inspired by a techie pages on the web, and one from my problem solver-ness.

Here's the techie plan-

This is not my laptop, but it is similar.

1. First find a screwdriver small enough to fit the screws on the back of your computer.
2. Turn off the laptop and unplug it (safety first!)
3. Pop out the battery with the mystery slider on the bottom of the computer and remove all panels you can with out taking the actually back off (no need to be extreme, now.)
4. Place the little doors on the other side of the room so there is no chance of vacuuming the screws up.
5. Get your strongest vacuum, or your only vacuum. (Not the one for the computer, the one for the floors.)
6. Then, suck out all the open compartments, even if they look clean.
7. Next suck out the fan vent section- a lot... like until you are deafened from the vacuum noise.
8. Put all the little doors back on the laptop back and the battery back in place.
9. Plug in turn on and continue working. Be amazed at how quiet your computer fan is!

Step two- my problem solving plan!Because I do not use a computer desk, but a vintage desk, it is a bit high for laptop use. So, adding the special fan base to cool my laptop really made typing for a long period of time uncomfortable.
I needed the vent-ability of the cooling fan mat without the bulk.
Then it hit me.
Clothes pins!
Yes, clothes pins!


These are some of my clothespins on etsy!

I have placed two wooden clothes pins under the back of my computer to tilt it up. They allow air to flow underneath my computer without altering the height of the keyboard... much.







Please know that I am not a computer person. And this is only my experience with my computer. Use my advise at your our risk. By keeping your laptop clean and cool you will extend the life of it and in the long run prevent excess electrical appliances out of landfills. Always recycle computers when the time comes!