A Heavenly Ceiling

Happy Friday, All!  

It's been raining here in Michigan for a couple of days. There's something about a rainy day that makes me want to clean the house and make things sparkle. Then sit down and read a good book!  And I love a thunderstorm at night - and we've had some loud weather!  I'm hoping you're not in the path of any tornadoes!  

When I posted my chandelier make-over yesterday, I realized I had never mentioned our dining room ceiling.

When we bought our house 11 years ago, our dining room did not have a light fixture over the dining area.  Instead it had four pot lights like you see all over our ceiling.

I wanted a chandelier so my husband grabbed the wiring from one of the pot lights and took it the middle of the ceiling over the table and hung our chandelier.  He then took out the pot lights and covered them with moulding; forming a square over the dining room table.

Then I painted the square area of the ceiling over the table.  It was originally a different color but when I redecorated...out came the paint again.

I used Sherwin Williams Interesting Aqua, white and Valspar Metal and Patina Glaze in Gold.  I put the aqua in one side of this paint tray and a very small amount of white in the other.  You can get this divided sponge roller and tray and these paint products at Lowe's.

While the chandelier and ceiling medallion were off,  I started painting in the middle of the ceiling square and rolled out away from the center.  I added more paint to my roller as I went in whichever color I wanted more of.  I then added a small amount of gold to the white side of the tray and went back over it again, blending my colors until I had the look I wanted.  

When the chandelier's on, the light picks up the glaze and adds a pretty sheen to the ceiling.

But in the daytime it gives a very soft effect and adds some definition to our very open floor plan.

I think it's heavenly!  Have a wonderful weekend!

love and blessings~

"Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies."  Psalm 36:5

PS - My son just got up and informed me that we're out of milk.  Apparently I DON'T like to grocery shop in the rain!  haha

Changing a Chandelier from Modern to French Country

I was shopping with my daughter at Lowe's several months ago when I spotted this chandelier.  It was on clearance for $30 and they had about six of them boxed up and stacked in the center of the aisle.

I got so excited that as I was trying to lift one of the boxes off the stack I knocked the display chandelier on the floor!  The store employee was so nice as he picked it up, reassured me that I hadn't damaged it at all, and put it back on the stack. 

But the whole thing flustered me enough that I didn't realize that I should get two!  Also, my daughter had walked away quietly like she didn't know me.  Ha!

My husband looked very surprised when I carried it in to the house.  He knows this is not my style. But I had plans for it!

I layered on a beige paint with chalk additive and then a white chalk paint, giving it the chippy look I wanted.  I'm always surprised how well chalk paint adheres.  I didn't do any prep work - just painted it.

I then added tear drop crystals and a chain of crystals - all from Save-On-Crafts.  I keep a supply of these around for whenever I need to bling something up.

Et voila!

It doesn't even look like the same chandelier.  And I got it for $30!

love and blessings~

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."  Matthew 5:16

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Musical Furniture

Did you ever play musical chairs as a child?  Well, I must not have gotten to play enough when I was little because every once in a while I get the urge to move things around.  It hasn't happened in a while but once I get an idea in my head, I just have to try it.

I moved several things around on my own a couple of weeks ago and still wasn't satisfied so when my husband was home last weekend I asked him if he would help me move the china cabinet back into the dining room where it was several years ago.  I just wasn't liking my damask cabinet there anymore and I was out of paint options for it!

see the armoire in the corner where the damask cabinet used to be?

He looked at me like I'd grown two heads, laughed, and said, "No!"  Then he walked away still chuckling!

Well, I didn't say anything but I hadn't given up.

I had hoped to visit a used furniture store today that I just found on Craig's List but when we got up to another snow day I thought that probably wasn't a good idea.  Then it hit me.

My 6'2" tall (and-still-growing) son would be home today.  And I started to smirk while I drank my coffee. When he got up, I told him I needed his help.

This is the china cabinet that I wanted in the dining room.  See its history here.

Well, you know it's a domino affect.  You  move one thing, then you have move another thing to fill that hole and then you have to move something else there and so on.  My son was a sweetheart and pretty soon we had moved everything that I wanted to.

This clock got moved to where the china cabinet used to be.

And the china cabinet is now in the dining room.

And the armoire got moved to the front hall.

And I love the china cabinet here!  Of course, china cabinets belong in the dining room!

But the clock was perfect where it used to be and it looks a little 'small' in the family room and I really don't like the armoire in the front hall.

So you smile and say, "Thanks, Honey!"  knowing in another week or so, they're gonna have to move some things again.

Maybe I'll find the perfect thing at that shop I wanted to visit... 

Have a great day!

Love and blessings!

"An excellent wife, who can find?  She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong. " Proverbs 31
I 
II am linking up with A Stroll Thru Life - Inspire-me-Tuesday

Burlap, White and Crystal

I love beautiful table scapes and so admire those that can put them together!  I don't seem to have a natural ability to do that and I'm trying to learn.

I've always read that you should 'shop your house' and you would certainly think I have enough 'stuff.'  But I'm going to start with something simple.

I LOVE the look of rustic and bling so with that in mind I mixed burlap place mats, purchased at HomeGoods, with French Country white dishes and crystal.

My husband made the barn wood 'trough' that sits in the center of our table and I filled it with white hydrangeas, gardenias and roses.  They are silk except for the burlap hydrangeas that I got at Hobby Lobby. White flowers are also another favorite of mine.

I've also added Mercury Glass candle holders that are from Ballard.

I bought the dishes through Joss and Main, another favorite of mine.

As an added bonus, my husband made this table!

Our whole family just loves it and loves him for making it!  It is now an official family heirloom.  Click here to see some other beautiful tables he has made.  Entry Table, Making the Entry Table, Making a Sofa Table.

I love the fresh simplicity of this table setting and will probably repeat it for several family dinners.  And I'll start shopping my house to add some variety and interest.

Have a wonderful day!

Love and blessings!

" Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word."  Psalms 148:8

I am joining Between Naps on the Porch - Tablescape Thursday and Common Ground - Be Inspired

Stenciling a Cabinet

Happy Belated New Year!

If you're like me you love decorating for Christmas but feel frustrated during the holiday season that you're not able to do any of the projects you're planning.  We had a wonderful couple of weeks with everyone home and even had a few extra days due to bad weather.  But everyone has returned to work and school and home and I'm looking forward to the new year.

I have a long list of things I'd like to do this year.  And truthfully, I need to finish some projects I started a while back.

I have a few things I've reupholstered that I will blog.  It's a lot easier to do than I ever thought and I would encourage you to try it!  AND I need to finish the skirt on our couch slipcover!  It has had a temporary skirt on it through the holidays! (oops!)

I'm thinking of redecorating our guest room.  Because my daughter's family has moved close to us we will not need so many extra places to sleep.  I have a desk in there and use that room as my office and I think I will make it more functional for my daily use.

I want to blog our master bedroom and bathroom this year.  They need a few tweaks and then will be post-worthy.  And I want to blog our other two bathrooms.

But the biggest thing I want to do is make-over our kitchen.  It is a wonderfully functional kitchen but is dated.  It's also open to the family room, dining room and living room - we have NO walls!   I love white kitchens with a French Country/Rustic feel and I think I've talked my husband into tackling it this year.

But this morning, before anyone was awake, I was up painting this cabinet.  You may remember it from an earlier post "Painting a Cabinet".  It's been several colors over its life but most recently it was turquoise.

So shortly before Christmas (one morning before anyone was up) I painted it white.  It stayed white over the holidays but I kept looking at it and instead of thinking what I was going to get everyone for Christmas, I was thinking how I was going to paint this cabinet.  ;)

I have quite a selection of paints from trying to decide on colors so I mixed Sherwin-Williams 'Deer Valley' with a gold glaze in a jar. 

 Our entry hall used to be stenciled  see here and I love this damask stencil.  I also love this cabinet that was recently for sale at Joss and Main. 

Here is the way the cabinet looked over the holidays.  

I centered my stencil on the cabinet.  I started out using Elmer's Spray Adhesive to hold it on but it got gummy and was leaving gunk on my cabinet so I switched to painter's tape.

I used a small sponge roller to paint the pattern, rolling it out well on my tray and using the smallest amount of paint possible.

If you've never stenciled before I wouldn't start with a project like this.  It was difficult to work with the stencil because of the uneven surface of the cabinet.  I also didn't realize before I started that I would not be able to match up the pattern and paint between the drawers and doors.  

There were a couple of times during this project that I thought this was going to be a big fail.  And when I got done with the stenciling I decided the pattern was much busier than I had originally wanted so I went back over the cabinet with a small paint brush and white paint and erased some of the stenciling.

I erased all the 'dots' and some of the smaller lines and ended up with this.  I then went over the entire stencil and dry-brushed it with my white paint, softening it further.  I left the top and sides of the cabinet 'un-stenciled.'

I then watered down my stencil paint and used it to 'antique' the whole cabinet.  I used a brush to apply the watered-down paint and wiped it off with an old T-shirt. .

And here is the finished cabinet!  It took me about 3-4 hours (from breakfast to lunch) to do all this, including the drying time between steps.  Your paint dries quickly when you're stenciling because you're applying lightly.  

And here it is in the room.  I replaced the chair I had sitting here with an extra dining chair and took down the picture that was to the left.  It looks a little empty so I may replace it with something.  I made the pillow that's on the chair and may purchase some more of this fabric as I love how it coordinates.

I love the mix of rustic and elegant!  I think it's a keeper!

You can follow me on Pinterest and feel free to pin this.  Lynda @ Gates of Crystal and you can follow me on Facebook Gates of Crystal.  

Also, thanks to Pamela at Frommyfrontporchtoyours who gave our front hall table her top pick on http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/2014/01/treasure-hunt-thursday-138-highlights.html  I've linked with her again this week and also with French Country Cottage's Feathered Nest Friday.

Have a great weekend!  I'll be back soon with more projects now that the holidays are over!

Love and blessings!

" O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! " Psalms 8:1