My $43 French Chandelier

Yes, you read that right I said $43 for a Frenchy  chandelier! 

A few weeks back in the midst of our laundry room makeover I came across a set of French inspired light fixtures on the local yard sale site. You can imagine my joy when I saw that the seller was only asking $100 for the chandelier and two sconces. I just knew they had to be gone but I called anyways. Turns out the seller lives in my hood so I drove right over to look at them. She actually is moving and these were in her new house. Though lovely she thought they did not fit in with her style. She had no idea what they were worth and had just told her hubby to throw um up on the yard sale site to get um out of the way. Being a chandy lover I knew this style of lighting cost quite a bit even the inexpensive versions. I ended up getting the set for just $86! That breaks down to $43 for the chandy and only $21.50 for each sconce. I could not believe it and at the time I had no idea where I was going to be using them but I knew they had to be mine. After I got home I did some research and found them online. All three would have cost me over $700!

Originally I had wanted to hang the new chandy in our stair landing. In the end I decided to steal the current chandy that was in our dining room and place it in our laundry room. I always felt that it was a tad small for the dining room to begin with and well the new chandy was plenty big enough. The stair landing could wait.

I decided not to use the ceiling medallion with it because it has such an ornate ceiling plate. 

I love the patina and thus was thrilled I was not going to have to update the finish.

I think the new chandy fits the dining room space so much better. 

Though I love the new chandy it is missing something. Can you guess what it is missing? Something that I just love and so I was trying to figure out how I could add it. 

Source
I ended up finding this inspiration pic that has a chandy with a similar patina and bling! I knew I had to order some bling. 

I can not wait to add bling to this chandy. I think it will be just fabulous.

Be sure to check back by for another change coming soon to the dining room.

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How I Found My Style Sundays- Jennifer Rizzo

I want to thank Pamela for having me here today! I am honored!

Hi! I'm Jen Rizzo and I write over at my lifestyle blog JenniferRizzo.com. I love to write about everything  from Home decor and crafting to art and DIY projects. I am an artist and designer and I design my own home decor for various retailers and my new on-line shop opening at the end of February.

My decorating style is  a bit eclectic. I like to call it Pottery Barn meets Anthropologie with a bit of modern cottage. I like a bunch of vintage, a bit of modern and a lot of artsy-ness thrown in. I love to make my own decor and make things personal. I think your home should be about you and what you love.The sign above the doorway in the kitchen is the town where my mother-in-law grew up. 

I love to change things around a lot too. 

In fact, my husband says when he walks through the door, it's never the same house twice!

It's like redecorating for free.

Everything we do to our house is always on a budget. I find that a great challenge sometimes, but I think it pushes me to be more creative.

 I found my decorating style through trial and error. I always liked old things, but I also found I was drawn to bold patterns and modern shaped lamps. If you look at my early blog pictures my house was a mish-mash mess! Even though I knew my style, it took me years to have the courage to finally take that step!

My most treasured find for my home has actually been space! We are in an 1,100 square foot spilt level. With 3 kids we are tight, and I've gotten really good at squeezing out the last square inch of any room!

 We managed to carve a studio space by building a built-ins at the back of our dining room.

 And our breakfast nook saves us a lot on floor space as well by not having the table centered in the middle of the room.

And our front hall closet was useless for every day, and we needed space for the winter gear, so we ended up tweaking our front entry.

If I could tell you any tips for creating a beautiful home, they would be these:

Don't be afraid to make your home authentically yours.

 That is what is going to make it so wonderful. Who cares if the trend is white, and you love color. Go with color! Put what you love in your own home!

 Go with your gut. For YEARS my home was dark and heavy feeling. Every picture I looked at was light and bright, but I just couldn't seem to find the courage to take that step.

 Our kitchen renovation a few years ago pushed us into it and it was the best push ever.

And finally, don't be afraid to change things! As a family, needs change. As a person, tastes change. Gone are the days of living with the same color for 30 years. Change your home as it needs to be changed! It costs nothing, and there are really no risks with moving a chair from one place to another.Don't be afraid to take risks and follow your heart with your home.

Thank you so much for having me here Pamela!

And thank you so much for being here with me today. I'd love it if you stop by Jenniferrizzo.com and say hi sometime!

Jen

Thank you so very much Jen for sharing your beautiful home with us. It truly has been a favorite of mine for some time now.

Winter Fireplace

This week I was determined to figure out what the heck to do with our fireplace. It was driving me insane.

Our fireplace has looked like this for almost a month now. I just could not figure out what I wanted to do with it after taking down Christmas other than to paint that mirror. I took down the larger mirror that is normally up there and replaced it with this taller skinnier mirror. I felt it was time to change things up after three years. 

I had The Hubster help me get the newest mirror down so I could paint it. This is what I came up with, an inexpensive trumeau mirror. I am not quite happy with it. The detail at the top is just not right to me so I think I am going to be looking for a more ornate piece to replace it. It had an awesome piece on it at some point in time because I could still see the outline of it. I hate that it was missing.

I wanted to age the mirror so I purchased some Looking Glass spray paint. I sprayed it on top of the mirror itself. If I go to age a mirror again I will NOT be doing it this way. The Looking Glass paint is not meant to be sprayed on top of items but inside of or the back of glass. So even though it looks awesome it comes off very very easily!:( 

 I ordered this faux vintage cow print back in November from The Antique Farmhouse. I originally was going to put it in the laundry room but it didn't make the cut in the end.

Next up I pulled out from the garage an old chippy corbel I purchased back after Christmas. I actually have four of them with no idea on what I will do with all of them but they were a must have!;) 

I am trying to lighten and brighten things up in our home and this Ralph Lauren pillow plus its twin hopped in my cart while at HomeGoods one day. I layered it with a cloth napkin I purchased from Pier One. I am thinking of making a pillow with it but for now I like it here.

My new little grain sack table that I shared last week found a home right here.

I added this cute little pillow from Decor Steals to complete the vignette.

I am not quite satisfied with it all just yet so do not be surprised if a week from now I am sharing the fireplace yet again but all changed up!;)

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