I've come a long way in life. I'm finally starting projects and actually finishing them. I think doing these posts really puts a stick behind me, which I'm ok with. You can't talk about this sweet project you've started and then never finish. It's like reading a book and never getting to the ending. Do they live happily ever after or what?! Now, I am not a professional spray painter by any means, but I did manage to do a consistent job on the paint. Consistently bad, that is. It looks like that's how it's going to be. I avoided the spray paint drips by applying WAY too thick of a coat. The key is to do this everywhere. This lamp will continue to live happily with its updated coat of crackled paint. Maybe on the second lamp, I will do a better job. If at first you don't succeed, try again. That's how you learn! At least from a distance it looks nice. Truth be told, I kind of dig the texture! Happy Trial and Error! Jena xo
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I liked the shape of them, and I always seem to be drawn to red, though they will be turned into a black and white piece. You just can't go wrong with black and white. I had them in the back of the car, along with the dog, and he totally squished one of the lamp shades. He gets so excited about being in the car, even if we were just going home. I plan to give it an updated shade, but there was something to appreciate about the surviving scalloped shade laced with gold. Fake gold, I hope. I started cleaning it with a scotch pad and my environmentally friendly TSP, and then Keenan woke up. Of course he did. Fast forward a few hours (Ok, days...), and I was back at it. After cleaning the lamp, I taped off the brass hardware and base to give it its updated colour of Krylon's Outdoor Spaces 42915 Black Metallic in the hammered finish, my favorite. After spraying the first coat and letting it dry, I got distracted again, and so that's all I've got for today. One of the slightly lame things about living in a small mountain town is that I have to wait until we have a trip planned to get a new lampshade. I am pretty sure there is nowhere in this town that sells lampshades. I can also see myself being very particular about size and texture, so that is just going to have to wait. As is the post about the finished product!
Until next time,
Happy Updating! Jena xo
Stay cool!
Jena xo
At least I have a few extra pairs of shoes out of the way. I've got big plans for the rest of the shoes, only I'm not sure what it is yet!
Happy Shoe Hiding! Jena xo As a continuation of my last lighting post, I just had to add some wall sconces and lamps to my favorite collections from Lumens.com. Wall Sconces
Lamps
I just had to add this last one too. It is so out of the box, when it comes to lighting, it just made me smile. That's the beauty of lighting; is (almost) anything goes. I'm not sure why lighting makes me so excited, but it does, so I had to share these one of a kind finds. Lighting alone can make me walk into a room and go, "Wow" Shine on. Jena xo Sit-Up Lighted Bench by ITRE - $1,080.00 from: Lumens.com
I had originally painted the accent wall another shade of grey. As if fifty shades wasn't enough already! Adam was starting to give me a hard time about my passion for grey, and I had to admit, it was too much. I had played it too safe. So, out came the ladder, rollers and paint, and our accent wall was transformed by Benjamin Moore's Galapagos Turquoise 2057-20. White accessories are a timeless thing, and thankfully, I happened to have some timeless accessories in my possession. When I look through magazines and they are showing off an up-cycling project, the majority of the time it calls for a quick spray paint with white for that "instant update", which we all know is never actually instant. Cleaning, sanding, priming, etc... Hardly instant, but hey, I'm just not one to sugar coat how it really is! Anyways, the nice thing about white accessories is that when you paint your wall turquoise or black or navy or yellow, your accessories might just match with your new wall. Winning! I got this letter H for my mother-in-law, but I just had to borrow it for a quick snap! Paired with the white planter and another quirky wooden accessory, it was a shot that just had to happen. Natural accessories are another thing that will never go out of style. How can they? It's what everything should be made of! (By the way, have you hugged a tree today?) Regardless of where you find your inspiration, don't be afraid to try something out of your comfort zone. It just might be the best thing you could do for your house. And if not, you could always change it back. Of course, a relatively small accent wall is a great way to try something a little crazy. Maybe painting your entire house emerald green would be a little much, and a little harder to fix. Try a throw pillow if you aren't ready to dedicate yourself! Happy Decorating! Jena xo
Canmore, Alberta has been a half way meeting point for me and my parents for the past five years. And that is where I am right now, enjoying this place I can pretty much call my home away from home now. When I heard the news of the floods in southern Alberta, I felt strangely affected. It hit close to home. Not to mention we had plans to go through the area to see family, and weren't sure if that was going to be possible, with the highways being completely washed out. It's amazing how fast things can get put back together when they are such a high priority. Thankfully, Canmore is now back to normal, relatively speaking. It sure does something to a town when something so unexpected happens. To those who lost their homes, my heart goes out to them. Sometimes it's crazy events like that that remind you how much you appreciate home. Another thing that always makes me appreciate home more, is when I am away from home. I love travelling, don't get me wrong, but I really love being home. Home is all I think about when I am away. My thought process when I am away is pretty much, "Oh, I like that, how can I apply that at home?" Or sometimes I see things that remind me of home because some place has the same coffee table, or there is the same shower head that we have at a hotel. (I adore our shower head) Canmore is a little more tourist-y than Revelstoke, but now that we've been coming here so often, it's starting to feel a lot more familiar. We are even getting to know some of the people that actually live here, even though we only live in hotels when we are here. They have some great shops, too. Some of my favorites, in particular, are the Tin Box, which has so many fun and random gadgets and home attire. I usually walk out of that store with one or two items. Then there is Stonewaters Home, which in a word, would be rustic-chic. Ok, so maybe that is two words but its hyphenated, so I'll count it as one. I wish I could walk out of this store with a few items, but it's quite expensive, so I usually walk away with a few DIY ideas, which is as good as gold. Maybe even better, in my world! Lastly, my favorite stop in Canmore would have to be CommuniTea, the local tea and coffee stop. I love the IKEA vibe, not to mention, the great selection of teas and great coffee. I am pretty sure they have live music quite often, which I would love to check out, but haven't yet. Stop by CommuniTea, if you are ever in Canmore. There you have it: Canmore's greatest, in my eyes.
PS. I didn't even talk about the restaurant scene; there are so many great places to eat. I couldn't even tell you my favorite! Well, back to hanging out in Canmore, so I'm signing off for now! Jena xo I love light. So much so, that I asked Adam to open the curtains in the morning when he gets up so I can wake up as the light comes up. Every morning, he does it for me, and I wake up tired, but happy. When Adam is gone, I keep all the lights on at night. Even in the basement. Very not "green", I know, but even as an adult, I am still a little bit scared of the dark. I watched probably two horror movies in my life, and that did it for me! I say, bring on the light, and let it shine! Here is a collection of my favorite outdoor pendant lights and chandeliers by Lumens.com Chandeliers
Outdoor Pendant Lighting
I think these are all so beautiful; there is something very sculptural and monumental about these lighting pieces.
I didn't even touch on wall sconces and lamps. To be continued... Let your light shine! Jena xo Another round of High and Low, this time with a gold theme. I've started appreciating gold in home decor lately, but it hasn't always been that way. I used to really dislike gold, unless I was competing for something. Who doesn't want to win gold? And so, a tribute to the colour that I've finally come around to. High
Delano Console Table by Currey & Co. - $3,612.00 from: Burke Decor LLC Ambrose Settee design by Safavieh - $1,469.00 from: Burke Decor LLC Splurge Wall Sconce @ $ 1,205.00 Decorative Vase @ $ 235.00 Mirror @ $ 425.00 Table Lamp @ $ 2, 115.00 Table @ $ 3, 612.00 Seating @ $ 1, 460 Grand Total of $ 9, 052. 00Low
Zachary Settee design by Safavieh - $990.00 from: Burke Decor LLC Save Wall Sconce @ $ 161.70 Decorative Vase @ $ 90.00 Mirror @ $ 174.00 Table Lamp @ $ 257.40 Table @ $ 689.70 Seating @ $ 990.00 Grand Total of $ 2, 362. 80 I'll whisper some words of wisdom: don't let it be! I can apply this two ways to my situation; yesterday and today. I "let it be" for far too long, but I finally finished painting the house trim. Well... It's pretty much done, with the exception of the spot where there is a huge hornet nest, and I was pissing them off with hornet spray. I figured I'd just call it a day. The house trim was left half painted for longer than I'd like to admit, so I figure it can wait another day or two before I really finish. Oh joy. Only to wake up the next day to find the hornets had declared war on me. Don't let it BEE. ** Golden Bee Embroidered Designer Pillow design by Studio 773 from: Burke Decor LLC I was up on my ladder, minding my own business, painting away, and suddenly I was getting swarmed. It was the last place I was painting for the day, right where the trim and chimney meet, and that's where those little buggers were. My neighbours watching must have thought I was either having a seizure or getting attacked by wasps. It was, in fact, the latter, but either way, I would NOT recommend doing either of those things ON A LADDER. I think I had the right to call it a day after that. So, with most of the trim painted, that was now off my chest and I slept well last night. I often can't sleep at night because I am planning what project I will attack the next day. Little did I know, I should have not only been planning an attack, but a full on war.
I woke up, had my two cups of coffee, just like any other day. Although, there was two hornets flying at our kitchen window, trying to get out. Nothing registered really with me, until Keenan went to grab something on the floor. It was another hornet. (Or wasp. Is there even a difference?) I can deal with a few bugs in my house; our doors are often left open, but when you try messing with my son, whoa, watch out! Then, while I was on the phone with my mom, talking about the problem, I got stung. It became a war. I went over to my other mom's, so Keenan would be safe against the enemy, and on the way out of my house, I killed at least thirty. 30 for me, one for them.
I made these bad boys before heading out, hoping those suckers would drown in the sweet, sweet sugar water of death. I bet you don't want to get on my bad side anymore, hey?
My father-in-law brought this over, and helped me spray every nook and cranny of the house. I figured out that they were coming in from the fireplace, so we sprayed there, mainly. Then, I headed to the hardware store to get every possible poison and deterrent I could find to get rid of these stupid insects. They seem to have worked, because since the spraying and adding the foam filler behind the fireplace (which totally would have helped , we have yet to see any more enemy activity. Here's to hoping! It's times like these, you realize how much you appreciate the safety of your own house. I really appreciate those who I share this house with, and I definitely prefer to keep it those that we want in our house. Happy Hornet Killing! Jena xo **Please note that I only used the term "Don't Let it BEE" for the sake of the title. This was a war on hornets, not bees. Bees are a very important species, and please try to refrain from killing those. Just stay calm around bees to avoid getting stung. Honestly, I even released the first few hornets, until my son just about picked one up and moments later I got stung. Then, I realized how many were in my house, and it was no more Ms. Nice Guy for me. But please, again, refrain from killing bees. |
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