the reading room today

You might recall that the last time I showed you the reading room we had just found a free antique pedestal table on the side of the road!  HERE.  As much as I loved that table- especially for its story;) I knew it was always a "filler" until the perfect table came along.  

It finally did!

I found this antique, circa mid 1800's, iron table with black marble top in Vermont.  

I adore the table and love that it is around the same circa as the house.  The room is small, so it makes the space seem much more open.

I left the iron base in its current state which is an off-white painted finish with iron rust coming through the paint in the form of spots/speckles.  I'm guessing it spent years in an old barn/shed being semi-exposed to elements.  

I'm going through a "keep it clean" look at present (the kitchen island has absolutely nothing on it, which is unusual for me;) so the table is topped with two antique green glazed Chinese parrots (they are unusually tall and only part of our collection), a piece of white coral, and a demi-john bottle with a hydrangea branch from the garden.

Walls are painted Ashwood OC-47 by Benjamin Moore. Trim is White Dove by Benjamin Moore.  (All my paint and stain colors can be found on my sidebar for future reference.)

Antique brass chandelier purchased 23 years ago in Houston for our first house in Eastmoreland in Portland, Oregon, it was also used for a while in our home in Dallas.

I recently changed out the regular bent-tip frosted light bulbs for these silicone-tipped bulbs HERE from Lumiere Candles.  These have a regular/standard-size base (as opposed to a chandelier-size base) and are 15 watts each.  I just love their bulbish/squatty shape!  They look perfect in the antique brass chandelier. 

Don't  forget that Lumiere Candles offers a 10% discount coupon code for my readers HERE. I love their: real wax sleeves, large diameter solid candle covers (which are so difficult to find),   their silicone-dipped bulbs, and their large translucent candle covers (which are impossible to find ;)  They also have resin candle sleeves and covers when for the times when you need a higher wattage bulb than what is allowable for the real wax sleeves.

(No, I am not being paid to endorse this company!  I simply love their beautiful products and the owners are super nice and they have wonderful customer service.)

I've removed some things from the top of the antique Italian case piece and illuminated the antique oil painting.
The simple French fauteuil chair was found in Marseille, France.  I had it covered in natural linen with a vintage alligator back.  A better photo of the back  HERE.

I moved several of the antique mirrors from a guest bedroom HERE to the reading room.  I love a good stack of antique mirrors!  The antique large gilded mirror in the back is French as is the Louis Philippe mirror in the center.  The small iron cushion mirror in front was found in France. Antique Chinese blue and white temple jar made into lamp and large aged brass ball sits on antique English chest.  Vintage mink muff turned pillow sits on a vintage Louis XV fauteuil (one of a pair.) 

"Mavis" is donning a vintage leopard collar around her waist for the cold winter months:)  You can read a story about her HERE.

On top of the stack of books sitting next to the Martha Washington chair is a book (National Gallery of Art, Washington) that we received as a wedding present 27 years ago from a friend (thank you Sue!)   I have always adored the painting on the cover.  

I like how in this photo you can see what the lamp shade looks like with the light on (front) and the pattern on the shade (in the back)  The story of the bookcase door HERE.  The bookcase is filled with antique books/reference books, small paintings, coral, antique iron urn, part of our collection of antique tortiseshell boxes and more of our collection of antique Chinese glazed terracotta green birds.

The south wall.

We found this antique oil painting in Marseille, France.  We named her Aunt Minerva.  She resonates with me. I love that she is reading a book in the reading room :)

An antique country English Chippendale chair with 18th antique vellum books and a bronze mold of a "nude."

The vintage painting on the east wall by artist Jerry Wilkerson.

Antique English oil painting entitled "Cottage in Devonshire" by listed artist James Poole in original frame. Circa 1850.

To see the reading room over the years and to read more about items in the room...

HERE

HERE

Note:  photographs taken for this post where taken in the early evening with lamps and lights on which casts a different light over the space than the daytime lighting in previous posts.

a new finial

While antiquing at the seacoast we found this small piece of white coral for $1!  I knew it would make a great finial, but didn't have a specific lamp in mind. 

Lamp finials are like cherries on top of the proverbial cake... the final, finishing detail!  A lamp isn't complete without them, and they can make or break a beautiful lamp.  Scale, proportion, and composition are all elements to be considered.

When we arrived home I walked the small piece of coral around the house to see if it would work on any of our lamps, or if it was to go into the "one day" collection for future lamp finials!   When I walked into the reading room and saw this antique Chinese blue and white double happiness ginger jar that we made into a lamp years ago, I knew it had found its home!

 
The shape of the coral mimics the background in the ginger jar, something I had never noticed before!  I have used a lot of white coral in this room, so using the coral finial seemed like a good match.

 

A simple brass ball finial was being used prior to the coral find.  The right size and height brass ball finial can sometimes be the perfect solution, but some lamps can hold their own with a more ornate finial!  Since the lamp sits on a chest of drawers the brass finial was attached using an extender to raise the finial just enough to be seen from standing level.   

 

Dan used a table grinder to reshape the coral to fit inside the finial base.

I expected to use some glue, but it was such a snug fit none was needed.

 

When we make lamps we like to use as many old/antique elements as possible.  This ginger jar had a rather large opening at the top, so an antique brass ceiling medallion was used as the cap for the lamp- the swirl designs in the cap mimics the background design on the ginger jar.

With a project like this we always err on the conservative side, as you can always continue to take more off, but you can't add it back on!  The first several attempts at height were too tall.  I lived with this height for several days before realizing that every time I walked by and saw it it reminded me of a feather sticking out of a Derby hat!  Three more grindings, and....

we finally arrived at this-  the perfect height!

So, do all your lamps have the perfect finial?!!

the chairdelier

When designing a space I  love the rush of that split-second when you come up with an idea, a design, or a solution for a room and you just know that it's the right one!!    The vintage iron chandelier that I used as a light fixture in the barn mud room was one of those moments for me. 

I've found that going into a new space to decorate I will usually "see" 80% of the finished design (i.e. furniture placement, art, colors)  and the rest comes organically after living in, and with, the room.   The mud room between the barn room and the garage below is small, so I chose lighting that would illuminate the art I had planned for the staircase wall and also illuminate the stairs coming up from the garage below.  Two small lamps in the antique hutch light the path from the top of the stairs into the barn room.  Since the room is used as a pass through space I really only need ambient light, as opposed to "task" lighting.  After using the room for several months I realized that I wanted/needed a bit more light from the window area of the room.  I initially thought of putting a small table there with a lamp on it, but didn't like the idea for two reasons- one it seemed expected and two, it placed the light source a little too high for where I needed/wanted more light. 
It was during this time that I was unpacking unused antiques/accessories from boxes that had been in the attic since we moved here into the new storage room that sits right behind the mud room.   As I made one of my many trips into the storage room to unpack a box I noticed the vintage iron chandelier and then as I walked through the mud room the idea came to me to use the fixture in an unexpected way- not by hanging it, but by sitting it in a chair and wiring it as you would a lamp!  By placing the light on the chair it doesn't line up with the other light sources in the room and it causes your eye to move around the space, making the room feel larger and adding interest.

We purchased the iron chandelier years ago from White Elephant in Dallas.  I had originally wanted to hang it from one of our large trees in our backyard and light it using candles, but that project never happened.  The iron itself is really unusual- it looks like tooled leather!  The fixture was oiled, but I left the finish as I found it- with a little rust coming through.

Since the light fixture would be seen from the top looking down instead of how you usually view a chandelier (from the bottom up), and because the candle holder cups were so large I knew that I would need special candle sleeves for this piece.  I looked to a favorite source,  Lumiere Candles. 

I found the perfect sleeves in these large diameter solid wax candle sleeves from Lumiere.  These are real wax sleeves (though they do make a "resin" line for higher wattage bulbs) that are custom made to each order.  I have purchased real wax candle sleeves from Lumiere many times and have written about their quality products and good prices on the blog ( here.)  From all the great feedback I get from you, you love them as much as I do!! 

(In case you're new to the blog-  the owners, Paul and Lisa, have kindly offered a 10% off coupon for all my readers!   This is a permanent coupon, with no minimum purchase!  When checking out, simply enter the coupon code : FLOH in the "Coupon" box and then be sure to click "apply coupon" which will re-tally your amount.)

Look at those gorgeous drips!  Since the iron candle holders had an inch lip I specified that the drips stop an inch up from the bottom for clearance.   The sleeves are in "white" which I find works best for my Benjamin Moore White Dove trim paint color ( fyi: Lumiere's "ivory" has more yellow in it).

My very talented electrician (Dan ;) wired the chairdelier (name coined by said electrician;) using thin "chandelier" electrical wire which comes out from the bottom of the piece.  Thin wire holds the electrical wire in place.  This photo gives you a good view of the "tooled leather" look of the iron.

An old chain was added to create the illusion that I just sat a chandelier in a chair which adds a bit of whimsy to the space.

The chairdelier uses my new favorite touch-dimmer (here.) 

This 3-level (low/medium/high) touch dimmer only works on metal lamps.  You simply plug your metal lamp into a small box converter and then touch any metal part of the lamp and the dimmer activates: one tap- low, two taps- medium, and three taps- high.

gotta love the rush!!!

the barn room chandelier

I love the chandelier that I found last year for the barn room.  Every time I look at it I am so grateful that it came to me at just the right time!   The room needed a large chandelier, and I had resigned myself that an antique piece would be impossible to find, much less afford, at that size.  Even the new chandeliers I found on-line were in the thousands, and that just wasn't in the budget. One day I decided to look on Craigslist for a chandelier. I kept widening my search to neighboring states, and I stumbled upon this beauty- a mere 5 hour round-trip away, in Connecticut!
The chandelier wasn't antique, but it was hand wrought iron, the perfect scale (just over 4 feet)  and the perfect design for what I envisioned in the room.  Oh, and I got it for a steal... the asking price was $300, I offered $250 and got it!

When I found it it was black, which I knew would be too harsh for the color palette I had envisioned for the room, so after much paint sampling I painted it a brown/rust color using Rustoleum Multicolor Texture spray paint in Autumn Brown.   The chandelier was then hung using antique iron chain and an antique bronze ceiling cap.  I can not begin to tell you the difference that using the antique chain and ceiling cap has made in how the piece looks and feels in the room.  Real wax candle sleeves in white from Lumiere Candles (don't forget the 10% off coupon for my readers HERE.)  

Love. 

Well, except for one little thing that absolutely drove me crazy ....

Can you spot it?  I would sit on the sofa underneath the chandelier and I swear this thing would blink at me to notice it!!   Even my very design savvy husband said "Oh, it's fine like it is."  It was not fine!  It was just plain wrong...

There it is in all its blinking-at-me glory..... the bottom of the center piece that looks like a cut-off pipe.  Wrong I tell ya.  It wasn't finished, it didn't make sense- like someone had made this beautiful chandelier and then ran out of time to finish it.  I contemplated drilling a small hole for an eye-hook and then hanging an antique crystal from it, but that never "felt" right or seemed like enough.  We had plans to go to our favorite The Old House Parts Company in Kennebunk, Maine on our next visit to look for a small antique ornate cap to finish off the end piece. 

That was until one day a couple of weeks ago while looking for something up in the attic I found this moving box filled with items which had been in my office/laundry room in Dallas.   

Inside the moving box was a plastic box filled with antique lamp parts and finials that I had saved for making lamps. I haven't seen or opened this box in four years!  My first thought was that maybe there was something inside I could use on the barn room chandelier?!

I brought the box down to the kitchen and took out a couple of finials that I thought might work.  I really liked the one on the far left, but it had a hole/opening on the bottom.  After playing with them for a minute I realized that the little French finial (the worm holes give it away as French) had a wooden dowel that just happened to fit perfectly into the first wooden piece.  It was a perfect scale for the chandelier and was the finishing touch I had been wanting!

Married, they looked like this...




And, they would hang from the chandelier like this...

Taking into consideration how I wanted the two to be placed together I used a little bit of tape to ensure that when Dan wood-glued the pieces together my "view" sides were aligned.  Dan then used some quick setting epoxy to attach the wood finial to the iron chandelier.

This is the chandelier now.... complete!
I love that the finial is wood and the chandelier is iron.  The color was a perfect match too- I didn't do a thing to the finials other than wipe them off.

I realized after adding the finial to the barn room chandelier how similar the effect was to the kitchen dining chandelier.

One more time-

before:

after:

Now I really love it!

I could almost weep!!!

Please do not be frightened....
this is Dan's section of the basement- my section is much prettier and filled with vintage and antique garden ornaments! (Dan is in the process of organizing the space, so pardon the mess;) 
Messy as it appears, this is where magical things happen for the house!   Note the large barn room chandelier on the floor getting ready to get ready to be wired.

 It was on this worktable yesterday afternoon, while looking for one of the original doorknobs from the farmhouse that I wanted to show to the carpenter in hopes of using it on the barn half bath door, that I found...

...this box of miscellaneous lamp parts and finials. 

In the ten years that I was an antiques dealer we made and sold many lamps.   So, whenever we were out antiquing and found interesting bits and pieces for lamps we would buy them knowing we would eventually find a use for them.  The items in this particular box (we have many such boxes) were individually purchased and probably thrown in the box some 7 to 10 years ago;  long forgotten, and packed and shipped from Dallas to New Hampshire.

My eye went to one of the solid brass finials, then I saw the other- a pair, perfect.  I immediately thought of a pair of antique wooden balusters that we purchased a couple of months ago and are going to turn into lamps that will sit on a sofa table in the barn room.  The scale seemed right.

One of the pair of balusters on another work table.

The balusters will be waxed and we will use an antique glazed-terra-cotta square (we purchased a box of these from a dealer in Kansas City years ago) as the base.  Yet to be determined is if the baluster will go like this or upside down.

Isn't it crazy how perfectly the finial and the baluster go together?!!  They look like they were made for each other, yes?!

  The brass finials will have to be drilled to accommodate the top of a harp, as they are solid and not originally lamp finials.  I have no idea what they were used for, but so glad we picked them up somewhere along the way.  Lesson:  if you love it buy it, you'll always find a home for it- even if it is years later!