Another Obsession, I mean Collection

My friend, Beth, http://bethleintz.typepad.com/gathering_dust/ told me I had to check out a blog: http://carlenefederer.blogspot.com/, knowing I would love it.  Well, first thing I noticed was the Yorkie, and I am quite the Yorkie person. (did you see Country Living with the Yorkie on the cover lying on the pink and white bed? Don’t know which I like best, the room or the dog).  Then I saw the chandeliers she posted for the March crusade about collections Michelle Ward called for pictures of on her blog: http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that/.  I had posted a couple of my collections earlier, but this inspired me to show some chandeliers too. 

Get ready, there are a bunch of them—

This teeny one is part of a pair I bought at Nell Hills and used to illuminate this hutch in my studio after redoing it from 1970’s Mediterranean to a style more cottagey .

In my kitchen nook, I have an older light I painted and added pearls and crystals to.

Well, in some rooms, you just need a ceiling fan.  I did what I could with it, painted, and distressed it, added a medallion.  Then threw away the Home Depot light that came on it and replaced it with a crystal light from a garage sale.

We remodeled our master bath and I searched everywhere for an affordable and romantic styled chandelier to fit the space, and had no luck in the time frame I had. If I had planned ahead, maybe I could have found a used one to fix up. But, it was winter, not garage sale season, so I had to order this one online from Spectrum, but it was only $99 and ready to go, no work involved!  That was a nice treat for me.

Above my kitchen sink, I have a petite chandelier painted creamy white and hung  with a mix match of crystals, including a stained glass star my friend, Shanna made for me.

The 3rd in the kitchen is this iron one from another garage sale, that I painted white and tied tiny teapots to.

The dining room has another one that I painted white and added crystals to.  I went with blue drops on this .

My breezeway has no electricity, so I made a candelier with epoxied teacups on the arms of it.  I can dress it up with vines and crystals and ribbons for special occasions, but don’t on a regular basis since it sits in front of a window I usually have open in nice weather, and that blows it too much. I hung it from a birdcage stand, because it would be too hard to light candles if it were up high.  Plus, who wants candles burning too close to the ceiling? 

On to my art studio- 5 in there.  Here are the first two, they hang over my painting area. The one with pink crystals is straight from Lowes, as is. The other one, I bought from my brother-in-law when visiting him in Jacksonville.  He used to have a booth at the Avondale antique mall and when ever I went to visit, I’d have to sweet talk him into shipping  my packages home to me. 

On the other side of my studio, is one of my faves.  I fixed it up for a music room in a design show house in Topeka.  Its made from a trumpet and 6 french horns!  I had pretty lampshades on it, but I prefer the brighter light without the shades since it is in a studio.

Also in the studio, is this light I found on a trip home to visit my family in Indiana. Somewhere along I70, at one of the hundreds of places I stopped (sometimes the 8 hour drive takes me 15) I found this beauty with its graceful lines.

Last one (well not counting the ones in the garden shed, and the one I painted silver and hang up at Christmas, filled with silver ornaments)

When there isn’t enough ceiling space, bird cage stands are perfect chandelier holders.  This one is painted in metallic paints of a few colors, and then hung with stained glass drops from my friend, Shanna, and some different shaped colored crystals I have collected.