The other night was much like any night in our home. Gabe was on his computer and I was on my phone scrolling through Pinterest. Periodically, I would lean over and show him pictures of things I wanted to recreate in our home, and particularly in our bedroom. Then Gabe dropped the surprise of the night: he couldn’t believe that he could relate to other men in saying that their wives change perfectly functional things for new things in their home! I laughed, we talked, and I’m changing things ;-) But, seriously reader, I have good reason. While there are some pieces we love and purchased as a couple while engaged (ex: our bed! Even though our headboard ended up being a Target find instead of a Restoration Hardware splurge, I absolutely adore our bed!) some of the pieces are mismatched from my beach-chic single girl days and Gabe’s… well, bachelor days. They just don’t match, and they just don’t fit our aesthetic as a couple. So, I want to change things, and slowly, I am.
I’ve agreed to leave the living room be until we move into a place that we own, but the bedroom is my playground. Here’s what we have to start with:
It’s a slow process, but it’s coming along! And, as I mentioned to you earlier this week, one of the big steps was hanging our chandelier. I started on this chandelier for our wedding. Gabe and I both really wanted to get married under a chandelier, and the idea of hanging it over our bed as a reminder of our vows and that day was too romantic to resist. For the wedding day, I painted it a simple black and embellished it with crystals (I purchased it online for $40, and picked up the black matt spray paint for $7 and the crystals from Joann's for $35, bringing the whole project in at $83). It was exactly the touch we wanted to bring our simple venue view up a notch.
After the wedding, we really wanted to add a cage and get closer to the Restoration Hardware look we loved:
I browsed a few tutorials (my favorites are here and here), and had settled on attempting to use high tensile fencing wire to build my cage when, wandering through Joann’s Crafts and Fabrics one day, I found these:
The largest size was just big enough to go around my chandelier, and at $7 each I decided to run with it. I bought four to be safe, but since each hoop has two useable circles, I ended up only using two hoops. So, for an additional $21 (two hoops and another can of matt black spray paint), I was able to finish off our chandelier!
The first thing I did was hang my chandelier (ok, the only place I had to hang it was the shower rod in the bathroom!) and try a few layouts. Once I arrived at one I liked, I took a few photos, and then took it down so my husband could shower in the morning!
Next, I went outside and painted my hoops. It took me 4 coats on each hoop to get the desired finish, but I expected that, since wood absorbs paint so readily.
On Monday, we had our chandelier hung and I was finally able to put my cage in place! It took two pairs of hands (thanks honey!), a staple gun, and some black paint to cover up the staples once everything was in place, but we love the result.
Wait a minute, you might be thinking, I know this post is about the chandelier, but what are those empty frames in the background? Just you wait, reader. I’m re-creating these Restoration Hardware beauties with a personal twist, and once they’re done, I’ll let you in on how I made them!
