CHANDELIER ADDENDUM

I gussied up our dining room chandelier with some new accessories: patterned fabric shades and colorful candelabra sleeves.

I'm going to go ahead and assume that the fabric I chose is going to fall in to that "not everyone's cup of tea" category. But I love it in that "so bad it's good" kinda way. I picked it up at a church rummage sale along with some other awesomely bad fabrics. It's some kind of weirdo 80's ikat-inspired super-graphic print in a seriously schizophrenic color scheme.

Anyway, I figured if I'm bothering to cover my own shades I might as well do it in a statement fabric. So I went for it. I bought some plain white shades on the cheap from Lowes and went to town. Justin was kind enough to document the process. So for those of you who are interested in a step-by-step how-to on recovering chandelier shades...here you go:

Materials:

plain shades

fabric

kraft paper

double stick fusible web sheets

stitchless sewing glue

double fold bias tape

scissors

pins

iron

First make a pattern by wrapping kraft paper around the shade and cutting it to size. Make sure to leave enough room to fold one edge and have it overlap the other.

Then iron the fabric that you are going to use to cover the lampshades...

pin down the pattern...

and cut it out.

Remove the kraft paper and fold one edge of the fabric over...

and tack it down with a piece of fusible web.

Peel the paper off one side of the double stick fusible sheet...

press the fabric onto it...

and cut it out.

Peel the backing paper off, and starting at the existing seam, wrap the fabric around the shade unfolded side first.

Next, iron the fabric onto the shade using the steam function in order to make the bond permanent.

Steam one small area at a time and then press it out and smooth it down with your fingers between turns.

Trim any excess fabric off the edges.

Next, estimate how much trim you will need for the top and bottom of your shades, and cut it to size.

Apply the stitchless sewing adhesive to the top (or bottom) edge...

and spread it out with your finger.

Then apply the bias tape. Starting at the seam, wrap it around the edge, letting about a quarter inch show on the outside.

Pulling tight, guide the tape around the circumference of the shade until it just overlaps the other side.

Add a drop of glue at the overlap to secure the end...

and press and hold it to make sure it sticks.

Repeat these last few steps with the bias tape on the opposite side of the shade. And you're done!

DINING ROOM LIGHTING REDO

I am delighted to report that we finally switched out the fixture in our dining room. When we moved in there was just a ceiling fan in the middle of the room and no light. We temporarily hung a big paper lantern from our old apartment above the dining room table...which was serviceable, but FAR from ideal. The cord was an eyesore and so was the fan...

But we finally had someone come put this chandelier up instead...

MUCH better. And the new fixture was hand-me-down from my parents...which means it was FREE.

I love free.

Next post: Hand covered chandelier shades and a candelabra sleeve spruce up!

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Back in September I posted about the vintage chandelier I was planning on hanging in the bird's room. Well, it took me about 5 months...but I finally got it up. I was waiting until I had a few more fixtures that needed hanging. That way I could have an electrician come and do it all at once. (I replaced one of the fixtures in our old apartment myself...but it was seriously scary and I kinda got electrocuted a few times...hence my decision to leave all future electrical endeavors to the pros.)




The lamp looks great in the room and it gives off a much prettier light than the old one. Unfortunately, I was so excited to see the old lamp go that I forgot to take a 'before' photo...but it looked just like this cheap thing from Home Depot.

Seeing what a difference a new fixture can make is really motivating. Lord knows there are several other rooms in this house that are begging for a lighting makeover. One down...MANY to go.