Dear readers,
Chers Lecteurs,
I've been moving a lot lately and the Little White House, as tiny as it is, is the biggest place I've ever lived in, which does mean a lot of furniture shortage and a lot of light fixture shortage.
La Petite Maison, pour petite qu'elle est, est la plus grande dans laquelle j'ai vécu. Du coup, elle manque de meuble, et surtout il y a un sérieux déficit en lampe.
Here's the current very chic light bulb in the dining-room, or when shabby goes too shabby! I've always dreamed to have a nice chandelier over my table. It was somehow impossible in my previous home as the light was in the middle of the main room, whereas the table was off-centered.
J'ai donc un design très sobre d'ampoules qui pendent dans toutes les pièces.
I did have a nice chandelier, though, but removers lost it. How can you loose a chandelier? I still wonder, but after sending them countless letters, I've understood, I just didn't have a chandelier anymore (hence, the lightb bulb issue!).
J'ai toujours rêvé d'avoir un beau chandelier au dessus de ma table. Seulement, celui que je possédais a été perdu au cours d'un des déménagements.
Last Christmas break, I found a chandelier in my grandmother's attic (she didn't even remember it was there). It was the perfect size: only three lights, so not too big for my very small dining-room.
A Noël dernier, j'en ai trouvé un dans le grenier de ma grand-mère. Il avait la taille idéale à mon goût: trois ampoules, suffisamment petit pour ne pas écraser ma toute petite pièce.
Here it is, all mummyfied by my grandfather ! I had to show you how well he took care of it, as it is kind of his trademark.
Je vous le montre tout momifié par mon grand-père, car c'était sa spécialité de bien conserver les affaires!
As you can see, it's a shiny brass.
Le petit problème, c'est son côté bien doré, qui ne m'enchante pas beaucoup.
So I was torn between really wanting to have a souvenir of grandfather hanging in my dining-room (he was an electrician and this chandelier is probably one he kept from his shop before selling it when it was time for him to retire) and not really wanting a shiny thing above my table.
Then I remembered reading lots of posts on how people had painted their chandelier. I didn't know if I would be able to do it, but nearly everyone I asked questions to in the comments were kind enough to answer me.
The key seemed to use spray paint. So off I went in my little car to my favourite Leroy Merlin (DIY store) and I checked the spray paint section. But there was nothing solvant free! There was no way I could buy that.
Sur les blogs, tout le monde recommande la peinture en spray pour les chandeliers. Mais la peinture en spray est vraiment pleine de solvants et j'ai donc renoncé à en acheter.
So I decided to go the hard and traditional way, with the old paint brush and solvant-free paint.
I didn't want to ruin a family heirloom though. So I tried my hand on a little wall light that was in my parents' garage.
J'avais quand même un peu peur de ruiner le pauvre chandelier en y allant avec mon pot de peinture et mon pinceau. J'ai donc décidé de faire un essai sur une petite applique dénichée dans le garage de mes parents.
Granted, it was a work of pateince to paint the little details. But it was worth it!
Cela m'a sûrement demandé plus de patience pour faire les petits détails au pinceau, mais je trouve que cela valait le coup!
The shade is actually straight, even if it doesn't seem so on the pictures! It's just that I needed to hang it somewhere for the pictures, and the only place I could find was that nail I have in the bathroom and it's a little close to the roof!
I think it went OK. So, next summer, I will paint the chandelier. Wish me luck! And, if you have any advice, I'm all ears!
Me voilà donc prête à affronter le chandelier cet été. Je suis preneuse de tous vos bons conseils!
Magali, from the Little White House
I'm linking with the parties that allowed me to find ideas for that wall light and gave me the guts to try (thanks a lot):