windmill floor lamp #2

Yep, we made another windmill floor lamp

...for the new office this time.

You may remember last year when we made this one.

 It's one of my favorite lamps.

 We started with this old windmill base.

We used a lamp kit (about 10 bucks) 

we picked up from Home Depot. 

 We added a shade and in just a few minutes 

we had this super cool unique floor lamp.

When we came across another super cool

windmill base, this time in a perfect shade of green,

we just had to make another one.

 This base is a little bigger than the other one.

It also has that great shelf like base at the top.

That made it a little more difficult to figure out

where to put a shade.  Adding it to the very top

would make the entire lamp soooooo tall.

 So, we decided to use an Edison bulb 

and let the bulb show; no shade.

The top of this windmill looks a little like a cage already

so that cage would be the "shade."

sorry this is a little blurry. bad time of day for pic.

You can see from the side at the very top

how we just dropped the bulb down.

You can't see it but the four top "prongs"

were secured together with wire

so they created the perfect size opening to hold the bulb.

Now we have another interesting floor lamp.

It looks sort of like a piece of industrial art

during the day and its a functional lamp at night.

The bottom half of this lamp could also be used

to clip pictures, photos or papers to with some vintage clips.

The rest of the new office is coming along.

I hope to have it finished later today or next weekend.

I'm just working on the fun part, decorating!

I just can't decide exactly where I want things to be.

Sunroom to Project Room: Mission Accomplished

Finally!  FINALLY! My sunroom is done. For those of you who have been following this saga, I have a great sunroom that had become a storage room while we worked on other rooms in the house. Here's an embarrassing picture of the before:

You can read all about the before here.  The plan was to turn this junk-filled room into a new project room for me.  I wanted a place where I could spread out on a project table or on the floor, have a lots of storage for all of my supplies and tools yet still be a pretty place to sit with friends.  After seeing inspiring pictures of calm rooms with beautiful neutral palettes, I decided that's the direction I wanted to go.  After a few weeks, I changed my mind.  The neutral palette just wasn't me.  So, I started all over.  The room has a neutral backdrop but I added color which is way more me.  So, here is the new project room:

The room has pretty french doors as you enter.  You can see the concrete floors covered with a Pottery Barn rug I got for a steal last year.  You can read more about the floors here.

Some of these pictures may be a little dark because it was difficult to control the light in this bright room. You can see the work table I painted and talked about in any earlier post.  

My cousin had given me the old window that hangs on the wall.  I'm using it as a dry-erase memo board. On the table in the corner is an antique gold scale my father used in his jewelry business.

Here are the old drawers I had in the garage.  I cleaned them up and just put a coat of sealer on them.  I made labels for each drawer which right now are numbered.  After I get them filled and organized, I'll change the numbers to words/labels so I'll know where everything is.  Then, I'm sure some of the drawers will be open quite a bit since I'll be using the stuff in them but that's okay because the drawers are galvanized metal and will look so cool left open.  That's my kind of storage.

Here's a close up of the dry erase memo old window.  

This little old child's rocker sat in my parents' house as far back as I can remember.  I think every kid in our whole extended family has sat in that rocker.

This old cedar closet was from my parents and I think my grandmother before that.  It was  red and had a fake crackle finish.  I painted it with a pale grayish white. I added a an old chippy clip holder to one door and some junk on top.

I still need pillows for the bench next to the cedar closet but some lively quilts and throws add color right now.

Tip: I put petroleum jelly on the hardware of the cedar closet so paint wouldn't stick to it and I wouldn't have to tape it all to protect it.  I'm just lazy that way.  I didn't have to be careful and could paint right over everything.  Once I was done, the paint peeled right off of the hardware.  I actually left bits of paint on them because I liked the way it looked.

There is lots of storage in that cedar closet. I have 3 metal baskets on the top shelf and may add more later.

Here's some of the junk on top of the cedar closet.  There's a child's red rocker,  an old soft drink crate I had hanging in my room as a kid and a metal red arrow I got on clearance from Sundance Catalog.

I picked up this chippy clip at the Red Shed.  It holds my inspiration photo.

I still want lots of pillow for the bench but I can take my time to find just the right ones.  I do like the bench recovered in drop cloth.

I used another soft drink crate (in favorite color RED) to hold craft paints and glue.  That idea is stolen straight from Funky Junk Interiors.

My pal, Jennie, gave me this wooden slotted storage piece.  I can put office supplies, magazines, paper, camera, or just about anything else in those cubbies.  

I love that this thing.  It's just tons of cool storage.  I put my new galvanized tote on top to store spray paints.

I like the old paper labels still stuck on the side. 

This piece is really sturdy too. I could add cushions and it would be extra seating if needed.

Back around next to the entry is the fireplace.  On the wall next to it is a metal baking rack.  It can hold more supplies if needed.

On the mantel, I sat one of my favorite green shelves.  I like the shape, color and the chipped worn finish of this shelf.  In the future I can add decorative elements or perhaps a row of buckets or other containers to hold more supplies.

I just love this shelf.

Above the shelf is my printer's tray that I've had since I was a kid.  You know all those little trinkets and mementos kids bring home that they want to keep?  I kept mine in this printer's tray that hung on my wall in my bedroom.  It was my mom's idea because even way back then, she was a junker with good taste.  Now,  I just need to fill this back up with some cool things.

Did I mention that I love this shelf?

Yep, another shot of that shelf.

Some of you saw the blue and white material I had placed under the glass on the project table.  I replaced that with drop cloth and painted two red stripes on the drop cloth.

There's my awesome stool that I got here from a fellow blogger.

Yes, that drop cloth is a bit wrinkled but 1) they will work themselves out eventually and 2) it will get covered up with photos, notes, etc. that will go under the glass over time.

I added my big 2 ft. tall chippy white "G" I picked up at the local antique mall.  There's also another jeweler's scale on top of the drawer unit.

I'm lovin' this room.

It's so me.

There is still so much more potential in this room.  It has tons of storage and I still need to move in all of my supplies and tools.  I want to add a few pillows and smaller details but overall it's done and I like it.  Since I had almost everything, this room cost very little to do.  I had almost all of the furniture and decor and almost all of the paint and supplies.  So, here's the breakdown:

• one gallon of paint for the table an cedar closet: $25.00
• one piece of glass cut for the table: $30.00
• bar stool with the 3: $30.00
• huge galvanized tool tote: $20.00
• large G: $30.00
• drop cloth for recovering bench/put under glass on table: $10.00 (and there's a lot left)
• new Macbook Pro computer:  priceless

Total costs: $145.00 for the whole room.  That's not bad, huh? This is one of my favorite rooms.

entry room progress

If you've been following, you know I've been working on a makeover of the 2 room entry we have when you enter our house.  Well, we've made some progress and entry part A (the larger main entry) is almost finished.  Let's remember the before:

It was painted yellow, had a wooden bench, black mirror and a hodgepodge of stuff.  Although this was supposed to be a soft yellow, at certain times of the day, it became a blinding sunshine in your face yellow.  So, first thing we did was paint the room a soft neutral.  Now I have to add here, have you seen the latest issue of Country Living Magazine?  It's full of blinding sunshine in your face yellow walls and somehow their's looks good.  Mine didn't.  Okay, so here goes the thrifty "after."

First, we added this PB entry bench set.  Jennie had it and didn't want it anymore so she let me have it.  It was black.  You've seen it before I'm sure.

photo from Pottery Barn

I just gave it a coat of Kilz primer (in a spray can) and then a coat of white paint.

Next, I layered a red/white check quilt that I already had.  I love this quilt.  It looks and feels old but it's relatively new from JCPenney's!  I've had it about a year or so.

Then, I added accessories.  This is an old-fashioned ice cream maker that was my grandmother's. I remember many of my family members (including aunts, uncles, cousins) getting together at a park for a good ol' southern "fish fry" and then making ice cream after dinner, usually peach ice cream. We did this all the time growing up.   It still has all the parts but we just lifted those out, put them away in a safe place and will use the bucket as a place to put umbrellas.  Those new smaller tote-style umbrellas people carry now will fit perfectly in here without being seen.

I made a sign to go above the bench set.  I wanted a big red vintage sign but couldn't find what I wanted so I made my own using the technique I mentioned in a previous post.

This is the little, inexpensive mercury light we added a couple of years ago to replace the builder's standard brass fixture that was there.

This old metal toy horse was kept. It's been in the entry since we moved in because I didn't know where else to put it.  Now, I like it here.  The red and blue colors on it go well in this area now.

...and the details.  This cute simple mirror hung in my Dad's jeweler's shop forever.  It was the only mirror in the shop and the jeweler's used to check their hair in it before going out to visit their clients in Dallas.  (Someday, I'll have to post more about that.  It was an interesting time.) 

vintage bingo set and a flag we received for my uncle's military service

and old metal portable light with wooden handle, tiny stack of red books and a vintage blue glass thingamajig with a wick (I don't know what these are called but I have two; this one and a clear one from my Dad's shop).

We hung the sign, added a vintage-looking wire basket on top and a small woven red basket in the middle.

I painted a small vintage ladder white (but left the galvanized part as is).

So, here it is.  It's finished...for now.

What's left to do?  It needs something.  There is a lot of blank wall on either side of this area as well as between the bench and the section above it.  We most likely won't be hanging a bunch of jackets and coats here so the wall space will stay.  I guess this gives me something to hunt for when we go out junking!

Total cost for the last two weeks of work: less than $10 for 3 cans of Kilz spray primer.  Everything else, I already had.  If we add what I've purchased over the last year: light fixture $50. from Mothology (cool place!)  and the JC Penney quilt I bought on sale for around $60.00. 

I may be linking this up to my favorite link parties listed in my blog list above or down on the right hand side!