Shine a Light

So. What I've been doing for the past few months is getting a divorce. Should be final in the next few weeks. It was not an easy decision, but it was by my choice, and I have no regrets.

Okay, enough of that. Suffice to say, major life changes have been going on.

Including moving to a new house! I started relocating in May; Zoë, Fannie, Millie and I have been here since the middle of that month. Because we were selling our other house and some of the furniture was needed for staging, moving has been a drawn-out process.  But everything is here now, and I've been nesting like crazy, enjoying rediscovering many of my thrifting finds as I unpack and find places for them. Though when one downsizes by two-thirds, one cannot keep everything. I'll tell you about the moving sale later.

This week’s big excitement involved three particular bargains and my friend Lonna’s significant other, Dick. Extremely good-natured Dick, because when anyone mentions needing to get something fixed around the house Lonna is very likely to say, “Oh, Dick’ll do it.” And Dick did!

Anyone remember this vintage light fixture that I scored for fifty cents a while back? (It came from the same sale where I found the “astronaut” cat carrier for Millie.)  

Dick installed it in my half bath, over an estate sale mirror. (Took out the 90s medicine cabinet with the faux stained glass. Who needs a whole medicine cabinet in the half bath?) I painted the base and end caps with copper metallic spray paint, and I love it.

Out in the hallway, we took down the sort of early-American style ceiling fixture, and Dick put up the vintage light I found at the funeral home’s estate sale. 

Talk about a piece of history in the house! You know that everyone who crosses my threshold will have to listen to that story.

The building it came from had very cool midcentury metal cladding on the exterior. 

I really hated to see it go; it was unique…and the new Starbucks that went into that spot decidedly is not.

But the best upgrade to the house so far is in the foyer, where this thing used to live.

I wanted to replace it with the vintage Italian chandelier I was given a few weeks ago – the one exactly like this one for sale for $1850. The wiring had been cut off short when it was taken down. I paid about $50 to get it rewired, and turned it over to Dick to hang. 

I love it, it's just magnificent. Well worth that $1800 I didn’t spend!

It's wonderful to have beautiful things to live with, especially when they don’t cost an arm and a leg. But even better are the friends I have both here and elsewhere. I'm sending lots of gratitude to them all – with an extra dollop for Dick!