Sow’s Ear

 

Back when were house hunting there were several things that drew me to this house.  The era (built in 1940), the hardwood floors and the light fixtures.  The previous owner had a thing for chandeliers and while I liked most of them, I wasn't completely on board with the one hanging in the kitchen.  Grainy evidence below:

Those are chickens on the shades, by the way.  Cute, in the right surroundings, but just not to our taste.  I had an old chandelier a friend gave me that we rewired and hung in its place.  We never got rid of the yellow, poultry themed one.  Actually I did try to sell it on Craigslist but didn't have any takers so I hung onto it thinking I would re-purpose it in our garden.  

And I came up with an idea…

We don't need an umbrella for the table because it is under the shade of a huge tree.  The tree is too tall to hang a fixture over the table so I though why not put a chandelier on an umbrella pole?  Why not indeed.

The first step was to completely take it apart and clean it.  I knew I wouldn't need it to be electrified so we (and by we I mean Rick) stripped out the wiring.  I replaced the amber drops with clear ones and painted all the metal bits.  First with a dark brown base and then with antique gold that I slapped on haphazardly.  I painted a plain, wooden pole to match and, as luck would have it, the chandelier fits snugly on top of it.  It can be removed easily so we can put it away when the weather turns.

I added some extra sparkle to it and placed votive holders where the lights originally were.  Rick added a glass doorknob to the top which was the perfect finishing touch. 

At first I had it too high on the pole and you didn't really get the full effect.  So I moved it low enough to be have impact but not so low as to impede conversation with the person sitting across from you.  

  

I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  It feels good to have an idea in my head and actually pull it off.