Favorite Modern Dining Room Chandeliers – Week Two – Fall 2023 One Room Challenge

Posted on October 3, 2023 by jewelsathome

Week One – Elegant & Airy Dining Room Inspiration

Modern and classic. Elegant and streamlined. This is the balance I was looking for in a dining room chandelier. I also wanted an open design, so we could make the most of our views. This week, I will show you some of my favorite options, as well as what I ended up DIYing for ~$50! Along the way, I’ll show you my favorite gold spray paint and how to add a DIY cord cover to a chandelier.

My top two choices were the West Elm Swoop Arm Chandelier (below left) and the Hammons Sputnik Modern Chandelier (below right) (a dupe for the Jonathan Adler Meurice chandelier):

I was getting ready to buy one of these beautiful lights when, at the last minute, I decided to take a quick peek on Craigslist, and I came across a chandelier with a similar shape for only $25! I’m pretty sure it is this Modern 6-Candle Chandelier shown below which is less than $100, even if you buy it new!

The light I found was a mix of black and gold, so I prepared to spray mine gold. Not all gold spray paints are the same. I happened to have the Krylon paint (left) in the garage, but it is a reddish color, more copper than gold, so I went to our neighborhood hardware store to pick up a can of my favorite gold paint, Rust-oleum, shown on the right, and it is perfect!

I added these frosted globe bulbs, which I think look more modern than the flame-shaped bulbs.

The last step was to was to add a cord cover. This is a 5″ wide strip of fabric about 1.5x the length of the cord. I ironed down a 3/8″ seam along the two long edges, and then I used hot glue to close the “seam” around the cord.

I’ll keep posting progress updates on Instagram and a weekly post here with more details! I’m looking forward to the next steps of this project, as well as enjoying the other participants’ posts. You can follow the whole event on the One Room Challenge website!

Julie AKA “Jewels”

Airy Elegant Guest Bedroom Design

Posted on July 12, 2023 by jewelsathome

We’re waiting on permits to do a renovation adding a small guest bedroom and bathroom to our home. I’m getting excited and working on the design plans. I already shared the plan for the classic blue and white bathroom! Next up, here’s the design for the guest room. It’s going to be compact and on our lower level, so I wanted to keep the look airy and light. Of course, there’s plenty of my favorite blue and white, but I’m also really into the color green right now, so it’s fun to introduce that as well!

Bed: Bestar full murphy bed
Wall mural: Scandinavian Woodland from Photowall
Flooring: Mannington White Oak flooring
Desk: West Elm Mid-Century Mini Desk (already own this!)
Pendant light: Modern green ribbed glass pendant
Console: Hernest sideboard (previously gifted)

I think the look will coordinate well with the bathroom plan!

Some links are affiliate links. Let me know what you think, and keep your fingers crossed for our permits to be approved soon!

Julie AKA “Jewels”

Classic Blue and White Bathroom Design

Posted on July 9, 2023 by jewelsathome

So, the wheels of the planning department are turning, and we are hoping to be able to do a renovation to add a small guest bedroom and bathroom to our home. I’m getting excited and working on the design plan. The colors will be blue and white – of course! And the style will be classic, with a nod towards mid-century design.

Wall tile: Fireclay 3×9″ subway tile in Slate Blue and Frost
Floor tile: Viviano Dolomite Gray Framed Hexagon Marble Mosaic
Mirror: West Elm Seamless Medicine Cabinet
Hardware: Flybath
Vanity: Wayfair
Sconce: Topeka from Illuminate Vintage
Soap dispenser

I’m going to keep researching, but I like this direction! Let me know what you think, and keep your fingers crossed for our permits to be approved soon!

Julie AKA “Jewels”

This post includes some affiliate and paid links. There is no additional cost to you to shop through those links, but I may receive a small commission.

A Timeless Sideboard Styled Five Ways

Posted on March 20, 2022 by jewelsathome

We recently moved into our new house, and I’ve been busy arranging and re-arranging things to get us settled. In this process, I was fortunate to receive a beautiful new sideboard cabinet from Hernest.com. This item was generously gifted, but … Continue reading →

Macrame Cord Hanging Light

Posted on October 17, 2018 by jewelsathome

You might know that I caught the macrame bug last summer. There is just something so magical about transforming a simple piece of rope! Once I figured out the basics, I wanted to be able to create some more original designs as well. Here are my posts on macrame plant hangers:

Even with my love of plants and hanging planters, I was running low on things to make with rope, so I was very excited to see this I discovered macrame pendant lights. I first caught sight of Windy Chien’s Helix light in the Apartment 34’s One Room Challenge:

And then, I began spotting it everywhere, like in this beautiful bedroom from Katie Monkhouse:

Mandi Gruber (my idol!) also has a funky version of this simple and gorgeous idea, as does Holly Wade on Curbly.

I was looking for bedside lamps for our guest room and teen’s room, and I knew that I just had to try my own version of these lights!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Plug-in light kit, with a cord color that coordinates with your rope: Here’s one with a white cord and one with a black cord. I used one that is black with a metallic light socket
Macrame rope: such as cotton clothesline, or check out the gorgeous options from Bobbiny or Modern Macrame. I tried two types of rope:
- 5mm diameter Bobbiny cotton rope. I used about 200′ of 5mm rope for at 15′ light kit.
- 9mm diameter Bobbiny rope. I used 150′ of this for a 15′ light kit.

Light bulb: looks great with an LED Edison bulb or G40 frosted LED bulb
For the hanger, I used my favorite Ikea Ekby Valter brackets (I’ve used them as plant hangers, as well as, as intended, shelf brackets). I stained the unfinished brackets with walnut stain. The 9mm rope light is hanging from the larger size bracket, and the 5mm rope light is hanging from the smaller bracket.

Here’s how to do it:

Test your light kit! It’s probably fine, but you’ll be spending several hours on it, so you want to make sure you didn’t get a lemon
find the midpoint of your rope and lay it behind your cord, next to the light fixture. With the two long ends of rope, start tying a wave knot
Tips: it can get unwieldy working with so much rope. I used a kitchen scale to help me divide the rope in half. I also used rubber bands to hold together the balls of rope, so they would not unravel.

Keep going
(Turn on a movie or podcast)
Keep going
When you get to the switch, neatly line the rope along the sides of the switch and then resume your wave knot
When you’ve almost reached the plug, use a gathering knot to finish off the ends

Here are some pictures of the hanging lights – the navy cord was made with 5mm cord and the denim cord with 9mm rope.

I don’t know about you, but I want to make another one (or ten) soon.

Happy knotting!

Julie aka “Jewels”

Faux Brick Wall for a Loft-inspired Teen Boy’s Room – One Room Challenge Week 2

Posted on October 10, 2018 by jewelsathome

I’m really excited to be a Guest Participant again in the One Room Challenge! This is a great way to get inspiration and motivation for your home. This spring, I re-decorated our boys’ bathroom. For this fall’s challenge, I’m transforming our teen’s … Continue reading →

Mood Board for a Loft-Inspired Teen Boy’s Room – One Room Challenge Week 1

Posted on October 3, 2018 by jewelsathome

Kai is a quiet kid who doesn’t share much or ask for much. When the boys wanted their own rooms last fall, he ended up in my former craft room, and I made very few changes when I moved him in, other than adding a bed. Although he does not ask for much, he does show his appreciation, and I was excited to do something special for him, before he goes off to college in a few more years – sniff, wah!

I know how fast they grow, so I wanted an adult space, where we could add a few personal touches. I also imagine that some day, I’ll gain this room back as a craft studio, so I kept all that in mind in choosing a simple loft-inspired design scheme. There are vintage, industrial, and hand-made touches that will allow this space to endure and adapt to our family in the years to come.

ORC Mood Board

Image sources:

Pendant: Room and Board
Brick paneling: Texture Plus
Desk: Chairish
Macrame light: Holly Wade on Curbly
Rug: Amazon
Poster: Skookum Prints

Are you as excited as I am?!

I created my design plan the way I usually do, looking for inspiration spaces and then identifying the elements and themes that I want to incorporate into our home. The Design Cookbook has more details on how you can use this approach to create spaces you love!

Here are two of my inspiration spaces for this project. I could not find an original source for the first picture, so please let me know if you find it, so I can give credit!

This second room was featured on the Street Easy blog.

bedroom image

The features I loved in both of these spaces – and that I knew I wanted to recreate – are:

exposed brick!
light, neutral walls
warm natural wood
grey bedding and Roman shades

I’ve done a little bit of sourcing and preparation already, but there is a lot of work left to do in the next five weeks! I can’t wait to share all the projects and see the final space!

A huge thank you to Linda for creating the One Room Challenge community, and high fives to all my fellow bloggers whose hard work and creativity were great inspirations! Be sure to go back to the One Room Challenge blog and check out all the other projects!

Julie aka “Jewels”

Macrame Plant Hangers- Now in Color!

Posted on June 9, 2018 by jewelsathome

I’ve decided to call my crafting style “serial crafting monogamy.” I definitely go on streaks where I fall in love with a new technique and can’t get enough of it. Right now, I’m sure you have noticed, I am addicted to macrame. Once I got the hang of it, I have so many ideas to try!

Today’s post is about adding color to your plant hangers – I did this with dyeing an ombre pattern as well as with adding colorful embroidery floss.

If you want to go back and see other posts on macrame, here are the links:

First, check out these beautiful ombré plant hangers. I made them with cotton clothesline and created the ombre pattern with navy fabric dye .

To get the ombré effect, I dipped the plant hanger in a container of dye solution and then pulled it out and hung it with just the bottom sitting in the dye for 20-30 minutes.

The other way I added color to the plant hangers was by adding gathering knots in different colors of embroidery floss .

And I just recently discovered Bobbiny cotton rope from Poland. It’s so soft, recycled, and beautiful, so I’m definitely scheming to add more color to my macrame projects that way!

“Jewels”

Kids’ Bath Grows Up – A Clean Slate – One Room Challenge Week 1

Posted on April 4, 2018 by jewelsathome

I’m really excited to be a Guest Participant in my first One Room Challenge! This is a great way to get inspiration and motivation for your home. For this challenge, I’ve decided to re-do our kids’ bath. It started out with a cute beach theme that seemed perfect when the boys were little, but now I am ready for it to grow up with them. Our new look features neutral colors, natural touches, and enough personality to stand up to three boys! Thanks for following along!

Fortunately, we renovated this bath when we moved into our house a few years ago, and all the “bones” are still good. Without doing a major renovation, I have a feeling I can still completely change our look! I’ve been so inspired by the clean palette of today’s most popular design styles – whether it’s “Scandinavian-inspired,” “California Casual,” or “Modern Farmhouse,” everyone – myself included – is loving white walls and lots of natural materials.

For week one, my task was make this room a blank slate! I took down all the decorations, touched up the existing vanity, sealed the marble, and got some help painting the walls from our friend Joe.

The new wall color is “Feather Down” from Benjamin Moore. I’ve used it in our master bath as well, and I love the warm neutral feel.

Here are a few “before” (or “old after”) and “after” (or “new before”) pictures. I am so excited to get to work rebuilding this space!

Go check out all the other exciting guest great projects over at the Spring 2018 One Room Challenge!

I hope you come back to see the rest of this room’s transformation!

“Jewels”

Recipe for a Mod Metallic Christmas

Posted on October 30, 2016 by jewelsathome

You know decorating for Christmas is a serious thing in our house, and to keep my sanity, I usually try to start planning early. This fall, though, every spare moment outside of work and basic survival has been consumed with stuff for the boys’ school and birthdays! Now, I’m starting to feel a bit of breathing room – or I’m forcing myself to maintain some sanity.

I honestly had so much fun with last year’s retro Christmas that I thought about recreating it. I’ve decided, however, to try a new variation I’m going to call a “Mod Metallic Christmas.”

Here is an inspiration photo (source):