Antique Lamp

About a year ago my uncle passed away and my Gram, who took care of his affairs and owned the cottage he lived in, let all of her grandkids go through his house and take what we wanted. Usually such a scenario turns ugly fast. It's amazing the way some families can fight over who gets used junk. But we were all pretty congenial and friendly and everyone of us seemed to leave with things we could use and things that will remind us of The Cottage.

One of the things I snagged was a beautiful antique lamp with milk glass lampshades. Stupid me didn't think it was necessary to tape the glass lampshades down or take them off and wrap them. My sister who carried it out wasn't watching what she was doing. Both of us were carrying way more in one load than we should have.

Disaster struck. One of the glass lampshades fell off. Neither of us could stop it. Sure enough, it shattered. My little sister felt horrible. I could see the horror on her face and she could probably see the disappointment on mine. This is what I"ve stared at in my storage area for over a year:

So I've been on the prowl for a replacement shade for over a year now. I finally found one that fits on a spur of the moment trip to an antique store. It's not an exact match. The original shade has a ruffley looking top. The one I found is more of a squared off look. But at least both have the bubbled look on the sides. 

But it's good enough for me. I'll still look for a closer match but in the meantime, this lamp can finally be a showpiece.  The left shade dulls the light a bit more than the right one but I still think it looks very antiquey and old-fashioned.  So, fret no more little sister! 

Appalling to Appealing

How's this for UGLY? 

I found this beast at a thrift store for only $9.  I've been wanting to replace my huge, couches for a long time with one smaller couch and some armchairs.  Although ugly, this one had a nice sturdy frame.  My friend Catherine does upholstery and I've heard her, on more than one occassion, talk about how horrifying it is to have to replace the springs on a chair.  Springs are what gives a chair it's bounce and allows for the sink-into-it vs. hold-you-up factor.  This chair had excellent springs.  So I snatched it up.

First I took off the old upholstery and found an even uglier layer underneath:

I don't know which print is more horrid...

While I hated the old upholstery, I think my pochka finds it quite lovely.

It matches her fur perfectly.

I haven't upholstered in a while so I was a bit irked to find out that my local JoAnn's will no longer cut foam to order.  If your fabric store is just as paranoid about a lawsuit, you can cut it like I did using a drywall knife.  I also used "high density" foam.  It costs more, but it's so much more durable and I think you can tell the difference when you sit on it. 

Both the back and seat cushions are removable with a wood frame underneath.  Didn't think to take a picture of that, but the point is, I needed to make the cushions fitted so I started with the sides by making a strip, slitting down the center and sewing a zipper onto it.  Then I attached the side strip to the front and back. 

I also painted the entire frame of the chair white.  And this is how a chair went from appalling to appealing: