Monday, August 25, 2014

My Steampunk Dining Room: New Update & Pics!

You guys! After years and years of searching... I finally found a dining room light fixture.

Let the rejoicing... BEGIN.

See, I was forever drooling over stuff like this:

via Houzz


But I was also completely in love with banded globes, like these:



It had to be vintage enough for steampunk, elegant, but still casual, and with down lights for functionality, since I do most of my crafting at the table.

After a few years I decided the light didn't exist, so John - ever resourceful - drew up plans to build one:

But then we'd get to the point of discussing welding the iron frame (!!), and I'd tell him it was too much work; I'd just keep looking.

And finally - FINALLY - after scouring every light store in central Florida, and then every website I could think of, I found this:


At $336 it's the most expensive light we've ever purchased, but considering how long I've been looking? - totally worth it.

(It'd be nice with bare Edison bulbs instead of globes, too, but since those would cost another $60 this is great for now. Maybe I'll try removing the globes later.)

This is also a great excuse to photograph my dining room again, since I just realized you guys haven't seen it in a couple of years:


Looking back at my old dining room photos, WOW am I glad we found that antique radio cabinet. Really helps fill the space.


Funny; you see so many of these metal globe fixtures now, but this is the only one I've seen with lights pointing down, and also on the outside of the sphere. (You watch; now they'll be everywhere.)

We have it on a dimmer, so at extra low light the globes glow orange:


The ceiling medallion was a plain white one from Home Depot, so John threw a little brown glaze on it to age it down:
 
 The glaze helps the design stand out more, too.




And since I'm so proud of John, I've also gotta show off the frame he made last week:


I've had this art print rolled up for over a year now, since I'm too cheap for custom framing. Finally John took a giant clearance frame we bought for $25, cut it up, re-assembled it, & refinished it to an aged coppery gold to match the art. And it is SO PRETTY.

The print itself is perfectly matte, so it almost looks a velvet painting up close - only, you know, in a good way. (You can buy it directly from the artist here on DeviantArt - only $23!)


Aaaand that's a perfect segue into announcing this month's art winner! So congratulations to... AliceGracey!!
Please e-mail me your mailing address, Alice, plus your choice of prize from my Pinterest art give-away board.


Hope you guys liked the new mini-tour of our steampunk dining room!

37 comments:

  1. You and John are seriously the craftiest, cleverest people. I love all the little details in your kitchen and the light totally makes the room! Also, I'm super jealous that you have a card catalog cabinet against the wall. I've been looking for one for myself but I think I'm about five to ten years too late to find one that isn't ridiculously expensive.

    Thanks for sharing! Enjoy crafting in your gorgeous dining room!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love that newly framed photo, your chandelier, and your dining room! I've never felt like I've learned decorating right, but man you do such a nice job! Maybe someday I will get better at it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So, I'm wondering something. I know you collect a lot of stuff before you have enough to build your pieces and assemble a display. How do you store all your bits and pieces while you're waiting for that last perfect bit to come along?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have a stash of home decor bits in my office closet - everything from antique microscopes to cigar boxes to candle sticks - and I regularly swap things out from there. It only takes up one large shelf, though, so I don't keep much on reserve, and none of the pieces are very large, either. I actually LIKE cluttered displays - as you can tell from these pics! - so I tend towards small pieces which are easier to store. (And also to cram into existing displays. Ha!)

      Delete
  4. Absolutely delightful.... and Yeah! for finding a light fixture you love.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Have you shown that little Epbot metallic figure before? If so, I missed it. Who made it, where can I find close ups :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I *think* so, since it's over on the Fan Art page. It's by an assemblage artist from New Zealand, Sean Boyd. Here's a nice close-up.

      Delete
  6. I'd like to live in that print!

    ReplyDelete
  7. You could go full on industrial with the globes and make them green a la http://thedeconstructedhouse.mybigcommerce.com/green-vintage-light-fixture/

    ReplyDelete
  8. We've been looking for over a year now for a light for our dining room - it's so frustrating. Love the one you've found and agree, definitely worth the $$, especially if you were starting to talk about welding your own! As much as the Edison bulbs would look lovely in it I think you'd find that they don't give out enough light for crafting under :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's definitely a concern, plus the Edisons put out so much heat! Even with energy saving bulbs in this thing it really warms up the room at full strength. 0.o

      Delete
  9. All I want to know is, how do you keep it so CLEAN?!

    (2 adults, teenager, toddler, 3 cats and a dog)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! It helps to NOT have a teenager, toddler, dog, and one extra cat. :D

      Delete
  10. I love the light you found! Congrats of finally getting one. :) I've been looking for my dining room also, but I doubt my boyfriend will let me spend that amount - especially since shipping to Canada is probably awful.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have many wishes in my life. But one of my biggest is that I want to be able to decorate like you guys! I just have no clue where to begin, ever! And I see all of your AMAZING pictures, and just want to be able to do that! *sigh* Oh well...but major props on the dining room! It looked great all those years ago, looks awesome now! Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I know that it's too late now, but the design that you show could have been entirely assembled with rivets. Considering my basic level of welding, that is what I would have tried.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Is that a gumball machine full of glass eyes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heh, no, they're ceramic balls with numbers on 'em - like Bingo balls, I guess? But all different sizes.

      Delete
  14. You guys never cease to impress and amaze me. I wish I lived closer so I could be your crafting buddy and you could show me some things (and loan me your tools too, obvs). Thank you for sharing your BEAUTIFUL space with us!
    If I was a network exec, I would create a DIY show for you two, cast body doubles for each of you and produce a whole series of tutorials of your awesome projects!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Would you be willing to do a tutorial of a pre-fab frame breakdown and rebuild sometime? Like you, I have a lot of non-standard sized art but limited funds for framing. Such a tutorial would be awesome, and much appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm, lemme ask John if he thinks it's doable with basic tools. If he didn't use anything too specialized, then I'll try to whip up a tutorial in the future. :)

      Delete
  16. I love the new light fixture.... although, I think John's may have turned out pretty cool too! :) Maybe you could have him do it anyway, and use it as a back porch light fixture.
    I could look at the pics of your dining room for hours... it's like a hidden picture. You find something new hiding in there everytime you look. :) Pretty cool stuff, Jen & John!
    -- Piper P from Washington State

    ReplyDelete
  17. It looks so great, everything works perfectly together! Even if I hadn't been following the blog for years, its easy to tell how much time, thought and effort you guys have put in. Love the medallion and frame makeovers too. (Although the curtains still might be my favorite part.)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I LOVE your dining room...but I love it like I love display rooms in museums. I don't think I could ever have a dining room like that because I hate to dust. Do you have someone help you keep it clean? If not, I really admire your dusting abilities! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha! No, no help, but it's not too bad; I have one of those Swiffer duster thingies, plus I change out the displays so often they don't have time to gather much.

      Delete
  19. Hi Jen! It's gorgeous... but is that a card catalog in the little cut out nook?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's actually an apothecary cabinet that I added metal label tags to. Not vintage, though; we found it at an import store several years back.

      Delete
  20. Beautiful light fixture, Jen! So glad you finally found something you love, and it looks perfect in your amazing dining room.

    The ceiling medallion and frame both look great, John.

    For all your new readers, you really should stick a couple links to your posts about refurbishing the radio cabinet up there where you mention how glad you are that you found it. That was some majorly gorgeous and inspiring work. Those putty patches on the lattice grill blew my mind. Then, there's that awesome LED light display AND, best of all, the antique watch case holding the iPod. Holy guacamole! Even for the readers who have already seen it, it's worth a second look. You guys are too cool.

    Wishing you both a fantastic time at DragonCon this weekend,
    KW

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Done and done! Thanks for making me blush, K. :)

      Delete
  21. I just moved and I need you to come decorate my house! Pretty please? I'll pay for the trip!

    ReplyDelete
  22. It all looks gorgeous! And can I just ask: are the bands on John's light fixture design arranged to mimic the reference circles on a celestial globe? Because that would be SO COOOOOOOOOOL.

    Yours in admiration,
    Kimstu

    ReplyDelete
  23. Look at Hautelook.com, Home, Rustic Design. They have similar lamps. Now I want to redecorate.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Jaw to the floor....

    I love love love love your redesigns. I have been going back through older entries and just sigh at how beautiful (Shiny!!!) everything is. :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. It took us 10 years of active looking to finally find and buy a dining room china cabinet. We finally found one online and ordered it. It was very scary as we committed a couple thousand dollars to buy this online up front. Very expensive, but we'd been looking so long and it was a handmade Amish piece. Scariest purchase online we've ever made. But it was stunning when it arrived (still is) and will become a family heirloom.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Yeah, that lamp is totally it!I love it and how awesome the dinning room looks now!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Wow, it is perfect in there!

    Just curious if you'd ever done any aging on plastic? The room looks amazing, but the dimmer switch sticks out since it's so bright white... I wouldn't be surprised if you and John could use your craft wizardry to make it match that pretty ceiling medallion!

    ReplyDelete

Please be respectful when commenting; dissenting opinions are great, but personal attacks or hateful remarks will be removed. Also, including a link? Then here's your html cheat sheet: <a href="LINK ADDRESS">YOUR TEXT</a>