Over the past months, I’ve been putting just a few finishing touches on my stepdaughter’s bedroom, and one of the last things I wanted to do for her was inject the space with a dash of big girl glam.  As you know from my fixation on metallic finishes, I’ve been wanting to silver leaf something, anything, for quite some time.  An inexpensive bronze Kmart lamp became the victim.  I’ve had this lamp for over three years and it was just looking a little, well, plain to me.  So rather than buying her a new lamp, I just decided to give it a glitzier look. 

For the faint of heart, the lovers of standard lamp bases, and the devotees to dark bronze, avert your eyes, look away, look away !   Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Now, for those like me who adore all things shiny, feast your eyes on my latest transformation, a lamp refinished in silver leaf. 

Before and After:

This project was incredibly simple, and took only a few hours to complete.  Here’s the play by play. 

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I get a hankering for the sand between my toes several times a year, then I quietly suggest to the fam that we head out to the beach, and it takes no convincing at all.  They race for their sandals and towels and can’t get into the car fast enough, then off to Bodega we go !

We happen to be lucky enough to live about thirty minutes from the Northern California coastline, so after a big weekend of gardening and home improvement, we decided to take a Sunday afternoon out at the coast to fly some kites and stop at our favorite seafood restaurant for the best clam chowder in the county.   

Bodega is fantastic in spring and fall, but incredibly foggy and cold in the summer, a lot like the weather in San Francisco.  So we head out the the coast as much as we can in April, May, September and October. 

I just love trails through sand dunes and coastal grasses. 

Inhale.  Breathe deeply.  Smell the salty air.  Life is good. 

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Spring is in the air today, and I’m so excited !  Mostly because our garden is beginning to bloom again.  We’ve got a lot of yardwork to do this weekend, but here are just a few shots taken last year in May. 

We have a dozen grosso lavender plants, and I harvest several pounds a year.  They are just beginning to bud.  I love to giveaway sachets and bundles to friends every year. 

I planted only cool shades in our rear yard, mostly whites, purples and pinks.  Here is some of our trailing verbena and lavatera in bloom. 

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Last week, I picked up a pair of dusty chairs at a thrift store.  I loved the classic cottage shape and the cheap price, but the finish was so grungy.  I brought them home and sanded them down to the raw wood, removing all the dirt and grime.  Then I gave them a fresh coat of spring green paint ! 

Here they are Before . . .

. . . and After

All it took was half an hour of sanding and and an hour of painting to give them a fresh new look with some paint and a little distressing !

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