Yesterday was an interesting day. At the start of the day I was still feeling tired and drained from Matt’s hospital stay and had decided I would just take the day off. But towards the middle of the afternoon I started to feel like the clouds of exhaustion were starting to lift and I was starting to feel more like myself. And for some reason I was too focused on one thing – finding a new frame for our chapel picture.
I originally planned to keep the thin gold frame that has been on the picture for years. But this frame is so thin that I kept wanting to hang something else on the wall with it, and my thoughts naturally went to wall lights because I really like wall lights.
Several people suggested adding a larger frame to the image, and while I wasn’t initially open to it, I came up with the idea yesterday. So I decided to go to Michael and Hobby Lobby to see if I could find something I liked. In fact, I felt so good, so energized, and so much more like myself that I went out in the pouring rain yesterday just to look for a new frame.
I didn’t find anything in either place. I even looked at the custom frame options but nothing really caught my eye. I really wanted to find something unique and different, but everything I found (both ready-made and custom-made) were just standard off-the-shelf frames. None of this interested me at all.
But while I was at Hobby Lobby I picked up two lamps for the bedroom. I admit that these were impulse purchases. I really like the shape of the lamp bases, and I like that the lampshades aren’t too stark white. I bought them knowing that if I kept them I would have to paint the bases a color that would match the room. But I wanted the whole vision, so I mounted one of the curtain rods and then hung one of the curtains (although I couldn’t find my curtain pins so I had to use the clips on the curtain rings for now), and then I draped a piece of dark teal velvet fabric over the curtain rod and pinned the orange and cream trim.
Obviously nothing is really finished at the moment, but here’s a little glimpse of what the future holds…
Overall I love it. Of course, there are a few things you have to keep in mind. Firstly, I will not be using these spring clips on the curtain rings. Once I know where I stored the curtain hooks that came off of these curtains, I’ll hang them properly. Second, instead of applying the orange and cream trim so that the entire 3 inch width is visible, I tried wrapping it around the edge so that only half of it is visible. I really like how this looks. I like that it adds just a touch of color without drawing too much attention like a 3-inch wide trim would. And thirdly, the finished curtain panels are of course placed in pinch folds and hung on curtain rings so that the curtain rod is completely visible. I don’t do curtains that are gathered on the rod. But I just wanted to get a general idea of where this is going.
But I’m not entirely convinced by the lamps yet. Although I like the shape of the base and the shape and color of the lampshade, I think they are a bit too high. I could remove this part which I think would make the height just right.
But I don’t think I realized how rough the finish of these pads was until I got them home. They would need a lot of sanding to get them smooth enough to paint without the texture showing through. This rough texture is far too “farm-like” for my personal taste. So I’ll probably take them back and look for something that has a similar base and shade but wouldn’t require as much prep work to paint them. Or who knows? Maybe I can find some that are the perfect color and don’t need painting.
But last night, as I was sitting at my computer, I saw an ad on Wayfair for a mirror that caught my attention – this Castellanos mirror in a natural finish (affiliate link). I immediately thought: “That’s it! This is the frame I want!“I don’t need a mirror, but I can always take the mirror out of the frame and just use the frame for my picture. This is what it looks like.”
It was more money than I wanted to spend, but after thinking about it, I realized it was about the same price as I would have paid for a custom frame. So I bought it. I’m very excited about it. As I said, I went for something unique and something that isn’t just an ordinary frame and I think this is just right. I made a small model of it so I can see what it will look like.
The current gold frame is 24″ x 36″ and this new frame is 30″ x 40″. With the new larger format and the eye-catching and unique design of the frame, I think the picture can stand alone on the wall without me feeling the need to add anything else to the wall. I’m really excited about it and really hope it works out the way I imagined. It’s supposed to arrive on Monday, so we’ll see!
