|
Exciting news! Delightful Designs is taking the show on the road! My man and I are packing our bags and moving to Rome! In a few short months I will be sharing my home decor adventures, vintage finds and furniture makeovers from Italy. There will be treasure hunting at street markets and scouting antique shops hidden down cobble street alleyways. Vintage camera in hand I will post daily on Instagram and continue my weekly post here. Read More... 
0 Comments
The Alameda Point Antique Faire is tomorrow, Sunday April 3rd! There will be 800 plus vendors and no shortage of treasures to be found. I am excited to bring all of my painted furniture and reupholstered pieces to the show. The weather is going to be beautiful and the crowds large. Having been on both sides of the antique faire I thought I would share some tips for an enjoyable day of treasure hunting. Read More  Furniture hardware can make or break your makeover project. Select the wrong style and your piece will look like it's going through a midlife crisis and the wrong size will fade into the background or take center stage. The goal is to accessorize with the right hardware that will take the piece to the next level. I am always on the look out for new hardware, whether or not I actually have a project in mind. So much so that I carry a screwdriver around in my purse. Some of my favorite hardware has come off of the abandoned furniture from the streets of San Francisco. When thrifting remember to not just looking at the furniture but to check out the hardware, if the furniture item isn't great but is a good price I will buy the item for the drawer pulls or knobs. Another great place to find unique hardware is at the Alameda Point Antique Faire, there are a few vendors that have a small selection but there is one gentleman that has an entire booth dedicated to vintage treasures! I have also found some wonderful pieces at many of the San Francisco thrift stores, Community Thrift and The Salvation Army in the Mission have a lot of furniture turnover so if you see something you like you have to get it when you see it or it won't be there tomorrow.  A few months ago while treasure hunting at the Alameda Antique Faire hidden behind piles of items I saw a lily pad base popping out and was instantly in love. I have seen this type of lamp before but never with an ornate shade base. They were beautiful and they needed to come home with me! Once home I did some thinking and decided that though they are lovely in their original form I wanted to update them. My first thought was Edison bulbs, industrial chic and modern. To do so the lamps needed to be rewired from a chandelier base to a standard socket. This is something I have never attempted before so I took them to a lamp expert only to be told it would cost $110...Eek! Not willing to drop that much cash on a couple of lamps I decided to give it a whirl myself...after all I changed all the electrical sockets and hardwired the ceiling pendants at the shop why was this any different. After digging through the lamp kit section at my neighborhood hardware store I found what I thought might do the trick!  1 of 2 Vintage Lily Pad Table Lamps  Chandelier base to be replaced with standard socket  Tools needed to complete transformation  Chandelier base First thing make sure your wiring works, if it does not you will need to use new wiring. Secondly make sure the lamp is unplugged and gather your tools. In this case my wiring was good all I needed was a small flat head screw driver and the new socket. While removing the chandelier socket I made sure to mark which wire went with which screw, as you can see in the photo below one is silver and one is gold. I used a purple sharpie and just scribbled on the wire to be connected to the silver screw. Slide your wires through the hole that attaches the socket to the lamp, bend the wires around the proper screw and tighten. Screw the socket back onto the lamp, add a lightbulb and hit the switch! It really is that easy!  New Standard Socket
 Final Product The lamp expert I spoke to said it was hard work and time consuming hence the hefty price tag. This took me 15 minutes and $9 to complete both lamps. I was a little weary after hearing how hard this could be and I didn't want to ruin such beautiful pieces, but when I plugged the lamps in and the light bulb lit up I was elated. I called Dad to tell him my story so proud of myself for accomplishing something new, but what really made me smile was what he said about the lamp expert, "He hasn't met a Stoecker"! Dad was right, as usual, you can do anything you put your mind to, have confidence in yourself and give it a whirl. Thanks Dad!
Tomorrow (Sunday October 4th) the shop on Irving Street will be closed and showcasing all of it treasures at the Alameda Antique Faire! If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area and want a fun way to spend your Sunday come on out! Soak up some sunshine while treasure hunting through the many rows of antiques, stop for lunch at one of the many great food trucks and enjoy the day with friends and family!  You can find Delightful Designs at Booth D28! We (the above goof balls) will be having a blast so stop by to join in the fun! Hoping that our first off-site outing is a fun and successful day! Want more information on the Faire check out our event page.
I am very excited to share some news with everyone today! Next month I will be a participating vendor at the Alameda Point Antique Faire! On Sunday October 4th the shop on Irving Street will be closed but you will be able to find Delightful Designs goodies at Alameda Booth D28. For more information including directions pop over to their website www.alamedapointantiquesfaire.com I have been attending this faire since I moved to the San Francisco area seven years ago! Whether you are looking for something particular or just want a fun way to spend a Sunday this is a great place to do either! As you enter the gates the familiar scent of kettle corn hits your nose... grab a bag and begin to wander the endless rows of treasures. Bring the family there are plenty of toys for little ones to take home! Don't forget to stop for lunch at one of the many food trucks! Here are some Before & After photos of Items I have found at the Alameda Faire!
If you are a resident of San Francisco you will welcome the change as you escape from Karl the Fog for a sunny adventure...take the ferry if you really want to up the adventure!
Happy Labor Day Weekend!
There is so much to look forward to this holiday weekend! With family coming to town and my favorite antique faire on Sunday it is bound to be great! To share my delight with everyone I have marked down some of the one-of-a-kind pieces on my Online Store AND for a $20 credit to put towards your purchase subscribe to the mailing list!
This weekend is sure to be a fun filled crazy adventure! Sunday is the Alameda Antique Faire so the shop will be closed while I hunt for new treasures to bring back to life and into the shop. After a long day of treasure hunting I will hop on a plane and head to Las Vegas where I will meet my mom for an exciting few days of shopping the Las Vegas Market! I have never been to a large trade show before and very grateful my mom has accepted my invitation to torture our feet by walking for endless hours through many floors and buildings of home furnishings.  Follow along as I explore Alameda and the Las Vegas Market. I will be posting my finds on Instagram!
The shop will be closed from Sunday August 1st to Wednesday August 5th and will reopen its doors on Thursday August 6th! Have a great weekend see everyone next week! If you have been following along, and I hope you have, you probably noticed that I love all things colorful, shiny and sparkly! This month at the Alameda Antique Faire I was drawn to a certain metallic...can you guess which one? Metallics are very versatile, they can create an entire glamorous setting or enhance a more subtle look. After a fun day wandering the market I brought some amazing brass treasures home and began to polish them back to the original shiny state. Photos are before being polished.     After polishing brass some copper may rise to the surface resulting in pink spots. I am currently experimenting with a mixture of white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide which is supposed to transform any brass piece back to its fabulous metallic state! I'll keep everyone posted as to the results! Trying to be environmentally friendly and avoid the chemical cleaners I made a paste from 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup white vinegar and added white flour until a paste was formed. I then painted the paste onto the brass items let is sit for a few minutes, rubbed it in with a cloth, washed them off with water and then one final polish with a clean and dry cloth.
It's that time again! Tomorrow, Sunday June 7th, is the Alameda Antique Faire! I will be up before the sun to travel to Alameda in hopes of finding some great new treasures for the shop. Here is a look back at a few of my finds from last months adventure!    Follow my instagram feed tomorrow for live posts of my Alameda Antique Faire treasure hunt!
|
~ ABOUT ME ~
Creative Owner of Delightful Designs, a boutique where furniture is given a new colorfully chic life! Read more...
CATEGORIES
All
ARCHIVES
November 2017
|
RSS Feed