WINDOW IN BURANO

I have absolutely fallen in love with Burano, Italy.  The houses, shutters and doors are all brightly painted.  I already have a longtime love of windows and doors.  Flowers on the sill or a flower boxes make hearts float out of my eyes.  Yup, it's true.  I get on Google Maps sometimes just to "walk the streets" and tour cities around the world. Burano is one of my all time favorite stops.  

I decided to paint a window for my home and place it in my hanging easel.  I bought two easels years ago at market to use in a Decorator Show House.  I wish I had purchased dozens of these easels because the room I designed ended up on the front cover of Better Homes and Gardens Window and Walls and a book (here's a Before and After post about that cottage dining room here). I had way too many calls and emails wanting those easels.  Problem is they were no longer for sale and I sold the other one to a client.  

Speaking of chandeliers (huh?) I sure wish I had the chandelier I used in that Cottage Dining Room.  It was a bazillion dollars back then and sure it would be two bazillion now.

Before the holidays we invited four couples to dinner and our small dining room got swallowed up when we put the extensions in the table. We would have to walk outside and around the house to come in another door to get to the other side of the table. We tried moving the table into the much larger, unused living room.  As soon as we did, it was such a Eureka moment.  We thought, "Why not keep it this way, we're the boss of us?"  So we did.  We lit lots of candles for that dinner, but we are planning another event this week and decided we need a chandelier.  Went about researching something large enough to light a large room and cheap enough to take back down if we ever sell the house and have to turn it into a living room again.  I was not happy with the prices or the timeframe to order one.  So two weekends ago we set out to find something local, cheap and in stock.  I prayed beforehand for a great find, as God knows I can be a tad bit, how should I say, PICKY.  After hitting all the big box stores we decided to check out Urban Barn, a huge flea market shop/antique, um...barn in Escondido.  That can take about two+ hours so I went in hopeful.  Tim and I split up to divide and conquer.  We met up a couple times and Tim mentioned he saw a chandelier way in the back area but too much stuff barricaded him from getting a good look.  He tried to take me to this back area but were told it was off bounds.  Not finding much, we purchased a birdcage and wine holder and as we were checking out the owner asked if we found what we came for.  Ha, next thing we knew we were the proud owners of this big baby.  Cost?  $35.  Yes way!!!

It's not the one from the show house, but looks and feels very Restoration Hardwareish and works just fine for $35, don't ya think?  Oh, and here's our newly converted "sitting room".  It's my favorite place to sit in the morning and plan my day.  Okay, that scary striped thing is a coverlet and I'm usually under it.