How To Clean A Chandelier | How Tos

I have bought a chandelier or two (or ten) in my lifetime. Rarely do I get my hands on them and they are clean. Usually the fixtures I stumble upon on Craigslist or in a thrift shop have been sitting in an attic for decades and are covered in dust and sometimes very old bugs. Gross. Not to fear - with a little bit of elbow grease and a LOT of glass cleaner, you can get even the grimiest of chandeliers sparkling once again - just like it did in it's glory days.

Lola was skeptical we would get this one cleaned up.

The easiest way to clean a chandelier is to take it apart (if you can). Make sure to keep track of what parts go where. Also, try to make sure you disassemble the pieces on a soft surface just in case one of the crystals fall.

Once disassembled, place the glass strands and crystals onto paper towels and heavily spray them with glass cleaner (I used Windex). Once fully covered, gently rub the strands with another paper towel. I have found it helps to grab one end of the strand with a paper towel, and pull down to wipe off the entire strand. Please note, the chandeliers I have used glass cleaner on were not heirloom type chandeliers. If you have a fine antique fixture or true crystal chandelier, please consult with a professional before using any chemicals.

You will be amazed at what kind of dust and debris will wipe off those pretty crystals! I also ended up spray-painting this chandelier to tone down the 90s brass - taking off the crystals to clean them makes painting the metal a breeze.

This thing has so much sparkle! If you see an old, dusty, brass chandelier in a thrift store, don't be scared off! Almost anything can be brought back to life with a little love and time.

If your chandelier is already installed, the best method I had found is to put a towel underneath the fixture, and spray glass cleaner directly onto the crystals. Then, wipe down the chandelier strand by strand being careful not to yank too hard. The towel will absorb excess cleaner. I usually end up doing a deep cleaning about once a year.

The Borden Building, Raleigh NC | Historic Houses

If you are in the Raleigh area and haven't checked out Fred Fletcher Park yet, please pack up your kids and/or dog and head over there the next nice weekend. In my opinion, it is one of the prettiest landscaped public parks in the city and has lots of fun, family-friendly activities. Since Fletcher Park used to basically be my and Brian's backyard, we took a leisurely walk with Lola through the paths pretty much daily. Tucked away in this pretty little park is the Borden Building. This stately house was built in 1900 and was home to the superintendent of the Methodist Orphanage. Later on, this house was a home for dozens of children over the years. In 1992, the house was renovated by the city and is now available as a rental for weddings and events. The handsome brick exterior paired with crisp white columns and trim make this house so lovely. I can only image the view the homeowners used to have back in the day looking over the undeveloped area of what is now downtown Raleigh!

Dining Room Design Inspiration | Myrtle House

I never knew I wanted a formal dining room until I didn't have one. In the Brooklyn House, we had an itty bitty eat-in kitchen with *barely* enough room for a table, two chairs, and small bench. We could only sit four people around it if we were all friends - it was that tight. We ended up putting a rather large outdoor table outside for entertaining, but I swear, every time we hosted an outdoor dinner party, it rained.

So, when I first saw the dining room in the Myrtle House, I was super excited. This room is pretty massive and could easily fit my entire family (since my siblings all have significant others, there are 12 of us now!). While I would not call the house open concept, I do love that the dining room opens up to the living room with French doors which gives the space a rather great layout for entertaining. I already bought a pretty dresser to use as a buffet, and plan on using upholstered furniture that we already own for around the table. Here is my plan so far!

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The upholstered pieces are all from Homegoods, and I plan on having a mix-match look for seating. The chandelier is from a vintage shop and I am obsessed with it. We had it in our master bedroom, but this guy was way too big for our little bedroom. He will fit perfectly in this dining room, however! I also plan on using our two tall, smokey-blue glass lamps on the dresser we bought that perfectly match the chandelier gold color. The walls will be a deep, gray blue that is both cozy and sophisticated. It also looks like it will match our existing rug pretty well, too. I am hoping that Brian can craft a gorgeous dining table out of the old barnwood in the back. It would be nice to have a table made out of the old materials found on the property!

I cannot WAIT for this room to be done. I think it may be my favorite design in the house.

Neighbor Drama | Myrtle House

So we made a quick trip to the Myrtle House this weekend as one of Brian's childhood friends is expecting a baby and we were invited to the baby shower. Since NC has received a lot of snow this past month, we wanted to stop by the house and make sure it hadn't fallen in (sounds dramatic, but a validated concern). We were pleased to see the house is in fact still standing, but we did stumble upon another issue. A neighbor recently clear cut her backyard. There were giant old trees that she just demolished. I would have kept them, as they were lovely old trees, but to each their own. See the problem is, she cleared her yard and then dumped a big 'ol pile of trees into OUR yard!

As you can see, this is not your average pile of brush and will be very expensive to move. So, we have the happy task of dealing with this not-so-nice neighbor in civil court potentially. :/

On the flip side, we were able to meet the other neighbor next door who could not be nicer! He was good friends with Brian's Grandmother and had continued to mow her lawn even after she had passed. We noticed he was building raised garden beds and even offered us his produce!

Ugh, have you ever had to deal with nasty neighbors? How did you approach the situation?

Exterior Inspiration | Myrtle House

It is no secret that I love a classic black and white color scheme on a house, especially on an old one. There is something so clean and timeless about this look. For the Myrtle House, the house already has white aluminum siding and black accents on the windows, so to me it is a no-brainer to leave it the way it is. I will also throw in some touches of light blue (of course) on the porch ceilings. The foundation and chimney also feature this gorgeous, rich, brick that is over 100 years old. You can't make brick like this anymore! We made the mistake of using brick pavers from Lowes for a path on the Brooklyn House and it looked terrible. If you ever have to replace brick on an old home, please source out old brick (check Craigslist) - it will be well worth the extra effort and look much more cohesive!

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The Myrtle House actually has the potential for lots of outdoor living space, including a wrap-around porch and a side porch we plan on enclosing to make into a screened-in porch. In the South, I think a screened-in porch is a must for the summer! We will also add a little picket fence to keep any doggies safe as well as add a bit more definition to the rather large front yard.

For landscaping, I plan on adding my favorites - a climbing rose bush over the front steps, garden roses lining the front porch, camellias along the side screened-in porch for privacy (and gorgeous flowers!), and hydrangeas on the opposite side next to the fireplace. In the back, I would love to create a small fire pit under the oak tree that is surrounded in a peony garden.

One of the things I regret from the last renovation is waiting so long to do the landscaping! We put this last on our priority list and never got to enjoy our hard work in the garden. I would love to prioritize this on the Myrtle House so that things actually start to grow and fill in before the house is move-in ready. We shall see - things like fixing the structure and broken windows seem a bit more important than my peony garden. ;)

The Tucker House, Raleigh NC | Historic Houses

As many know, the Tucker House in Raleigh holds a special place in my heart as this is where Brian and I had our wedding reception! I fell in love with the Neo-Classical Revival architecture - those stately columns, the romantic balcony, and a sprawling mahogany staircase.

Built in 1915, this house belonged to Garland Scott Tucker (what a cool name!), his wife Toler Moore, and their four children. While the house was damaged by a fire in the 1930s, the original floor plan included a reception hall, library, radio room, telephone room and dining room downstairs, as well as the kitchen, bathroom and a butler's pantry.

Look at the details in these columns! So pretty!