wall lights

Entryway Part 3; Lights and Other Extras

Work is still going on under the stairs and at the back of the hallway. As the back door is the only one in the house that’s not double glazed retaining heat is a big consideration. So I adapted this curtain to keep the cold air out and the warm air in.

You’d be amazed at the cold chill you’re hit with when you draw the curtain back in the morning. Speaking of tiebacks, I got these from ebay.fr. They’re meant to go either side of the window, but with the door being right next to the wall one tie back wouldn’t work. So by doubling them up like this they work.

It had been too long, so I took the end off and sewed it as a trim on the top, adding this lovely lace.

That and the dog draught excluder make an enormous difference.

The painting is one I found at a brocante a long time ago. I think the slightly battered frame and her wistful expression suit the area.

The area needed light, as the one that had been there was tucked under the stairs behind the new cupboard.

I bought some beautiful, crystal chandelier wall lights from the same brocante, but there wasn’t a power outlet on the wall. This is my solution, so this is my solution. Now, I’m not an electrician, so please don’t take anything I’m about to say as professional advice.

I bought a lamp, electrical cord. It had an integrated light switch and a plug on one end. I attached this to the wall light and fixed the latter to the wall. Then I secured the cord to the wall and beams with cable clips. Finally I plugged it into an extension cable and clipped this to the beams length until it was plugged into a light socket.

I’m going to disguise the cord in another of my winter proofing techniques later.

Little Details

Just a quick post today – things are still feeling beyond me with the hubby away. So I decided to cheer myself up with some diy (😜). I thought I’d share some of the little touches with you.

The first one is the door. I love fingerplates and intricate handles and although I love these brass door handles, I knew I wanted to add something more. So I’ve been hunting out some vintage, french fingerplates on eBay. In the UK these would have been super expensive, but decorating in period style isn’t as popular in France it seems, and these were a good price.

This is the first one I’ve done, and I’ll show you the other side in a few days as it’s a little more in depth. So this is what it looked like (it’s another door as I forgot to take a photo before hand)….

and this is it now….

I love it!

Then the light under the stairs was broken (I tried to take the bulb out and it had rotted inside). So I used it as an opportunity to see if I could change it. It was a bit scary as I haven’t worked with electrics before, but despite blowing a fuse I managed it. This is the before…

and this is after….

I love the Victorian feel (but not the brown carpeted walls).

I’m trying to finish our dining room coving that I recently put up, but I want to share with you an Easter garland I did just before the holiday tomorrow. I’ll include a how to so come back and check it out.

Easter blessings!

Vintage Wall Lights With No Electrical Outlet?

Why not turn them into wall sconces?

I’d bought these wall sconces for 2€ each at a brocante before we moved. There were lots of electrics for them in our rented home, but not here. The stones in our ancient home, as many are here, are incredibly thick so having the electrics fitted for them would be expensive and a lot of work (I dread to think what the walls would look like afterwards). So for some time I’d been wondering where they’d fit in the house, dismissing each place in turn.

Then I had a brainwave; I’d only be using them very occasionally, perhaps when we had meals with candlelight, so why not use them as such? This is what I did and, believe me, it takes less than two minutes to convert them, ten including drilling a whole in the wall.

Here are the steps in photos;