Happiest Birthdayiversary to Chelsea {and Matt}! Thank you Chelsea for sharing such sweet words of wisdom about turning the big three-O in your last post.

Since Chelsea is taking the day off to celebrate with the family, I am coming at you with another guest post.

When I found this chandelier at the ReStore, it already had a chalk-like grey finish. The problem was it had a broken top loop and a missing decorative finial at the bottom. I salvaged suitable replacements from another light fixture but they were a nickel finish and did not match. So... in steps chalk paint to save the day!

You can't even tell which were the mismatched replacement pieces.

I love the effect chalk paint has on metal. It tones down the sheen and gleam of a typical chandelier and makes the light fixture feel more earthy. I painted the metal frame of this chandelier in a warm gray color called "Primitive" by Americana Decor. I have been making my own chalk paint as of late, but saw this sample at Home Depot and thought what the hey...

For a fun twist, I removed the candle covers, wrapped them in sisal rope, and secured the rope in place with hot glue.

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? Thanks Chels for introducing sisal rope accents to me in your sisal rope lamp tutorial and using rope to add interest to a hanging photo posts ;)

This 5-bulb chalk-painted chandelier is available for sale.
$150

If you're interested in this piece, please contact Cate to see it in person. This and many other gorgeous pieces are listed in the Available for Sale sections in the right-hand menu. Let us know if you find something you like!

~Cate

This post was published under Chelsea's Garage, now affectionately known as StyleMutt.

Happy Friday, ya'll! We're workin' with rope again today! Yeehaw! I'd like to think I would have been a darn good cowgirl if, you know, I hadn't grown up in suburbia Northern Virginia. Oh, the what-ifs... (actually, I was responsible for two dozen horses by myself one weekend when I was 10 years old and working at a horse farm in exchange for riding time. The weekend wasn't a complete disaster)

Earlier this week I shared how to hang art with sisal rope in order to add visual substance to an empty wall:

Moving onto furniture, I've got two more ideas for our handy sisal rope!

1. Trim a recovered seat:

One of the first DIYs I learned was how to recover a seat. My parents gave us an extra staple gun that they had, which is really the only tool you need. That, and a screwdriver to remove the seat cushion from underneath. Once your seat is off, you can remove the existing fabric, (though that isn't always necessary), and then place your seat top-down on the new fabric. Pull the fabric moderately tight over the edges of your seat and staple away! Once your new fabric is attached and you've trimmed off any longer edges and ends, you can screw the seat back on. This is where I wash my hands and call it a day since I don't know the first thing about making or attaching piping cord. Depending on your seat, sisal rope might be the perfect answer!

For this project I plugged in our hot glue gun to let it 'pre-heat' and then measured and cut the proper length of rope I would need to wrap entirely around the seat. After I was done cutting the rope, the glue gun was ready. It was best to work slowly in one small 4" section at a time as the glue dries so fast! I just made a 4" strip of glue along the seam of the seat and then pressed the rope right over the line of glue. I love this alternative to piping cord and it was super easy!

2. Rustic roped lampshade

While the glue was still hot I decided to experiment with this stripped lampshade that was collecting dust in our garage. I pre-cut all the pieces of rope that I would need and set them aside within reach, working in small sections at a time. This project was a little more tedious as I had to go super slow with the glue to ensure it didn't drip off the wire frame. The end result though looks so cool! It totally has that rustic-chic Pottery Barn vibe going on. Pop in a little Edison bulb and it's a unique, sophisticated floor lamp!