Ever since I gave my dining room a makeover earlier this year, the round mirror on the north wall has looked...well, it just looks lonely. It needs sconces or something with candlelight to flank it. I finally found what I was looking for.
I had purchased two black lanterns at Home Goods a few weeks ago for about $12 each and plunked them on the mantle while I tried to figure out what I want to do with the mantle and what I want to do with the lanterns.
The gold star burst mirror hanging above the mantle and the new thrift store ivory urns don't really jive with the black lanterns so I didn't want them to stay there - they were just resting there waiting for my moment of brilliance to arrive. Sometimes I just like to place accessories somewhere and ponder them for a bit. Specifically, I put them in the living room as that's where I watch TV at night or read or listen to music, chat on the phone, etc. When you're forced to confront something often enough, you'll eventually have a moment of brilliance about what to do with it (or you'll just take it back to the store for a refund :-).
Anyhoo, my idea was to hang the lanterns on either side of the round black mirror in the dining room. So, I went to Lowe's and purchased two of these black iron plant hangers for a little less than $2 each:
Next I traced the lanterns to make paper templates. I always do this to minimize screw ups whenever I have to hang something. Sometimes it works, sometimes it fails miserably.
Then the lanterns were ready to dangle from their new hooks. Ideally, I would have preferred narrower lanterns, but these are fine. As the Nester says, it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.
I'm expecting these matchstick shades from Home Depot to arrive any day now. I'm hoping they'll still allow some light in while obscuring the view of the side of my neighbor's house. It's a lovely house, I just don't necessarily want to look at from my dining room.
Next on the agenda is figuring out a new look for the living room mantle. The mirror must stay, but everything else is subject to change. Stay tuned.
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