A Gem of a Chandelier

I recently found a new piece of artwork for our master bedroom, and it sprung the desire to revisit the room all together.  They always say that the master bedroom is one of the most neglected spaces in the home, when in fact, it should be the room that is considered a retreat and a sanctuary from everyday stresses. 

I am not planning on doing much, we have much bigger fish to fry in this house.  In fact, I am about to finish up our last dirty project which is the dreaded storage room, so the bedroom is just going to receive a few small tweaks.  A couple happy projects to keep me excited in-between sorting through tools and holiday decor.

To give myself a fresh take, a few weeks ago I emptied everything out of the room.  I took down the art and wall decor, cleared the clutter from all of the surfaces and put out our white comforter on the bed.  Just that act alone made the room feel so much more calm and relaxing and I have been enjoying the simplified state.  The first project on the list in the bedroom update was the chandelier.

We already had a chandelier hanging in our room, which we installed a few years ago.  It was initially from IKEA and we added a few shades to soften the look a bit.

Every time I looked at the chandelier, I thought about our dining room.  It didn't feel bedroom-like to me, but more formal like I should be eating a plate of spaghetti under it.  So I pulled off the shades and it was already much more romantic feeling.

Then, while window shopping during my recent trip to New York, I spotted a chandelier that had swooping strands of marble beads.  I have seen my share of beautiful crystal chandeliers, but I was loving the effect of the stone.  I initially thought I may want to attempt to replicate the look with white beads paired with grey nail polish to achieve a pretty marbleized look (like I did for my tray project).  However, I decided that the room needed a small dash of color and something a little more substantial than plastic beads dipped in nail polish.

After a lot of searching, I found these pretty gemstone frost mixed color amazonite beads on amazon.  They came in 15" strands and after measuring and math I determined I needed a total of 135".  That would give me five, 12" strands for between each light and five, 15" strands that would swoop to the top of the chandelier.

Once the beads arrived in my mailbox, I was giddy to get started.  The beads are beautiful quality, heavy weighted and have a gorgeous detail to them.

I began by stringing the beads on a .15 mm beading thread, giving myself enough extra thread to attach the beads to the chandelier.

To get started, we slightly disassembled the chandelier to give us a good location to string the upper strands of beads.

Once all nine strands were strung, I asked Bryan to drill some holes into the chandelier candle cups.

I then strung each 12" strand of beads between the candle portion of the chandelier.

I looped the thread around the candle cup a few times and then added a small dab of hot glue on top to really hold the strands in place.  None of this can be seen from ground level, so I didn't have to get sneaky about hiding any of the ugly stuff.

Bottom portion done.

To string the upper beads, I just wrapped the top thread around the bolts holding the arms of the chandelier.  They would eventually be covered by the canopy, so this was the perfect spot to attach things. 

I added a small bit of hot glue on each strand before buttoning things back up.

The beads are so pretty and now the chandelier feels so much more whimsical and romantic!

The stone adds a beautiful natural element to our space.  Makes me want to sing, "Swoop, there it is!"

Here is a view from below.

Aside from a few small purchases {like the art that inspired it all}, I am hoping to reuse many of the items from the space in new ways.  This little chandelier project was a great start!

Don't you just love when one new room accessory sets you into a tailspin of new ideas?  I will be sure to share the art when I get it framed and hung, as well as the rest of the tweaks we make along the way.  Toss in a storage room clean-out and it is sure to be a party around here!