She's so bubbly

I finally ditched the boring pendant light above my kitchen sink.  I discovered a strange, space-age looking lamp at the thrift store for $20, that I thought had potential.  It reminded me of a movie prop from the film, "The Man That Fell To Earth" with David Bowie. 

 It weighed about 20 lbs and had a box made of wood, brass, and glass that surrounded it.  My husband, however, did not see its potential.

I had a friend help me take the "box" off and weld bigger holes on the top, so I would be able to mount it to the ceiling.  Actually, HE kind of looks like David Bowie.  

 I sprayed the entire fixture silver, after I taped off the electrical components.

No project ever goes according to plan, and once I had our original fixture off the ceiling, I realized that the lighting box had a broken, headlless screw.

This meant, that the previous fixture had been hanging precariously above my head.  I googled how to remove the lighting box...thank heavens for the interwebs.  Basically, I had to chisel away all the plaster around the box, until I discovered the screws holding it into the ceiling joist.

The ceiling was officially looking really awful and my husband was cursing the "Bowie-delier."  I replaced the top of the lighting box, bought some new bolts and wingnuts and after many sweaty hours (Holding your arms above your head is HARD!) I finally had the fixture mounted.  Thankfully, the plaster damage is covered.

I love it! It's really whimsical, and reminds me of bubbles floating about my head while I do dishes...like in that scene, from The Labrinth...with David Bowie. ;)

Here is the before and after:

Builder's grade into a lazy sputnik chandelier.

Emery and Ohlin's finished bedroom!!

I got these bunk beds on craigslist for $30! The bedding is an Alexander Girard design and I made the paper bunting over the bed.

Image in from an advertisement from 1954.

The room is painted Teal Zeal and there is a racing stripe of chalkboard paint that goes around the entire room.

We installed a new sputnik light fixture!

In the corner we created a reading nook with vinyl gutter bookshelves, two reading lamps, and a Plycraft rocker and ottoman!

The pillow is also Alexander Girard, and we have a little tulip table next to the chair for water and extra books.

The framed poster is from the National Park series, by Charley Harper, of the Rocky Mtns.

The second framed poster is another Charley Harper, this time for Glacier National Park in Alaska.  The whole room has a triangle/chevron motif. 

I bought some peg legs for the second dresser, but I haven't gotten around to installing them yet.  This framed poster is one of my favorite things in the room! We chose The Empire Strikes Back print because Emery loves Darth Vader, but I would hang any of the series in my home.  Check them out here. 

The poster color ended up being almost an exact match to the paint color, what a happy coincidence!

Who needs a teddy, when you can snuggle with the Dark Lord?

Starstruck

I was lucky enough to grow up in a house with a lot of it's original mid-century features intact.  Besides the pink and black kitchen, the house had both a starburst doorbell and doorknob!  For Christmas this year, my mom got me my very own atomic star "bling". What do you think?

Sputnik was launched in 1957, but the starburst pattern was present in design features starting much earlier.  It was an era obsessed with space travel, high velocity machines, glass and neon, which inspired "Googie" style architecture.  Futuristic visions for the atomic age, had us all "reaching for the stars." 

 I found a similar door knob back plate at an antique store, but am still on the look out for a knob that will fit inside.  If you have any insight or resources about where I should look, please let me know.

From top left to right:

Sputnik light fixture, Star Glow dishware, children's Atomic Energy Lab toy, Franciscan Ware's beloved "Starburst" pattern (1954), aqua Pyrex, 1950s bark cloth fabric, Taylor and Smith dishware, and Nelson clock.