For a while now, the front room has been pretty much done. You have probably seen snippets of it over the past year as furniture was added, color put on the walls and curtains added to the windows. I think the space is relaxing and comfortable, and am very happy with the light blue paint with white details. One thing was standing in the way of completion: a light fixture in the room. The ugly light from Hope Depot that the sellers of the house put in to "update" it would not work. So the search has been on. I have looked on-line and been outbid on eBay. I have shopped in catalogs for chandeliers made from Murano glass in Italy and priced far above my budget. I have looked in second-hand shops, thrift stores, antique malls and anywhere else I thought I might find a bargain. IKEA. Target. Crate and Barrel. Zilch. Nothing. Nada.
One place I have been stopping to look occasionally is the Restore, the Habitat for Humanity resale shop, which benefits the efforts of Habitat in the Austin area. If you don't have one in your town, they are basically thrift store version of Home Depot/Lowe's. You can find some bargains if you are willing to dig and go back again and again. I wasn't looking for THE chandelier of my dreams, merely a stopgap version that I could use until I saved enough money or found THE chandelier of my dreams. But, not even the stopgap version had appeared a the Habitat store. That is, not until yesterday.
I was on my way back home from taking cardboard to the recycling center. The funny thing is, what I thought was the Ecology Action of Texas recycling center turned out to actually be the trash processing center for one of the bars downtown. Whoops! The recycling place was just down the street and was this amazing junky street corner piled high with boxes, cans and bottles. Suburban housewives and hippies milled about, oblivious to one another in their effort to be green. Anyway, so driving home I passed by Habitat and made a split-second decision to pull in and have a look.
The moment I walked through the door, I knew it was there. Perhaps you think its strange that I would have a psychic moment while thrift shopping, but it actually happens to me pretty regularly. Especially if it is something I have been asking and asking and asking the universe to send my way.
I walked onto the light fixture aisle and there it was, a large beautiful black chandelier. Simple, with just a touch of ornament and perfect for the dining room. And more importantly, THE chandelier of my dreams, not the stopgap one I thought I might find.Shop diligently, and you will find it.