Red Bird Cabin

I fell in love with a Murano red crystal chandelier that was way out of my price range, but refused to give up the dream of having one hanging over my small dining table.  After much searching, I found a wholesaler in NJ who sells this 4-light crystal chandelier for only $179. (Their eBay store is called chandelierliquidators and they have other styles & colors as well.) Comparable chandeliers are generally in the $2k and up price range.  Of course, this one’s made in China, not Italy…. and you have to assemble it yourself.  But, I love the design, and you won’t find a more affordable one (that isn’t Lucite).

Red Crystal Chandelier

You’ll notice that my chandelier looks a little simpler than the eBay photo. (I decided not to add the beaded strands that came with the chandelier when I was assembling it.) Oh, I should also mention that when you put the chandelier together, you’ll need someone handy to help with some basic electrical wiring.

As luck would have it, we found this vintage Bistro patio set on the street after a tip in the Craigslist free section.  The paint is peeling all over, but I’m down with the shabby chic look.  When I get the time, I’ll sand off the larger chunks of paint and clean it more thoroughly.  Bistro sets are the perfect fit for a narrow space (like our deck) because they’re so petite.  Our deck is only 6 feet wide at this point, but there’s still plenty of room to walk by the table and the space feels open.

Vintage Patio Set

My man is a righteous Brit.  Every morning, while I struggle with my Espresso machine, he starts off with a proper English-style cup of tea.  That means a strong black tea bag, held in hot water for 10 seconds or less, followed by a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and a dash of milk.  (He’ll never understand why Americans leave the bag in the cup and let the taste go bitter… or why they offer him cream for his tea at restaurants.)

Monogram Tea Cups

Another prerequisite of a good tea time is having the right cup.  Forget the clunky thick-rimmed coffee mug… that simply will not do for tea-sipping.  You need something thin, white, and made of china.  Luckily, I found these porcelain monogrammed tea cups from Anthropologie for $6/each.  And they passed the Brit-test. You can use them for coffee too (thank God) and it’s always easy to tell which cup is yours.

Robin’s Egg Blue wasn’t enough… here I go again with the blue-green hues.  I painted our bathroom Covington Blue (Benjamin Moore #HC-138) and I’m loving it.  (It reminds me of the bathroom in my Nana’s cottage on Martha’s Vineyard from many years ago.)  It’s cozy, beachy, summery… not too cool, not too warm, and works really well in a small space.

Covington Blue Bathroom

Because Covington Blue is deeper & darker than a Robin’s Egg Blue, I painted it only 3/4 of the way up the wall, trimming it off and using a soft white above.  For the white, my goal was to find a one very close in tone to the porcelain of my pedestal sink, tub & toilet.  And after about 7 sample jars of paint, the hands-down winner was White Dove (Benjamin Moore OC-17).  It’s the perfect bathroom white.  (I used satin on the walls, but semi-gloss for the cabinet and trim.)

I few years ago, I went on a quest to find the perfect robin’s egg blue to paint my bedroom walls. It’s such a beautiful subtle pale blue-green.  I bought multiple cans of paint… experimenting in patches and washes.  In the end, the color was close, but it was never quite warm enough in tone.

Now, fast forward to this week… I was in my garden poking around in my tomato plants, and what did I find but a tiny robin’s egg laying in the dirt.  It must have been knocked out of the nest by a raccoon or a menacing scrub jay.  I tried to find the nest so I could return it, but no dice.  Feeling sad for the birdie-never-to-be, I brought it inside and put it on my window sill… and there I had the idea to match the egg to my paint swatches.  So, after some deliberation, I think that it’s closest in tone to Benjamin Moore Antiguan Sky 2040-60.  However, if I were going to paint a mid-to-large sized room and wanted to keep the walls light feeling, I would use the color chip one step up on the same card.  It’s Benjamin Moore Spring Mint 2040-70.  (Remember, paint always looks a bit brighter and more saturated on the wall than it does on the paint chip.)  I can’t wait until I have another room to paint Robin’s Egg Blue!

Robin's Egg Blue

Side Note: Martha Stewart also makes a “Robin’s Egg Blue” paint color, but I found it to be a little dark and over-saturated on the wall.