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Friday, June 24, 2011

I admit it. I have been in a dumpster to rescue a light!

At least 6 years ago, my brother (yep, the one who knows I like old stuff) called...."Fazoli's is closing. Men are taking things and throwing them in a dumpster."
OH.MY.GOODNESS. I did it. I got several red Fazoli lights out of the dumpster!! I had ABSOLUTELY no idea what I was going to do with them! There were some little ones that hung over the tables and some HUGE ones that hung on the outside of the building. I just couldn't let them go to the dump....I put them in our little corn bin...for a couple years.

THEN we decided to move...to a house that wasn't finished---yippee--- I think--- (it's not finished yet, I'll let you know if it was a good move or not)....I designed our kitchen around the Fazoli lights. I mean, really, how could I not...they were red and FREE!

They might just have a couple dents and some scratches, but you would too, if someone threw you in a dumpster.

Here is a BEFORE picture ( I told ya we bought it not finished, CRAZY, I know!! )...I was practicing to see if this was a good spot to have the table....the light was wrapped around a truss ;) Gotta love good visuals don't ya?


See the 6 foot windows (the medical cabinet is between them now)...see why we had my brother (that's him) help us put them in! LOOK AT THAT VIEW!! I love Iowa :) Working on this house is a long story and you will hear it all ---eventually--- but there was only that little window...and Ron is standing in what was going to be pantry---it's not---it's the dining room. Sometimes, yeah most of the time, I'm thankful we could finish this house the way we did! I'll be talking about all the work we did and the things we learned for a long, long time!

Anyways, I have three little Fazolis over the island, one over the cook top, and one WAS hanging over the table. She was pretty and did a good job...however.....remember the sale where we found my pretty medical cabinet

---if not, you can read about it click here.

When my hubby went to pick up the cabinet, he brought back TWO of these pretties!



 One hangs above our table and one hangs above hubby's work bench....where he restores all the old radios you see in pictures!
We think these were old school lights. They had a little cleaning, little paint, new wires, and they are JUST LIKE NEW---well, maybe better than new....they have character! Oh, and did I mention, $15 for both....now, don't you love them even more?














In our upstairs hallway we have our old windmill light from the farmhouse we moved away from.... She got some new wiring, but otherwise she is just as she was (except for that fancy light bulb)!














The hallway had lights in it....SO, they had some spray paint. And when you are standing on a chair you can see that there just might be a scratch with some gold showing...OH, NO! Don't stand on a chair in the hallway at my house...you might see something you don't want to ;)



I WOULD like you to notice the ceiling and walls in this and the windmill light pictures. I base painted them a light tan. Then the ceiling got a taupe glaze and the walls had black glaze rubbed on them. It's different, it's ok, and we will talk more about it.... someday!...we had an issue with the texture. Have I told you yet? I HATE sheetrock mud...that has to be the worst job in the world...I was close to a nervous breakdown over mudding....plus my arm hurt and it was July.in.Iowa. with no AC!!....need I say more? NO?      OK, I'm glad you got it.      Back to lights.



This little beauty is from our FREE finds...remember the tote made from wood from the Iowa farmhouse....and the wood to do our bedroom floors.



This light was in the dining room of THAT house. She got a REALLY good cleaning and now resides in our closet. I had no idea she was so pretty there was SO much dirt on her.

The stairway to our lower level wasn't finished. Have you ever put tongue and groove wood on stairs?....in case you want to know...it takes a LOT of measuring and saw cuts to do it! THAT wood has a story too! Hubby found it in a corncrib, just a few rats had chewed on it;) It was flooring that had never been installed, we paid $25 for it. We did a couple projects with it at our other house and brought the rest with us when we moved. There was enough that hadn't been chewed that we did the stairs, the stairway walls and little bit of ceiling. Here is a little peek at it with this FREE old light! This former kitchen light had a little red spray paint and new wires....isn't she spiffy?



Oh, and here's this little gal....she came from a thrift store and moved with us. She HAD too! She had red on her. She's the first light you see when you walk in our house.




Those Fazoli lights...yeah, the big ones from the outside of the building...that I rescued from the dumpster....

SEE RIGHT THERE



This light is on the back of the house....and this light stayed just as it was!



On the side of the house with the pond we have three "Fazolis". They had an overhaul....thankfully we have access to some good tools at work! They have new "necks"....shorter and curved a bit to pull them closer to the house. The originals were just too big. These had a coat of black spray paint. AND for FREE, they will do just fine :)


Eventually we will put a couple Fazolis in the front of the house by our main garage....it's on the list anyways :) Don't you remember...you were gonna help us with that list :)

Just a reminder....check out those dumpsters...might be treasures there....just saying...someday you might need something that's in there ;)
AND maybe design a kitchen around it...








Hugs from Iowa,
Michelle

PS. Check out Donna's Saturday Night Special...my dumpster divers will be there!




Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special

12 comments:

  1. You dumpster diver! :-) Love it!! Handy Man has picked up stuff from the trash, dumps, and side of the road before.

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  2. WOW! do you have any more fazoli's floating around?! you did good girl. i must say, dumpster diving is one that i haven't tried yet...
    love that medical cabinet too and that view is GORGeous!
    judi

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  3. super super cute. what a great find.

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  4. You are sooooo lucky to have scored those out of the trash! We wanted something similar for the outside of our house and they were so expensive. We had to settle for something else. I LOVE the green light.

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  5. I love your red dumpster lights--I think they were put there just for you to use eventually! They are so perfect and cheery.

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  6. Wow, you have a wonderful collection of eclectic lights! Beautiful! I need to go scroll through them again. :) Very inspiring!

    Donna

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  7. What a wonderful collection of beautiful unique fixtures.

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  8. Love your dumpster dive treasures! Yeah for dumpster finds! Love all of the different places that you were able to use them :) They just look happy!

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  9. All your lights are so pretty!! And I love the stories that go with them all. And all those Fazoli's lights for free....amazing!!! I'm so glad you rescued them so they didn't end up in landfill. That would have been a shame. :)

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  10. Serious swooning going on looking at all your light fixtures!!

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  11. I love the red fixtures! And I love even more that your rescued them from a dumpster ... they're so fun!

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