{that one great thing} Jennifer's chandelier

You guys might know Jennifer Flores as the smarty-pants behind that great blog, Rambling Renovators, while I've gotten to know her better as the tireless organizer - along with her husband Sean - of the always interesting and inspiring Pecha Kucha design talks that happen at the IDS and throughout the year (which, thanks to Jennifer, I have loads of fun hosting). You can find more about Pecha Kucha Toronto right here, and below you'll get the scoop on Jennifer's fave piece in her home in my series, that one great thing.

Jennifer Flores: This chandelier is my favourite thing in our house. Its made of translucent capiz shells edged in metal. I love its mix of hard and soft, masculine and feminine. Capiz comes from the Philippines so having this in my home reminds me not only of my heritage but also brings back fond memories of those kitschy capiz lamps and souvenirs scattered about my parents’ home in the 1970’s. 

I bought the chandelier on eBay seven years ago for $60. It was such a beautiful piece that I didn’t want to hang it just anywhere – so for most of the last seven years, it sat packed away in a box! I first hung it in a bedroom in my old condo when I needed to stage the room to prepare the condo for sale. The condo sold quickly so only two weeks later the chandelier went back into the box, no real time to enjoy it. 

Since then, it has survived two moves and only recently found a permanent home. We renovated our master bedroom and essentially planned the space around the chandelier.  Can I tell you how much I love lying in bed looking up at it? It was meant to be there all along.

Drag bars, dining rooms and stairwells

That chandelier below - now happily hanging in our stairwell - was such an amazing find, so good in fact that I told friends about them and... It is vintage, but funnily enough, the store has carried stock of them for the last 30+ years. While it was sitting in a box waiting for the electricians to hang it a friend spied it and asked me to grab one for her dining room (it looks fab in her all fuschia space), and then an interior designer friend saw it and decided to snag one to add a bit of sparkle to the stairwell of a nightclub he was working on; a Latino drag bar called El Convento Rico. Needless to stay, I don't think the store has very many left, lol.