A beautiful light

It started out as necessity. We would visit the furniture stores and dream about being able to afford their wares. Then, armed with desire and inspiration from those visits, we would go to car boot sales, charity shops and look for similar objects to those we’d seen. The search became a habit and, Somewhere along the line, we stopped visiting stores for inspiration. The hunt became the thrill, and we discovered the joy of being inspired by what we found. Seeing the potential in incomplete, displaced or damaged pieces and working to realize this potential started occupying our free time and thoughts. Almost every piece in our home has been re purposed restored or re invented. Some projects have taken weeks or even months to complete, others take no more than an afternoon or a weekend. These are my favorite. The tripod candle holder is one such project.

It came from Canada. We were on a family vacation, driving along the Saint Lawrence river, north of Quebec. We were enjoying the incredible landscape and delicious food. The nature was unbelievable, whale watching had been one of the highlights of the trip. On the drive back to our holiday rental we came across a small antiques store. And there it was: an old surveyors tripod, made out of blond wood with leather trim. It was beautiful - and very well priced.

We bought it without even thinking about it. Didn’t consider where we would place it or what we would use it for. And when we got home, we unpacked it, stood it the middle of the room and considered what to do with it. We didn’t move it for a few days and then, it dawned on us that we hadn’t done so because it looked perfect right where it was. But what is the use of a tripod in the middle of a room? We considered turning it into a lamp.... but it would have to be plugged in somewhere and the cord would have to cross the room to an outlet. The addition of a shade, in the middle of the room seemed jarring. In the end, we decided that this large, sculptural object would hold a single taper candle.

It was one of the easiest transformations we have ever done. Insulating window tape holds a glass hurricane ( bought from an online craft shop) in place. Inside it, The candle sits on a vintage metal candle base bought locally for $2.00.

This is an impractical object, placed in an unexpected spot. We have sat across from it chatting about the day or plans for the future, enjoying a drink and staring at the flame of the single candle. It never fails to give us pleasure or remind us of our trip to Canada.