Donovan Designs Art Lighting

Art Donovan's current collection of art lighting is extremely diverse and creative, spanning everything from mod to Tiffany. He also boasts an impressive clientele list.

I am quite in awe of both the skill and composition in Art's work.


This hanging fixture really caught my eye. It is an interesting mix of old gothic and something more modern. It would look great over a kitchen island or large table.









The hanging fixture feels almost mid century and slightly gothic. I love the burl wood styled sides that seem to glow themselves.















This very simple pendant lamp by Leslie Tarbell Donovan is rather neat. The pattern inside the lampshade outlined in metallic sets off a basic shade shape.

This idea opens up all sorts of possibilities.

Check out more at Donovan Design

Sanatorium to Become Hotel

A 1920's era sanatorium near Louisville, Ky is slated to be turned into a hotel. The Waverly Hills Sanatorium has long been a site for ghost hunters and has been featured on a number of TV shows.

The building is on the National Register of Historic Places and the plans seem to be coming together to make the project happen. Plans include a hotel, spa and meeting space.
Courier Journal article.
Waverly Hills Sanatorium website

Photo by Alex Davis, The Courier-Journal

70's gothic dining table DIY rehab

We bought this table about ten years ago for $50, it was not in great shape but the style of the table was just too cool to pass up.

It had cracks in the legs and chunks of the wood veneer top missing. This was one of those projects I said I was going to do every spring and never did.

It was stripped and sanded and then given lots of woodfiller. That was the main reason I painted the table, staining was not possible with all the damage to the wood.


The table was taken apart and all of the pieces were given 2-3 coats of water based black paint and a coat of polyurethane. The top received three coats of poly.

The gold was painted in between the black and the top coat. The chair in the background is one of our mismatched chairs. They will be stripped and stained with an ebony stain to keep the look of the wood but tie them into the set better.

I think it will also look much better when we get the floors redone in wood to replace the vinyl tile.