The best kind of lighting is free...

I love love love looking at fantastic lighting.  I've written about it a few times on this blog.  A long time ago I wrote a little rant about the not so great lighting I inherited in my home.  I also celebrated when I found my ideal dining room light at a RH outlet.  

Now, I have two problems when it comes to sourcing attractive lighting in my current home.  The first issue is my budget-- obviously.  I tend to have an easy time finding gorgeous lighting that would be perfect in my home-- finding gorgeous lighting that fits into my budget?  Not so easy.  Secondly, there are only a few places in my home where I have room for low hanging pendants.  The ceilings in my house are standard height-- and I have a husband that is NOT a standard height (6'7"-- yup, he tends to hit his head on a lot of things).  So, the only lights that are work in my house are flush mounts or semi flush mounts.

Unfortunately most flush mount light fixtures in my price range tend to look like this...

home depot

And if you know me-- those lights are not allowed to be brought into this house.  I have two in the hall right now-- I'm just ITCHING to change them into something fantastic.

Obviously-- pot lights would work with the ceiling height restrictions in my home.  I like pot lights-- but they can be expensive and a lot of work to install-- and a house full of pot lights can be a little boring.  Really great lighting can totally finish a room and give it some personality.  I like personality.

Some of my favorite flush mounts (and semi-flush mounts) have a little vintage charm... I think we can all agree that these ones are pretty fantastic.

Love the stripes-- the brass finish would probably be my favorite...

Schoolhouse Electric

Maybe I'm going to have to make a little trip back to the RH outlet to look for these!!

Restoration Hardware

Restoration Hardware

Now these are my absolute favorites... but they are SIGNIFICANTLY outside of my lighting budget...

circa lighting

I think a pair of these would be so fantastic in my hallway...

circa lighting

Kind of like this hall way....  love it!

nest egg

So the hunt for affordable lighting continues... I have found a few along the way that could work.

I thought that two of these in the hallway would work-- and they could also be a good option for the kid's rooms.  At $50 each-- they are much more affordable.

home depot

This one is pretty charming... only a quick trip across the border...

lowe's

So there are a few attractive lights out there for reasonable prices.  But-- like the title of this post suggests-- the best kind of lighting is FREE.  So when my brother and sister in law were renovating a room in their home and were getting rid of a charming retro inspired brass light fixture-- I snapped it up!

I think Doug's family thought I was a little bit crazy when I said I wanted it... and truth be told... I wasn't so sure it would work.  Maybe I was crazy to want it.  But then I saw this bathroom makeover in June's issue of House and Home:

They used a vintage pendant light that is almost identical to the free one I scored.  Needless to say, I had Doug install it immediately in Caleb's room.  And.... I LOVE it!

(as you'll see in the picture-- some touch up painting of the ceiling still needs to happen)

And I had about 1.5 seconds to snap a picture before this happened...

Guess you could say that Caleb's pretty excited about his new light too.

I know that not everyone would want to bring a light fixture like this BACK into their home.  Style is subjective.  But, if you're a fan of charming, one of a kind, vintage inspired light fixtures-- you are in luck.  Thrift stores are full of them if you're willing to look around-- and who knows... you might score a free one like me :)

Keeping Cool

I finally found a summer hat that Eme will wear...

Turns out she didn't like all the dorky brimmed kids hats.

And really, I didn't either.

A Perfect Day

It was the perfect Mother's Day...

It started when I heard some commotion coming from the hallway-- I heard something about "making mom breakfast" so I took that as a sign to stay in bed until I was summoned.  At 9 am (yes-- you read that correctly 9 AM) I was "woken" by sweet little faces, gifts, handmade cards, coffee, and breakfast.  I opted to take my breakfast at the table with the kiddos-- bacon & eggs, orange juice (Caleb was apparently in charge of making it), chocolate croissants, and fresh strawberries.  The best part of breakfast?  The fact that Doug fried to bacon outside on the barbeque so that the house wouldn't smell like bacon grease.  Yup, he knows me :)

But the best part of the day was when we went to the beach!  It was such a gorgeous day that we spontaneously decided to head out to White Rock-- first trip of the season.

I think it was Eme's first time "experiencing" the beach.  She LOVED it.  She ran as fast as she could into the water-- and then ran as fast as she could out of the water-- over and over.

Is there anything cuter than a little girl in a bathing suit?  I don't think so...

Caleb-- of course-- enjoyed himself too...

Me and my little lady... today I took a break from cooking, cleaning, and apparently doing my hair.  My apologies.

One day this kid will be the one bending down to give his mama a kiss-- one day...

And getting two kids to stand still for a picture is a whole lot harder than it looks.

The rest of the day was spent chuckling over how cute our kids look sleeping in the backseat of the car, lounging on the deck, splashing in our kiddy pool, eating watermelon, and soaking every towel in my house.  

It was perfect.

Friday and a Feature

Today is a great day because...

1.  I woke up to discover the sun (gonna wear my new sandals)

2.  It's Friday-- do I really need to say more?

3.  My home is being feature on 6th Street Design School today!!!

Thanks for featuring my home in your series Kirsten, and welcome to all the 6th Street Design readers! 

The Deal of the Day

So I've been casually looking around for an area rug for our bedroom.  The floor is pretty cold in that room since our bedroom is above the garage so I've been thinking that it would be nice to get a rug in there.  Since it is going to be summer (hopefully) it obviously isn't a priority at the moment-- but, I am open to deals.  I've been looking around at a few options but so far haven't been able to commit.

Here were a few contenders...

West Elm Andalusia Dhurrie -- been eying this one for a while... but since it's not available for international shipping it would be a major pain trying to figure out a way to get one. 

I really like the Tarnby Flatwoven Jute Rugs from Ikea.  They are well priced and add a nice natural element to a room. 

But, then I found this one at Home Sense this morning.  I hadn't been to Home Sense in weeks (out of town guests, sickness, and all around busyness will do that to you) and was pleasantly surprised to find this navy and white rug!

(excuse the iphone picture-- Doug's got the camera today)

And at $59.99... it's a steal.  This rug is 1/3 of the price of the Ikea rug and 1/5 the price of the West Elm rug.  And-- I had been looking for some bold pattern in here for the summer.  A few weeks ago I had been considering covering my Euro pillows in a Dwell Studio fabric, but after paying for the fabric, the shipping, and another solid fabric to use on the back of the pillows the total price would be way more than this rug.  The rug is looking like the better option... 

Yay or Nay?  I'm thinking Yay!!

Spicing Things Up

I've spent the past few days sorting all the stuff in my kitchen and doing a little organizing.  Things that I don't use are getting the boot.  I'm trying to make things look a little prettier-- if I'm going to living with everything exposed and in the open over the next weeks/months it might as well look somewhat attractive!  Really, you can make just about anything in your kitchen look great by putting it in a jar and by sticking a cute label on it.  Case in point...

My spices.

Gotta love those ikea spice jars and all those cute Martha Stewart labels from Staples.

I'm a fan.

I've already determined which drawer in the "new" kitchen will be my "spice drawer" and have asked my cabinet builder (aka husband) to build me a custom insert that will hold my newly organized spices :)

Well-- we (meaning Doug) have been ripping out cabinets and started smashing out the bulkhead over the weekend.  Progress!  And, I even ordered some of the cabinet hardware I'm planning on using... slowly but surely... 

Little Girly Girl

My little Eme is growing up... big time.  The signs are all there...

ponytails...

climbing at the park...

sitting beside mama like a little lady...

playing on the train with the big kids...

and racing around the park like she owns the place.

She's also chattering away like you wouldn't believe.  When people stop me at the store and ask how old she is-- I keep forgetting that she's only one.  She seems more like a two year old to me these days...

And of course-- what kiddo post isn't complete without a little Caleb silliness?

I sure do love these kids :)

Where to put that light...

My new sconces went up on either side of my front door over the weekend.  I love em.  They look perfect-- for $24.99 each from Lowe's, you really can't go wrong.  And apparently you could put them up just about anywhere in your house...

Like in the bathroom...

lonny

decor8

via pinterest

In the kitchen...

Houzz

In a kids room...

Apartment Therapy

I love fun and interesting lighting that's reasonably priced!  Where would you put the light?

Best purchase of the day

Went to Michael's armed with my 40% off coupon to pick up something for my latest project.

They didn't have what I wanted.

Instead I came home with a battery operated bubble blower.

Needless to say-- this kid was SO excited when I actually said yes.

And it is pretty fun to play with.  Best use of a 40% off coupon yet :)

Distraction

The signs of sickness are apparent in this house.  If you were hanging out around here you'd see the signs-- signs like the fact that I'm now on day four of wearing Doug's shirts... that Caleb's ASKS to have naps and ASKS to go to bed early... that Emerson napped for 5 hours straight during the day and then went to bed at 6:30 (20 hours of sleep in a day ain't bad if you ask me)... and the state of my hair and the state of my house is a little bit shocking... in the BAD way.  We're quite the sorry bunch.  Yesterday when Eme curled up on the couch, pointed at her throat, and moaned "owie... owie..." over and over with these big sad eyes my heart just about broke.  Oh sweetheart.

If I was going to share about life around our house today I'd be sharing about puke cleanup, coughing, excessive amounts of snot, and the fact that our meals have consisted of smoothies and toast lately.  Honestly, who really wants to hear about the daily details of a house over run with sickness?  I sure don't.  So instead let's think about happy things.  Time for a little distraction.

How about a good before and after?  Actually, make that after-- and then the before.  I like it better that way.  This sounds like fun distraction if you ask me...

Okay... first up...

Check out the after's... love this!  So airy, and open, and inviting.  It's a fairly neutral room-- but there are a lot of unexpected elements that keep it interesting...

And the other side of the room...

And now the before.  It's amazing what a little paint and some great decorating skills can do!

You want to see more?  How about the dining room after-- L-O-V-E this.

And before...

And now the after of the kitchen...  I might look that happy if my house looked like that... and if it wasn't inhabited by sick people.  I'll bet you that house doesn't have the lingering smell of barf.

And the before... really, this was probably a pretty affordable transformation-- they didn't really change the layout or tear down walls... nicely done.

Bedroom after...

And the bedroom before-- I was tempted to leave this picture small-- ugliest headboard award-- right there.  Anybody above the age of 3 should not have an Elmo-ish headboard.  So wrong.

Bathroom after... (love that tile-- although I'm certain Doug would say "absolutely not" if I ever suggested it in my own home... tons of tiny tile =  SO MUCH WORK)

And the bathroom before.  Ugliest sink award.

country living via a life's design

See... I told you that a good "after-- and then a before" is great distraction.

I think I feel better already...