Library lights (finally!)

So I mentioned last week that I finally ended what was a four month long search for lighting for the dining room bookcases I am finishing up.

Actually four months is conservative. I think it’s probably been more like eight. :) When I last blogged about the bookcases, this is where we were:

I said I was going to be finished with them in September. I was wrong. :)

Now, I’m aiming for end of October. I think I’m gonna be able to do it.

Anyway, see those spots at the top? Those are where the lights were supposed to go. The lights I. could. not. find. ANYWHERE.

Until last week. ;)

Now that I’ve gotten over the HUGE hump that was the lights, I’m SO ready to get this done! When we first started this project (ohhh, back in March), I showed you the lights I had picked out for the tops of the bookcases:

They were little plug in spotlights that I was going to hardwire in. But they were dinky, and my whole goal with them was that they would be directional, so I could direct the light down over the built ins. These didn’t stick out enough to really be able to cast light over the shelves.

So, I moved on to my next idea. Hardwiring a picture light, like this:

 

This one is from Lamps Plus, for like $70. You can find the exact same thing at Lowe’s for about $30. (I showed you how I used one of them here.)

Anyhoo, Dad and I were standing at Lowe’s one day, about to put four in the cart, when he noticed something – the arch at the top of the light wasn’t going to work. We put in a header at the top of the built ins, but it was only eight inches tall. These wouldn’t work because they were too tall.

Bummer dude. Seriously.

So that was forever ago, and since then I’ve looked online everywhere. This was perfect:

 

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Again, a plug in I believe, but they are easily hardwired.

But this one was more than $200. Each. I needed four. Not happening.

This one too…gorgeous:

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About $250 I think? Choke.

I loved the long arms on this, and I knew I could pull it out away from the wall so it would work with my clearance issue:

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But again…more than $300.

It was getting frustrating. I looked at sign lights (too big and expensive), I looked at lamps I could hardwire (way too big).

I considered something like this from IKEA:

Only $20! But it was too small, the wrong color and four hours of driving to get it. :)

I was starting to feel like Goldilocks. ;)

Lamps Plus had this:

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But the light part didn’t move. So when it was installed it would just shine light down to the floor. Not the look I was going for. They had another version I found over labor day that was $95, and I was thisclose to ordering them, but I held off cause I still didn’t want to pay that much.

Of course a few weeks later when I was so frustrated I was considering it, those were gone. :)

So the other day I had had it. I tried one more place -- a local lighting store and they carried exactly what I wanted. For $170. And a six week wait.

I was totally defeated. But I was determined to find something that day. I had already looked everywhere fifteen times, but something took me to Home Depot (again). I had a feeling I’d find something. (I really did…I have a weird sense about these things.)

This time, I had a different idea. I’d look at the outdoor lights too.

And wouldn’t you know it. I found the one:

They had two sizes, and I went with the bigger one. It’s a dark copper/bronze, which is what I wanted. The clearance was good for the ceiling, and it was the perfect size – not too big, not too little. The bracket was the perfect size for the header. The light didn’t tilt like I wanted, but that was an easy fix – I just bent them ever so slightly myself. :)

You can see this one online here, but the funny thing is that it’s listed for $90 online – they were only $35 in the store! So I got all four lights for $140 – basically $100 less than ONE of the fancy ones would have cost me.

I was thrilled but didn’t want to get too excited till I got one up to see how I liked it.

I LOVED IT:

They don’t stick out as far as I had originally wanted, but I realize now that may have bugged me to have them eight to 12 inches out from the wall.

Ignore the unfinished top. :) My plan is to add crown around the top and there is just enough room to get it up there.

They were a breeze to install – I just screwed the wall bracket into the wall and then wired it up. Light fixtures are usually my nemesis but these went up so easy and fast. That never happens to me when it comes to lights.

In the store they used the little round light bulbs instead of full-sized ones, and I loved that look. I don’t want to see the bulbs at all when you’re standing in the room:

With the little tilt that I added, they shine down onto the shelves beautifully:

Love them!! I couldn’t BELIEVE after all this time I found them at that price, and in the outdoor section of all places!

Of course this is just a peek – the painting and some trim isn’t done. The accessorizing and arranging isn’t done either. But I am thrilled with the lights – they are just what I imagined in my head when I started dreaming this up almost a year ago!:

I cannot tell you how great it is to have these up!! I added a dimmer, of course, so they are on all day long lately. And today was perfect for pictures because it’s a dark and stormy one. ;)

Of course my gauge on projects is always the Bub and the hubby – their reactions tell me a lot. My husband loves them and I got an actual “Ohhhh and ahhh” from the kiddo, so I always take that as a good sign.

Thanks for being patient with me on this bookcase project – they have been a labor of love but I had NO idea they would take this much time. I hope to have a full reveal for you soon!

Hooooolla!

Mummy door!

Hey there! How are you and how was your weekend? Ours was jam packed full of fall goodness – it was great!!

The Bub and I got some more Halloween decorating done on Saturday, including this project I’m sharing today. It’s a super simple one that almost turned into a fail…but I’ve come around and I think I love it even more now!

It all started with Pinterest. Are you surprised? I saw this mummy door idea weeks ago and knew I wanted to try it out. We put our own little spin on it and it turned out so cute!

I just took some white crepe paper from the dollar store (they came two to a pack and I ended up using two packs) and just took strips of it to wrap around the front door.

I taped it on the sides of the door and it was time consuming but easy. The hardest part of the whole thing was trying to keep all three animals from escaping while I had the door open. They think they are sneaky like ninjas but I caught them every time…but it did make this project take longer than it would for you I’m sure. ;)

Anyway, I forgot to take pictures of this part because I was so focused on the escapees but it’s pretty self explanatory. After the door was wrapped I knew I wanted to make a cute face for our mummy, so I grabbed some poster boards to make the eyes and a mouth:

I traced our Whirley Pop for the eyes and just hand drew a cute, wonky smile free hand.

We left for the day after we finished and for some reason I had this urge to take a picture of it – not sure why, I just thought to myself “just in case”:

I zoomed in on him as we drove off and I’m glad I got a before shot. ;)

I haven’t even done my normal corn stalks and mums on the porch like usual yet – my sis’s wedding has kind of taken over this fall. Now I don’t know if I’ll do them or skip right over to the Christmas garland. ;)

Anyway, SO CUTE right??

So cute.

I loved the mummy door. Well, we came home that night and I about cried. The crepe paper had loosened up with the night air and drooped like crazy:

I was SO upset! But the longer I looked, the more I realized he still looked cute. And the longer we keep him up the more I love him. Even hubs said he likes the droopy mummy better cause he looks more like a real mummy. ;)

The bottom strands kind of catch under the door now, but I think it will be OK till Halloween. I was thisclose to just putting him up on an interior door, but at the last minute decided to go with the front door:

Yes, we need to rake. :)   

In the end I’m glad I did. Even though he’s droopy mummy now. :) Of course if your front door is exposed to the elements you’ll want to do this inside. Ours does not, it was just the wetter nighttime air that made the crepe paper loosen up.

What I thought was a fail is definitely growing on me. :) It took about an hour to put up and cost two bucks for the two packages of crepe paper. If you want to splurge on wider paper I think that would cut down on the time factor quite a bit. While I was doing it I was wishing my crepe was about double the width. I may try that next year. :)

We worked on a couple other Halloween projects this weekend too, I’ll share those soon! Have you decorated yet? We’re later than usual this year!

Bookcase love

Hey all!! Lots to be excited about today! First of all, it is the weekend!! Yay! Second…I’m making progress on the bookcases in the dining room. Finally! I got the lights up and installing them was the easy part. I searched for MONTHS for the right lights -- that weren’t $250-$400 each (and I need four!) and the other day I finally figured out a solution, for $140 TOTAL.

So stinkin’ excited about it, I’m amped up and ready to get the rest done. Which means a TON of painting, but I’m ready. Let’s DO this!

I’m already know the next spot I’ll be building some similar built ins, but it seems like I’m always trying to figure out where else I can make them work in our home. I’m obsessed. :) So today, I figured I’d share some of the beautiful bookcase pictures I found.

So we can drool together. :)

Usually I’m a go-to-the-ceiling kind of girl, but these shorter versions are perfect in this space:

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Anyone else wondering if there’s a window seat between those bookcases? I bet there is. :)

I love this idea for a little nook in the kitchen:

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And on a side note – love how they hid that big air return with a pretty desk space! Brilliant!

I love how the shelves on this set have an open spot on every other one:

It breaks it up just a bit which I like. And do you spy the rolling ladder hardware? Swoon. (But wait. Is that a giant egg??)

I love seeing bookcases built in to spots you normally wouldn’t think of putting them – like a hallway or a stairway landing:

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Those lights are AWESOME. And probably $500 each. For a teeny tiny light. I’ve done my homework. :)

OK, these aren’t BOOKcases…it looks like a craft room. But I love love love how they used an awkward wall and made it into storage:

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What a dreamy room!

I like when they are extended out over windows too, like this one:

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I do love a bookcases filled up with big books like this. I thought we had a ton of books but I’m finding I want more…SO wish I wouldn’t have gotten rid of all big, thick college course books. :)

I think one of the things that draws me to bookcases and built ins is the cozy factor – it immediately makes a space feel warm and “close” to me. Like in this bedroom:

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If our bedroom wall wasn’t so long I would do this in a heartbeat!

Finally, I saved my favorite for last. Talk about a cozy space – I adore this little nook:

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All my favorites – a big beautiful window, hardwoods, white cabinets and a window seat. All in a little hideaway! Perfection. :)

Are you swooning like me? I know so many of you in blogland have created your own built ins or done a great job decorating them – please feel free to leave a link to them in the comments!

I’m off to caulk and prime. :) Have a great one!!

**If you’d like to pin these beautiful spaces, please visit the original source to do so. Thanks!

Got a DIY question?

Hello all! I loved your comments on my Facebook post – thanks for sharing your thoughts! They were an interesting read and I’ve determined some of you write some great status updates so I want to be your friend. ;)

Speaking of Facebook. ;) I’ll be over at the True Value page today to answer all your DIY questions:

So if you’ve got a burning tool, paint or any other DIY-related question, come on over and ask today. I’ll do my best to help out! You can leave your questions in the comments section of their announcement (the TV peeps will tell you when to start) between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. (EST) today.

For everyone else, I’ll talk to ya tomorrow! :)

The Facebook Effect

So bear with me here as I wear my psych minor hat. ;) I’m about to get deep with you all. As deep as a conversation about Facebook can go anyway. Ever since I heard about what I affectionately called Crackbook years ago, I’ve been somewhat fascinated with it.

I don’t know if it’s because of the election, but my love/hate relationship with Facebook is leaning towards the latter this time of year. See, I love politics, and I love a good healthy debate. But I also hate conflict. It makes me want to crawl into a hole.

And all I see right now all over FB is just that. It gives me hives, a teeny bit.

I’ve often wondered if people study the effect Facebook has had on us. How it’s changed us. I’m guessing there are whole college courses on it now, yes? If not there should be. I so would take that one. ;)

Growing up without something like it, I’ve wondered how it affects my stepdaughter and all her friends who have grown up sharing so much of their lives constantly for the world to see.

If you would have told me about something similar ten years ago, I would have told you that people (yes, even close friends and family) could care less what I have to say every day.

But kids grow up now thinking people really do care. And the thing is…Facebook has changed us. I think we DO care. At least more than we used to. And sometimes that kind of weirds me out. But maybe it’s a good thing? I need a psychologist to tell me. ;)

I’ve joked with my friends for years now that “Facebook is a lie.” And by that I mean most people share only the wonderful and perfect and the very best photos and if you’re not careful you can come to the conclusion that you might be the ONLY ONE whose life is not perfect all the time.

But then you find out that one of those friends is getting a divorce. Or the other hates her job so much she can’t stand to go in every day. And one has had awful problems with her daughter that eat her up every day.

Some people are just happy in general. I’m one of them. When I post, it’s mostly happy stuff. Cause I just don’t like being negative. And I do make sure I look decent in the pictures I post. I mean, come on…it’s Facebook. I’m not an animal.

Then there’s also the few who use FB to complain about everything going wrong in their life. And you’d think they are miserable…but they’re not. They just use Facebook to vent about life and get it out. And then get support – it’s our virtual psychiatrist couch. ;)

I know some people (mostly younger) who will meet someone for five minutes and then go “friend” them – and when I joined a few years ago there was a major rush that came with each new friend request. It’s just goofy isn’t it? A few months ago I realized I didn’t really know a few of the people on my list and decided to clear it out a little bit. I share what I’m doing from time to time and pics of my son, and if I couldn’t remember how we met, or if I haven’t talked to you in ten years…I don’t know if I want to share that personal info with you.

It was freeing to knock down the list a little bit. And a little scary too. What if they realized? Would they hate me? Would the come to my house and knock on the door and demand to know WHY??

And then I realize that I’m worried about someone I barely know hating me because I defriended them on Facebook and how funny all sounds in my head and…I stopped worrying about it. :)

And remember when “defriended” wasn’t even a word?

I’ve considered giving it up. You see, as annoying as I find it to be sometimes, I can get quite obsessed with it. It’s the first thing I click on when I have a free minute in a waiting room. It’s one of the first apps I click on in the morning when I wake up. I don’t post that often…maybe every two days or so. But man, I do like to see what everybody is up to. ;)

Two of my sister’s deactivated their accounts and say they love it. (One just came back on because of her wedding…because hello, wedding pictures!!) I doubt my one sis will ever get back on. My stepdaughter is in a sorority and doesn’t use it much for spans of time and I really actually like that for her. She doesn’t get caught up in posting ten times a day. It convinces me that she’s actually going to class. ;)

But I do love sharing our boy with family and friends. Cause really? He’s cute. For real. And I love seeing what my niece and nephews are up to – especially those that live across the country. I enjoy being able to send my love immediately when I see a sweet newborn baby or a pregnancy announcement. When someone is hurting I like that I can offer up some prayer for them when they need it.

Overall, I think it’s a good thing. But in moderation, at least for me. Maybe I’ll take the app off my phone for a few days? Maybe I’ll just test my willpower and see if I can just find something better to do with my time when I feel the urge to check.

Or maybe I’ll just go right now and see what everyone is up to today. ;) Who knows.

Do you love Facebook? Ever want to go FB free? I know there are plenty of you who don’t have an account (I’m sure you get harassed daily) – do you feel like you miss out? Or are you a FB fan and enjoy it so much you couldn’t live without it?

Show Us Your Bedrooms!

Hey there! It’s time for another Show Us Yo House party! ;) This time it’s bedrooms. The bedrooms in this house seem to stay the way they are for a looong time, hence the reason I don’t blog about them often. :)

I tweaked our master bedroom a little bit last summer and showed you here. It’s changed very little since then. Or…not at all. ;) I still love the Target bedding, especially this time of year:

And the drapes go perfectly with it!:

I’ve been planning a wall treatment over the fireplace wall for years…but it’s goes pretty high up there so I’ve been avoiding that DIY:

That chair is now in the guest room – this older photo. But everything else is still exactly the same. :)

I do want to repaint that room badly, but it’s at the bottom of a long list. Very. long. list.

The Bub’s room was a labor of love – for both the nursery version and the big boy one:

Again – I’ve barely touched this room since I finished it up. I do still want to add a window seat in here, but that’s been on the list for six years, sooooo…we’ll see. Someday it will happen!

I was so worried about the navy blue before I started painting in there, but now I love it so much. Love how all the white molding pops against the blue:

And then, of course there’s the infamous guest room. Well, infamous in my head cause I keep saying I’m going to work on it and NEVER do:

It’s still painted in pastels from when my stepdaughter was younger. This one has been like this for eight years without a new coat of paint. Told you I don’t do much with the bedrooms!

Now it’s time to see yours! I need some inspiration for that guest room. :) I’d love a link back in your post, and if you’d like to be considered for a highlight, you can just link back or use this button:

<div align="center"><a href="http://simplehomeinteriordesign.com/" title="Show Us Your House" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/image34.png" alt="Thrifty Decor Chick" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Only two more months in this series! Next up in November is foyers and mud and laundry rooms in December.

This linky will be open for a week – link it up here!:

Coffee table redo

Hey hey!! How are you? We had an absolutely lovely weekend – my sister (Stink Eye!) got married and it was sooooo beautiful!! I’ve never seen so much crying at a wedding – every time we’d stop someone else would get up and toast and say something that would have us bawling again. ;) 

Today I’m sick as a dog but thankful for a day where I don’t have to do much other than a doctor’s visit. :) I wanted to share a recent little redo I completed in the family room. It involves my rolling Goodwill coffee table I showed you last year:

Last year I cut down the legs on this little table, cleaned it up and added some new hardware to give it a new look.

When I added an additional side table to the room a couple weeks ago, there was something bugging me about this one. There were just too many wood tones going on in the room. (For me anyway.)

With the dresser/entertainment center, this table and the other end table I just added, the wood was kind of taking over the room.

So I decided to paint it. Before anyone freaks out, this isn’t a fancy piece by any means. There was a large heat stain on the top (from last year) as well as a huge mark that I just could not get out. And the reddish tone had been bothering me for a while anyway – so I knew it was time to paint! And it’s mine, so I do what I want. ;)

I picked up a sample pot of Annie Sloan paint in Old White to use for this project. The white in our rug isn’t bright white, so I wanted it to work well with that. I chose to use the AS paint for one reason – no priming! (And no sanding! OK, two reasons.)

All I did was clean it off with my Shaklee cleaner:

Excuse the messes in these photos – it was night time for many of them (I did this over a few days) and life was being lived while I did it. ;)

Let’s take a closer look at the one lounging on the chair:

She will squish into any spot she can find – cracks us up!

Anyway, I cleaned and then with just a regular angled brush, I did one quick coat on the table. I was a little freaked at first because it did not cover well:

I thought it was going to take a TON of paint. But I went ahead with the next coat and could not believe how well it covered:

I was totally surprised. It looked great!

I took the hardware off the drawers and decided I wasn’t going to paint the each one entirely, so I just taped off with my FrogTape and taped up to this point:

I’m not one to paint the backs of things or the insides of things. I just don’t see the point. I’m bad like that – some people can’t stand it. I’m just glad I’m not one of them. ;)

I needed to do a coat of wax on the top, but before I did that, I took a razor and went back over the lines in the top:

I wanted the planks to show, just because I like the look. I also sanded it down lightly to distress in spots that would get distressed anyway – the hard edges mostly.

I gave it a quick coat of wax and let that dry, and it was done!:

I love love love that you can actually see those handles now! And you see the cool castors better underneath too.

I ended up using a bit more of my friend’s paint who picked up the same color – but I couldn’t believe one little sample pot of that paint covered almost two coats on this thing! It really does go a long way.

Just changing the color really brightened up the room! Now the wood pieces that are in there aren’t competing with each other either:

So far we’ve been treating it as we always did – food, cups, whatever. It’s held up great. I’ll let you know how it continues to do. And I’ve put together a little something to accessorize the top of it that I’ll show you soon. ;)

Just because I love them, here’s the before from last summer:

And the after today!:

Can you find all the other changes in the room? Winner gets a cookie. Or a virtual high five. ;)

I still want to change out the drapes in here and I think I have something in mind…we’ll see how those turn out.

Have you transformed anything with paint lately? It never ceases to amaze me how changing up one item can make a room feel so different!

The October (whaaaa?) Show Us Your House party will go up tomorrow! This month we’re showing off bedrooms. Can’t wait to see!