Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Window Treatments

Finally put up curtains in the living room! I bought the curtain panels last year from Target for $5 each (gotta love 75% clearance sales!).  Saturday night about 10pm I kicked it in high gear, wipped out the drill, and attached my curtain rod and drapes while Lucas watched in awe. Okay, he might have mumbled something about me jumping into random projects on a whim, haha. I amaze him :)  Here's a few before and afters. Keep in mind the before picture is actually from about a year ago. But here's how the room has evolved since we moved in:


     Before:

                                            The room looks so different without carpet.
    After:                                                                   


                  Also notice how much more centered the couch looks on the window.


                              Loving how cozy it makes the room feel :)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

I See You In a Different Light

I have a secret. I LOVE to thrift!!! Okay maybe that wasn't such a secret :)
Last Thursday, on my 30 minute lunch break from observing at the high school, I ran over to the Texas Thrift Store. Side note, I have to admit the first time I set foot in this place I thought it was disgusting, smelled funky, and it looked like a total junk pile! So anyone familiar with this place....yeah I know. But I have learned to love this store! And they have changed management so I think its a much nicer atmosphere.
But anyways. Thursday they were having a 50% sale on electrical stuff. And that's when I saw it.

                              (confession: I forgot to take a picture prior to installation)

It was marked $7.99 but with the discount I paid under $4 (tax included) for a light fixture! A LIGHT FIXTURE! I love the textured glass globe and the bronze finish. Love it! I replaced the light fixture above my kitchen sink with this baby. For those of you who don't remember, my previous fixture was an ugly, builder grade light that I hated the minute I walked in the house. Seriously. So while my husband took a nap with the pups, I learned how to remove an old light fixture and rewire a new old vintage light fixture without electrocuting myself. Hooray!
           

                                                 (can you see see its ugliness? It had to go!)

So i didn't exactly take pictures of the entire process but I did follow this handy dandy tutorial that helped me with nearly every step of the process:



I say nearly because on my new light fixture, the wires were both the same color, so I had to sort of "test" which wire went where. And voilĂ ! No need for an electrician! **Prior to starting this process I turned off the switch things that keep the power on. Hmmm, my mind just blanked, but I think you guys know what I am refering to. Very important!!! Turn off the power before disconnecting wires!!!**

-And here is my beautiful pendant light after:





                              Yes! That is my deer head over the TV! Thanks for noticing :)                             

(This is from the same angle as the before picture.)

And it totally works!! Didn't even need to buy a new bulb. You can't beat that with a stick! Lucas still needs to get used to it. But I LOVE it!! And, while the pictures don't completely do it justice, having a pendant light in that spot totally makes my ceilings look even taller! Or maybe it's just me :)

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Day 1: Create a Blog

     Done! Now lets hope I can actually try and update on a regular basis :) Stay tuned!