Kitchen Remodel in Progress - Part II - Lighting

Lighting is an integral part of any room. Whether you�re doing a remodel or just a small update never overlook how lighting will impact the space. When I moved into my house I inherited the most interesting kitchen which was large step down from my former kitchen. No granite, no instant hot water, no beautiful faucet... awww I'm just tearing up thinking about my old kitchen.

Here�s a look back at the way my current kitchen was when I moved in. Beautiful wasn�t it?


Since I�m on shoe string budget (broke) for this kitchen remodel, I wanted to make sure that I can at least have a decent looking kitchen since I was going to spend so much time in it.

After removing the wallpaper and painting the kitchen, it�s slowly coming together but I had a major issue with the lighting. Not only is there a large florescent fixture there�s also the space lights that even made the florescent fixture look great.

It took me a while to decide what fixture to replace it with and when I saw this light I knew it would be a perfect fit for the kitchen. Here�s the finished product, it's so much better what do you think?

Home Tour - Living Room

Awww, the living room. When I was growing up it was one of those rooms you couldn't sit in because it had the "good furniture". We also had plastic on the sofas so it was definitely not a comfortable room. Nothing is ickier than sweating in 90+ degree weather on plastic couch. Trust me it's not pretty.

When I moved into my current home I knew that I wanted the living room to do double duty and it had to be a room that was actually lived in. My daughter & I love reading so I knew that it had to function as the library as well the living room. With some patience I created a room that I think that suits both needs plus it didn't cost a lot.
The room cost me less than $1500
Chairs & Rug - Overstock - $520
Sofa - $100 (from a furniture clearance center)
Side tables - Walmart - $130
Pillows - ZGallerie and Marshalls - $80
Book cases - Target - $160,
Lamps - TJMaxx - $50
Bowl Ikea - $30
Accessories - Home Goods - $30
Mirror- $50 - Consignment Furniture Shop,
Window Treatments - Linen and Things - $120
Coffee Table - Z Gallerie - $200




The sofa above cost me $100 from a furniture clearance warehouse.  Couldn't pass up that deal.  The sofa does have a some damage on the leather but a throw pillow covered up that little issue.

The chairs were purchased from Overstock and the pillows are from Marshalls. The chair is a comfy place to hang out with a book or a glass of wine.


The room can be viewed from at least three places in the house and calls you in have a seat.


Fresh flowers also gives a room an extra touch.



The lamp gives off such a beautiful glow and the best thing was the price.  Here's a look back on my little lamp DYI project that produced these lamps.


The mirror was a great find at a furniture consignment store.



Doesn't this IKEA bowl look great on the glass table with some cheap Christmas ornaments?

Home Tour - Dining Room

My dining room is the least used room in my house.


It's really sad especially since it was a must have when I was looking for a home. Now I know it's really not a must have, but should have been a maybe. I just knew that every Sunday I would dress it up and have beautiful dinners. Ha, Ha, Ha, well that didn't happen. Oh well you live and you learn.


I've lived in my house for two years and only used the poor room two times after I purchased my eat-in kitchen furniture two months after I moved in. We then dropped the dining room like a hot potato and we're now happily eating all our meals in the kitchen. The problem is when I used to walk through the dining room, I always felt as if I was short changing the dining room plus it was a storage room for my lights for two years. Every time someone new came to visit or to work on something in my house they would always ask me if just moved in.


Now that all of my lights have been installed (I've never been happier to turn on my lights, I�m sure the electric company is happy) the room looked bigger and empty and started screaming "HELP ME". So during our "NO SNOW" snowstorm in GA, I decided to finally work on the room and although a room is never really finished I do like the way it looks so far. Makes me want to throw a dinner party.


The absolutely best part is that the room only cost me less than $700.


What you do think?


Room Breakdown


Wall words - Target - $15


Table - Raymour and Flanigan Clearance Store - $80


Parson Chairs - American Signature Furniture - $120


Chair Covers - $40- Linen and Things (very sad that they bit the dust)


Curtains - $120 - Linen and Things


Orchid - Home Goods - $40


Chandelier - Overstock - $150


Mirror - Home Goods - $80


Lanterns - Ikea - $15
















Below is the way the room looked when I moved in the house. I think it's a good change, don't you?

Bedroom Makeover Part II - Lighting

I'm currently working on my bedroom makeover. I foolishly thought that it would be piece of cake, Ha ha ha, joke's on me. Now a month later, I'm not finished but hey I have an excuse. I started the process during December, my busiest time at work and the Holidays! Never said I don't like a challenge or maybe I'm just "haunted" like my twin said. She doesn't understand my compulsion to decorate and I certainly don't understand her compulsion to bake although I certainly appreciate it. :)

So far I've painted the room, you can see my painting adventure here.

The electrician showed up to put my chandelier and whoa he was HOT! So needless to say along with my light being installed, I viewed some major eye candy that day. Oh Happy Day!

Here's the light fixture before, very boring and did I mention it was shiny brass?




Here's the finished product.... Beautiful. It was purchased at ZGallerie, here the link

Hotel Inspiration - Wynn Las Vegas

The Wynn, is one of the most luxurious hotels in Las Vegas, here are some photos that will give you some design inspiration. The uses of bold color is striking and also calming which is very difficult to do.




Normally this combination could be gaudy but isn't the red, black and white beautiful?

Luxe for Less - Tripod Lamp

I saw this lamp in Restoration Hardware and even though I liked it I was flabbergasted at the price.
$395 for one lamp, are you serious? I mean it's beautiful but worth $395, nope.





I went looking for an inexpensive version and I found this lamp below at Amazon.com, it's not as intricate but it does the job and for 80% less you can't beat the price.

Design Inspiration - Jeff Lewis Designs - Bathrooms

I used to love watching the design reality shows such as Flip That House and The Property Ladder because they really gave good insight on how home renovation can go horribly wrong or executed well to create a beautiful home. But since the housing collapse, those shows are not being produced anymore.

I started to watch Flipping Out on Bravo how noticed that it wasn't really about design but really about Jeff Lewis literally flipping out. If you can get pass the drama of the show, he's very talented and creates beautiful homes.


Take a look at his bathroom designs, although they're very luxurious you can adapt his designs for a reasonable prices especially using the designs with the white subway tiles.


Using black and marble tiles among the white subway tiles, breaks up the monotony and gives the bathroom a sophisticated feel.





The sink is not really something I would use in my home, but it is really a conversation piece.



He uses of browns and white gives this bathroom a timeless and sophisticated feel.

Here's another example of using a small amount of decorative tile with subway tile.


Here's a beautiful use of wainscoting which is also a cost effective way to renovate a bathroom.









You can check out his designs on his website.

Lampshade Redo --- FREE

It's always amazes me how much lamps cost and I always tend to forget the sticker shock until I'm back in the market for a lamp. I've been on the hunt for a couple of weeks for a pair of lamps but I refused to pay more than $30 a lamp. When I finally found a lamp I loved and was under my budget, wouldn't you know it the lamp shade was RED. For one minute, I nearly didn't buy the lamp but then I figured I would like replace the lampshade but Ha Ha, the joke was on me, all the lampshades in the size I wanted was over $15. What is up with these lamp folks. After getting over the sticker shock of the price, I decided to revamp the RED shades and found out it was easy project.

While looking for my glue gun I also found a piece of burlap left from some curtains I made at my home and instead of buying fabric, I decided to see the burlap. I figured, heck if I did terrible job, the only thing it would cost me would be $0.

Here's the lamp after I purchased it from one of my favorite stores.... Home Goods


Here's a picture of the lampshade after I stripped the red fabric.

DRUMROLL PLEASE.........Here is the finished product, it really turned out better than I thought. I'm truly pleased, it was beautiful and FREE. Plus since the lamp was $25, I was under budget... Hey Baby!




What do you think?
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Blogger Template by Decoration 35