Lamp Love

West Elm can sometimes lean a little too Art Deco for me, but they are still a go-to source for affordable lamps.  Sometimes they hit, sometimes they miss.  But here are just a few that have caught my eye recently {and they are all on sale, with free shipping today only [February 4, 2014]}:

geodesic lamp || pillar table lamp || morten table lamp || pillar table lamp in marble || mini abacus lamp

THINGS I'M LOVING

1.  Zara - Yes, that's right, I'm breaking out of my Old Navy and Target shell.  Trying to aim more long-lasting and "signature" for my post-three-babies wardrobe.  I still love me some Tarjay convenience, and I am still a big fan, but perhaps not clothing myself solely in their wares.

 {I bought this faux leather cardigan recently and have LOVED wearing it...very cute}

2.   Someone please let me put these Currey and Company pendants over your kitchen island...please

3.  I might not be the person to ask about "good coffee", and I realize and own that...BUT I really like this :)

4.  Honeycrisp apples...these and Pink Ladies are my apples of choice...and they alternate seasons so I'm both a)happy year round and b)spending lots of money on apples {around $2.60-$2.99/lb for honeycrisp at WalMart! sheesh}

5.  Benjamin Moore Millstone Gray...doing kitchen cabinets in this color for a client right now and I have already seen some of the painted product and it's GORGEOUS...one of those colors that has a lot of depth and subtlety.

6.  Pinterest cooking...always hit or miss but recently it's been a big HIT! {that orzo and asparagus and tomato pasta on the bottom left of the picture is a wonderfully light lunch}

 

7.  My new dining room chandelier! Out with the Lowes builder home special, in with the waited-way-too-many-years-for-this-beauty.  I am definitely a fan of large scale lighting so I did not let my eight foot ranch house ceilings stop me.  I do my bible study on this table every when-I-wake-up-early-enough-in-the morning and I have to be honest...she makes the space so NICE.  With my cup of French Vanilla in hand ...

8.  Two local stores: Carter and Company, and Five Gold Monkeys.  Carter and Company is a new "everything" boutique-type housewares store and has awesome accessories for your home, a few clothing options, jewelry, art, furniture, etc...all at great prices.  The shop owners have excellent taste. 

 

{my recent purchase...looking very staged because it was...sent it to my sister...

no I dont make a habit of staging my jewelry purchases}

Five Gold Monkeys is a local fabric/interiors store that just completely re-did their approach to business by offering up booths in the back of the store for individuals to rent out, sort of like an antique store does.  Now they have everything from monogramming to children's clothing to pillows and drapes to housewares to artwork and everything in between.  It is quickly becoming my go-to for cute miscellaneous decorative items for work {and my own house}.  Just bought this awesome reclaimed wood mirror for a client's Cabana bathroom

 

9.  My 50mm lens.  I always go through spells of using and not using my big camera, but I've pulled it out recently and have been reminded of just how much I love this {inexpensive} lens.  And how happy I am that I have a camera that can finally auto-focus it!

10.  And finally, this fabric for my {one day} dining room drapes.  I had always imagined white linen but when I saw this fabric I just knew it was it.  I think it will add just the pop of pattern and color in my dining room/den, but not in a way that I will get tired of it. :) As previously mentioned in my post about the kids playroom....who knows when I will actually a)purchase said fabric and b)have said drapes made.  But hey, this is a very good step in the right direction!

Happy Sunday everyone!

the lamp project

remember these?

well the second i saw them i was immediately reminded of these lamps i have been coveting for my dining room:

love.
and will only set you back $372 a piece... HA

so, i got that crazy itch and decided that, for $14.99 each, it was worth the $30 mistake if my idea didnt pan out with those green vases. {at least thats what i told stephen when i came home with more "stuff" as he would call it ;) and now a quick shout out to my wondeful husband who went against his better judgement and completely supported me in this project...i guess he realized it was this or being out of pocket $750 :) haha...yeah right}

a few trips to lowes and michaels later, and the vases

are now my new dining room lamps!

it was a quick weekend project, and im proud of myself for actually finishing it.  i tend to have several ongoing projects stuffed around the house that always take me forever to actually finish {hello bennett and emory's bedrooms....}.  the hardest part was figuring out how to marry the top of the vase and the lamp socket thing.  a couple trips to michaels and i was happy with what i found:

these little boxes were $1 each and i just turned them upside down, as the box's top was just bigger than the opening of the vase.

lowes and home depot {as well as many other stores im sure} sell lamp kits that help you take an ordinary bottle and turn it into a lamp.

if you are interested, here are the steps i took turning my vases into lamps:

before you do anything, remove pricetags and growl at the stupid sticky stuff left on the tops

remove with fingernail polish remover and paper towels

1.  drill hole large enough to fit wire through in bottom of vase {we used a mortar bit on stephens drill}.
 
we also had to drill through the vase base {which was wood so used different bit}


2.  paint medallions on sides of vases using a small sponge brush {the kind you find in craft and paint stores}.  i used a gold leaf-type paint from michaels to paint the medallions on the vases: {i bought brass since i was using brass rings}

3.  superglue brass rings to medallions.  i bought this to use

but it didnt work at all, even after drying overnight.  simple superglue worked beautifully and dried quickly

i bought the brass hardware pulls from this site, and just used the ring part, not the screw.
 


4.  from this point on i didnt even try all the other fancy types of glue, i just stuck with what worked and superglued the top of the wooden box to the box itself.  i then sealed the wood box with an acrylic sealer

it dries clear and helps prevent the wood from soaking up all the gold paint

5.  drill hole through box and top after it dries.

we drilled a larger hole in the part where we were inserting the lamp kit, large enough to accommodate one of the bottle adapters that came in the lamp kit. 

6.  paint box with gold paint and let dry

yes i know that hole looks like a rabid raccoon ATE that hole out, but i knew i had the brass ring to cover it that came in the lamp kit :)

7.  superglue vase to base

8.  assemble lamp kit {which took some time since the directions are over-simplified and a little hard to follow.  tip: TAKE YOUR TIME...you dont want to mess this up bc once you snap the light together, theres no re-working}

9.  insert bottle adapter piece into big hole in wooden box and pull wire through base, vase, wooden box, and adapter.
make sure you insert this end into the box/vase

10. superglue box to top of vase

11.  attach wire to screws per directions and fasten top of socket

12.  place shade and screw in light bulb and voila! ...um, i said VOILA!
13.  almost break down in tears bc the lamp does not turn on.
14.  try to pry open light but realize it is snapped shut and there is no turning back {as mentioned in step 8}
15.  go inside and google "portfolio lamp kit" to see if there are any more in depth instructions and/or troubleshooting tips
16.  theres not so ask husband to come outside with you to check it out, hold back tears
17.  talk him through what is wrong and screw bulb in a little tighter and then.....yes realize you are a dummy and didnt screw the light bulb in tight enough... {how many blondes does it take...}
18.  voila for real!

its so fun when your vision is materialized, and i am so excited about my new lamps!
here is a breakdown of the costs:

i went back and forth on the lamp shade...whether to do a drum shade like the original or not...but decided i wanted a rectangular shade so the lamps wouldnt have to sit too far away from the wall.  i looked at all my normal sources and everywhere else i could find online but ended up finding two at my local super target for 12.99 each!

{which really helped with total cost, considering the other lamp shades i was looking at were around $30-$50 each}.

note:  the lamp shade i bought is the kind that just slides on the socket thing before the light bulb goes in.  however, most lamp shades im familiar with use a lamp harp...i thought about this after i constructed my lamp but if i was to do it again i would have threaded the fixed part of the harp onto my lamp in case i ever wanted to change out the lamp shade.  hindsight 20/20!

go make a lamp today! and save yourself from yourself {and your ridiculously expensive taste!}