Lighting

It's been awhile (a long while) and no promises but I decided I needed to start recording these updates on a regular basis again. We'll see how that actually goes...

I've done a few updates to the lighting since I last posted including getting a new fixture for the front entry and moving that fixture to the back entry which made a huge difference.


That being said there is still a long ways to go. I despise boob lights. Could there really not have been a better choice then these jokers?

Capital Lighting

They are builder grade and due to us having a very limited budget while building these lovelies were scattered throughout our house. Now that we are becoming a little more settled (still a LONG way from being comfortable though) I'm starting to become ready to switch them out for more up-to-date fixtures with a bit more character. Although this house started as a 5-7 year house for us, we're already at 4 years and have no plans to even being moving anytime soon....although I did recently list us on Zillow at a make-me-move price about $75,000 over the last estimate of our house. That's why it's classified as "Make Me Move" right?

Here are some updates I'd like to get to eventually. I keep lots of records on my Pinterest boards now but that doesn't record where we've been & the path along the way :).

KITCHEN:
1. It's so dang dark in here, I want to put in some under cabinet lighting operated on a switch.

source

2. Again, speaking of the darkness, I'd like to add a semi-flush mount fixture in the center of the room. I loved this one but apparently Ballard doesn't carry it anymore.

source

3. I really like the look of little pendants hanging down over the sink. I don't know if this would end up being too busy & I don't know about having to have pretty bulbs but I like this one.

source

LAUNDRY ROOM:

This just has your standard boob light which does a good enough job of lighting up the room but I'd like a little more character. Something along these lines but less expensive & smaller.

source

STAIRS:

The lights we currently have are good enough but not really my style. I'd like something low-profile but with style, like this, but that emits a bit more than just a "warm glow."

source

TIM'S CLOSET:

Poor guy has a straight-up florescent fixture, ugly as can be & awful colored lighting no matter the bulb. I'd like to get him something that gives better light for him & isn't ugly (for me).

source

UPSTAIRS BEDROOMS, BONUS ROOM & MASTER BEDROOM:

I know some people don't like ceiling fans but around here the mugginess just sits on you like a wet blanket and without the extra airflow from ceiling fans in the bedroom it just gets to be a bit stifling. That being said, I'd like to have ceiling fans that are attractive and add to the room rather than detract. The upstairs rooms & bonus room currently only have lights in them & we have an ugly ceiling fan with a light kit so I'd like to replace all four with something like this, but not $400 each, yikes!

source

FAMILY ROOM:

We currently have 4 can lights & a fan in the den but although the plan was originally to add a light kit to the fan I think I'd rather just replace it. If I couldn't convince Tim to get rid of the fan altogether I'd likely just get the same as what is in the bedrooms but I think some negotiating with putting the fan in the bonus room just might let me get away with getting rid of that one. In that case I think I want a rustic looking chandelier which I haven't seen any of that really interest me just yet.

HALLWAY:

Our upstairs hallway just has can lighting (smart!) but our downstairs hallway still has a boob light. I think that I'd like to replace it with the flush-mount that matches all of our other pieces.

source

HALF BATH & OFFICE:

I can't remember if the half-bath has a vanity light fixture or if it has a ceiling mount. I could swear to you that it is a ceiling mount though. I have some big plans for this room (at least for now) which a large light would compete with too much so I think I want something pretty, but low-profile.

The office has the most basic flush-mount imaginable right now with no character at all but I'd like to replace it with this very simple flush-mount that does not look like a boob. (side-note: I'd also consider this for the Laundry Room & for the Hallway).

source

MASTER BATH & GUEST BATH:

This is our current fixture in our master bathroom & I'm pretty sure its the same but with a different number of lights for the guest bathroom:

source

Nothing really bad about it, but nothing particularly interesting either. I also want to frame in our mirror & put a built-in cabinet between our sinks for more storage so we will need two separate fixtures for that to work. 

For our master bath, I'd like something a little quirky & am willing to spend a bit more since I will be using it/seeing it multiple times each day. Something like this could be fun.

source

For the guest bathroom I think I'd end up waiting to see if our first child ends up being a little girl or a little boy because I love both of these (although they'd both be too small).

Little Girl:

source

Little Boy (in antique brass):

source

Ultimately I think we can all learn a lesson from this...boob lights are not a necessity and even builder basic could transition into something much more attractive such as this. :)

source

It's a Man Thing.

When we planned out the house we knew that we eventually would have kids and we'd want a playroom for them and that Tim would need a playroom of his own at some point as well. We went ahead and got the room ready for electricity and plumbing and it was even sheet-rocked so all we have to do is tape, mud, prime and paint and the walls will be finished. We need to add some flooring, I haven't decided if I want to do carpet or something else that might hold up a little better with a husband and future kiddos. Don't really know what the something would be though....and finally we will need to decorate it which shouldn't be too hard with all of the baseball, golf and other sports paraphernalia that Tim's got.

Here's a look at what it looks like right now. Please excuse the disaster of junk everywhere.

In this corner we plan to have a roll-down movie screen and an projector aiming onto it (long-term goals here people).

Over in this corner we are planning to put our current dining table, refresher here at Eat, Drink and Be Merry and convert it into a poker table. I originally thought we'd leave it as is but I'm thinking we could change out the tabletop for a customized poker top. Here come the paintbrushes, felt and staple gun, well after we get a replacement dining table of course.

I would love, repeat LOVE, to fill this back wall with bookshelves, you see I'm quite the little bookworm and love the look of rows and rows of books. Tim even did a little math and figured out that I read about 1.78 pages per minute. We laughed for quite a while after he told me that one around midnight one night. My parents are talking of redoing their den and getting rid of the beautiful solid wood bookshelves in there. I may just have to see if I could talk Tim into letting me take those over and putting them up in here.

Although right now its full of boxes, this corner is slated to hold Tim's pride & joy, a wet bar. We have some plans to get that built up once we get the bookshelves, see Self-Control of the Remote Control. I have to admit that it will be pretty neat and convenient to hold a mini-fridge and microwave for some drinks and popcorn and of course my Junior Mints without having to run back downstairs.

Ok so technically I've already done this throughout this entire post but just to keep it all going succinctly...

Things we have left to do here:

1. Paint the room - I'm thinking of a perhaps putting in a pewter/gunmetal color. It would help all of Tim's college baseball stuff really pop of the walls.

2. Blackout the windows - I want to put some long velvet drapes, maybe in a garnet color, to either side of the double window and to one side of the single window with some blackout fabric on the reverse to make this room as dark as possible in order to watch movies easily even in the middle of the day. I'd love to find one of those tracks that you can hide in the ceiling but if not we can just put some pretty molding in front so the track can't be seen. Regardless they have to pool up at the bottom like an old movie theatre's would.

3. Get some furniture - Ok technically we need to get furniture downstairs in order to get furniture up here as we are going to move the couches up here once we get our sweet new sectional (again see Self-Control of the Remote Control for a refresher)