The Most Incredibly Affordable Outdoor Barn Lights!

I really wanted some chalky black outdoor barn lights for the back porch and around the rest of the house. I was going to have to order about ten lights, so paying $200 each or whatever was not going to happen!

It looks like the price moves around a bit (I think shipping is free now), but I found these American Fluor Barn Lights on Amazon last month for only $35 each!! I was a little nervous they would look and feel cheap, but they are the real deal barn lights! Nothing fancy and built to last! Apparently you can get them at feed and tack stores for something like $25! I've heard Menard's has them for a similar price too.

The parts are incredibly well-made and beautiful. The inside of the shade is white porcelain and the outside is galvanized metal, so you'll probably want to paint the outside like I did, but it's super easy. I just put the shades face down on a drop cloth and sprayed the outsides with Rustoleum's flat black enamel. No tape necessary! I actually like that I wasn't paying for an exterior finish that I would have wanted to change anyway. The perfect base for a DIYer!

Do you have any favorite barn light sources? These were far and away the best deal I found, especially with such a large shade (14"!!).

On LED Bulbs (and a Home Depot Give Away!)

Thank you to the locals that stopped by the lighting DIY Workshop that I partnered with the Home Deport on last weekend! I LOVED meeting you and it was great to get tips from the on-site lighting expert about how to increase lighting energy efficiency. It's a topic I've been sadly pretty ignorant about until recently. We have a lot of CFLs in our house, but the Home Depot guy encouraged me to look at their LED offerings while I was at the store on Saturday.

I think it sort of stinks to have to drop $8-16 on just a single bulb, but how crazy is it that LED bulbs last for literally 20 years and they use a fraction of the wattage that an incandescent bulb uses?!

I picked up a pretty expensive (almost $16!) Cree bulb that has a new technology that's supposed to help colors read more correctly, which has been my main complaint about LED in the past. I also bought this Ecosmart two-pack as a cheaper comparison that brought the price-per-bulb down to about $8. And I threw in to the test group an incandescent I already owned for good measure, just because I was curious. All of the bulbs were Soft White in tone and 60 watts or equivalent.

I'm sure there are some in-between option too. I just picked up what jumped out to me. (What have you tried and liked?)

Well, here are the results of my extremely technical and super scientific light test results! ;)

I actually really liked the tone of the most expensive LED bulb (surprise, surprise), but really the Ecosmart brand wasn't bad at all. I'd probably use it in bedrooms or for fixtures we use a little less. And actually I've read that it's a good idea to switch over to the more expensive bulbs over time to help spread out the initial expense, but that you should put the new bulbs in your most frequently used fixtures so you can start the energy savings right away.

As a part of the workshop last weekend, Home Depot gave me a $100 gift card to give away today! Maybe you'll want to spend the gift card on a dozen or so new LEDs? :) To enter, leave a comment here on this post. I'd love to hear about what bulbs you're using and loving.

Contest ends next Thursday at midnight. Winner will be emailed. Good luck!

PS Home Depot has lots of great (free!) DIY workshops coming up! To see what your local store has to offer, check out the registration page here!

DIY Branch Light

This afternoon we finished the Domino shoot! I'm so excited to share all the projects we did to get the house ready for this spread. We did a few DIY lighting projects and I love how they turned out. And actually, for Phoenix locals, I've partnered with the Home Depot to make this project and to host a DIY lighting workshop on July 12 from 10-11:30am. You can register for a spot at the TEMPE (Baseline) location here. I hope you can come! I've attended a couple of DIY Workshops before (the one on tile was SO helpful!) and they're always a good time. I'm excited to help lead this one where we'll be talking about lighting trends - it will be super casual and hopefully a lot of fun. :)

So for this lighting DIY, I desperately needed a new fixture for the upstairs landing. The old one was a big bummer, and after splurging on a new Arteriors chandelier for the entry, I didn't want to spend hardly anything on this light. I remembered posting this idea years ago and it felt like the perfect quick solution for our landing light!

I picked up 12 socket splitters at Home Depot. They were about a buck each, in the electrical aisle by all the outlet and switches. In the same aisle, you can find a simple porcelain canopy socket for about two dollars.

After taking all the stickers off, I screwed in the sockets and figured out the overall shape I wanted for the light. What I love about this project is you can shape the light however you want. You can make it more organic and branch-like or you can keep it pretty compact like I did. The ceiling on our landing is not super high, so I needed to keep the fixture short. 

I spray painted the canopy and the assembled fixture (which is easier to spray when it's put together) and I used a little painters tape to protect all the electrical parts. After two good coats and drying time, the light was ready to install.

I also ended up buying a ceiling medallion from Home Depot. I like the way it finishes off the fixture and makes it look a little more fancy. I think it's so pretty to mix really traditional things with more modern ones.

Twelve of the splitters makes a pretty good-sized fixture that produces quite a bit of light. I used I think fourteen 25-watt bulbs. It's so sparkly! :)

And I LOVE how it looks with our new wallpaper! Such a quick and cheap project, but I am so happy with how it turned out!

PS The people at The Home Depot who invited me to host this upcoming DIY workshop sent me a link to a lighting contest they did with Instructables.com. The winning project was this pretty reclaimed wood lamp. That geometric shade is made from straws! Very cool!

Bathroom Reno Progress and A New Sputnik

Sometimes I like to jump right in to three or four big projects all at once. I figure that the house is going to be a mess and all covered in construction dust anyway, so why not knock out a few things at the same time? If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably seen my kitchen cabinet upgrade, our new sink and soon-to-be-stripped faucet, and some of our bathroom demo. And hopefully you took a minute to vote on our exterior house color choices. I need to share photos of the front of the house too, which we hired Jason again to help us rework. All the projects are moving at break-neck speed, so we're all feeling a little tired, but excited by the amazing progress on the house in a very short period of time.

We also hired the same guy who took out our well to help with removing the giant bathtub (his company is called Kyle's Moonlighting and Kyle is pretty much the nicest man in the world - totally recommend him for exterior/interior removal services!).

Once we got the tub and the vanity out, we called in some plumbers to get the pipes ready for the new tub and for a single sink vanity.

Next, we're tackling tiles. I'm going with one of the tumbling block patterns I posted before I think. Of the two I posted, I'm leaning toward the lighter version peeking out up above and here below:

I picked a stone for the sink and I think it will go together beautifully! Can't wait to get going on this install. The floors need to be floated a little though to prep for the tile and to make the bathroom level with the wood floors. (The blue walls are getting a big change this week hopefully too!)

Oh, I also wanted to share that I found an amazing vintage sputnik a few weeks back at Modern on Melrose, which is a really fun vintage consignment shop on 7th Ave. It's becoming one of my favorite stores to pop in to - their selection is always well curated and the prices range from very fair to amazingly inexpensive. One of my favorite lamps in the studio (the one on my desk) was only $20 there. If you stop by, be sure to check out the salvage yard area in the back! 

The brass on the sputnik was not in the best shape, but just a little scrubbing with some soapy water cleaned up the grime and not-so-great-patina.

Aren't those "petals" amazing? 

We're going to take down that pendant and move the electrical box to be centered over the tub and the window for the sputnik. Won't it be so pretty with the wall of subway tile and the pretty clawfoot tub?!

Sometimes fun decorating purchases help me get through the projects phase a little more efficiently! I'm getting anxious to see how it all comes together. :)

Shades and Sputniks

I really love a good woven shade, but I prefer them in lighter tones with lots of tortoiseshell mottling in the pattern. Home Depot used to carry a really beautiful version that was discontinued a couple years ago and I've been feeling the loss ever since. I wanted warm-toned woven shades for my studio and all my usual sources were coming up short. Then one day when I was buying lumber at Lowes, I took a turn down the curtain aisle, headed for the check out, when the clouds parted and there they were. The perfect shade in the perfect color. A decent price. LINED. And most exciting of all - customizable!

They're by Levolor and they're not terribly expensive for as well made and pretty as they are, especially considering the custom sizing option. They have a machine in the store that can cut the shade in super exact widths on the spot. It's pretty amazing.

I like my shades to hang 1.5-2 inches wider than the window casing on each side. So these ones were cut four inches wider than my windows. I also hang the little fork thing for twisting the cord around up very high to keep it well away from little hands.

I think it's worth it to pay the little extra for these shades for the white lining alone. The white looks so much more clean from the outside of the house, and it helps to smooth out and filter the light as it shines through the slats.

Also, I wanted to mention that the sputnik we hung in the studio was a redo of this DIY from a few years ago. The people who moved into the loft after us asked to keep the light, so I gave that one to them. I had used clear cups that time that had sort of a soft green-ish hue.

This time I wanted pure white cups so I bought these ones from Amazon and they worked beautifully. I did the same basic technique of cutting down the paper flowers a few inches and glueing them to the cups. I spray painted the base this time, which was way easier than brushing on the gold paint. (there are some things about apartment living that I don't miss! :)

I took down the old light and installed this chandelier by myself because both were pretty lightweight and I knew it would be an easy project. If the new fixture had been super heavy I would have paid for an electrician to come out or asked for help, but something like this could not be more simple because I was just installing the wire and bulb part. You add the spokes and arms after installing the light. Smart IKEA designers.

I love how the gold looks against the crisp white amuse bouche cups! They sort of look like milk glass in person.

Affordable Brass Sconces

I am in the middle of what shall henceforth be known as The Great Sconce Hunt of 2014. I need no less than SIX pairs of sconces for upcoming projects (that I'm so excited to share with you all - exciting stuff happening around here!). I've searched high and low for cool, modern and expensive-looking sconces for less than $150 each, which I think is officially my "expensive" threshold when it comes to most lighting (chandeliers excluded). I want several of them to be brass or to have brass accents.

Here are the ones I've really been drawn to and I'd LOVE to hear if you have seen any others that fit the inexpensive/awesome/modern/amazing bill!

First up is this AMAZING beauty. I'm already breaking my rule (these are about $180), but there is a smaller version for $150. The four extra sockets are worth the extra thirty dollars to me though! Man, I love this sconce! The makers are Arizona locals and it looks like they take custom orders. I will be making friends with these people! :)  (PS Some of you have been looking for a maker from the Gossip Girl sconces - I think it would be worth reaching out to Lucent Lightshop for a quote)

Shop One Forty Three is a blogger favorite for good reason! This two-light sconce is only $65!

The Urban Outfitter Eyeball sconce is an easy favorite (I used it in Heather's old room above), but they came out with a chrome and shiny brass finish recently. Can't beat $29!

I love the mix of metals in this RH sconce. It's on final sale, so get 'em while they're hot!

These sconces are so cool and they might be making an appearance in my kitchen. I love the fresh shape and the brass finish. Very cool. And so worth $159.

This eyeball sconce from Schoolhouse Electric comes in black too, but how pretty is this cherry red?! I would love a pair of these for my bedside lamps.

I LOVE the shape of the shade on this adjustable sconce. So pretty! And I can't believe it's only $129 (full price!) from Restoration Hardware. Part of me loves the loose cord and the other part of me thinks it would drive me crazy in real life...

These $67 sconces are a new find for me. I love the ceramic canopies and the knuckle hinge joints. I already bought a pair of these for a bathroom we're working on. I can't wait to install them this week!

Okay, so spill the beans! Which sconces am I missing here? Do you have any of the above?