Schoolhouse Light for the Dining Room

Hey Everyone!
I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!
While many of my blogging buddies are busy counting down their Top 10 projects of 2014, I'm over here trying to eek out a few more before we ring in the New Year. 
I'm famous for procrastinating. 
Actually, some of these last minute projects were solely due to the fact I was hosting Christmas Dinner for my whole family (30 + people!) and I didn't want them looking at all the un-done-ness around the house.
So, when Build.com  reached out to me and offered me an item from their website, I jumped on it! I have browsed their website before when I've been hunting for different items that I couldn't find in town and knew I would find what I needed for upcoming DIYs
On my list of things we needed was a dining room/kitchen light.
Our old one was perfectly okay, but didn't really match the direction we were taking the other lighting in the house (its been happily re-homed to my grandma's!)

I knew I wanted a large Schoolhouse light to fit with the other lighting changes we've made in the house...like in the Entry and Upstairs Hallway. A milk glass shade was a must, because although I LOVE the look of an Edison bulb, they barely light a space. The white shade allows me to use an LED instead.  With a shade width of 15 inches, classic vintage charm and the super affordable price of $170 I decided on this one:

Oiled Bronze 1 Light Full Sized Pendant with Glass Schoolhouse Shade // Build.com

I love that it was shipped right to my house (yay for not having to try and make important decisions at a store with 3 littles in tow!) 

The day that our first company was set to arrive we managed to get it installed.

We took down the old light...

(oh, yeah,...sneaky sneak peek of the new wall and trim color!)

Decided how low to have it hang...we could seriously hang this thing from 20ft ceilings!

We actually hung it higher than a standard chandelier would go. (standard would be around 36 inches from top of table, we went almost 44) We chose to have it higher because we tend to move our table around and we wanted to be able to walk under the light if need be. Also, I think the style of the light lends itself well to this type of installation.

I love these shots, because you can really see how large the shade is - my husband has LARGE hands and they look small next to the shade!

Tah dah! I luuuuuuurve it!!

It has just the right amount of pizazz, but doesn't fight for attention.

I also love the detail of metal piece where it attaches to the shade.

The scale of the light in the room is perfect. I know it's the thing to have big grandiose statement fixtures, and this is, only more subtle...haha! 
I'll leave you in suspense of seeing the light in its full glory until next week when I do my House Goal list for 2015!
Also, I am super happy so far working with Build.com, I didn't have any problems with my order. Everything shipped in a timely fashion and in one piece! Since the light was so affordable, I was able to purchase a second item with my remaining budget. 
I'll give you a hint... it has to do with my actual kitchen cabinets and rhymes with "shamard-ware".... coming soon!! haha!!
This post is a review of Build.com.  I was provided with items from their website and asked to do a review of their website/product.  As always, my opinions are 100% my own and are no way influenced by my sponsors.

Boob Lights Be Gone!

Want to know what's worse than boob lights? 

Saggy boob lights.

True Story.

Even worse, a PAIR of saggy boob lights.

Pretty bad when this is the best before photo that I have of our saggy boob light wall sconces in the stairway.

First of all, I have never dealt with wall lights in a stairway, so I had to come up with an option that looked good, but didn't intrude into the stairwell.

I was going to try and hack some old lights from our last house into faux enameled wall lights, so I headed to Home Depot for spray paint. 

Before heading to the paint aisle, I decided to do a quick looky loo around the lighting department. There is always a chance of clearance lights or at the very least inspiration and what do you know, I spied lights in the outdoor section I thought would work.

And they were CHEAP.

My heart went pitter patter when I saw the price.

$4.97 !!! 

That is even cheaper than spray paint people! 

My first thought was, I'm crazy. These are the kind of lights that you normally find on a little old lady's house. No, really, I bet your grandma has them...but that is what I love about them.

Vintage, retro, classic...Jelly Jar Wall Outdoor Lights.

Cute cute cute!!

Am I right? 

I think these humble little lights are just PERFECT for the vibe of our house.

Changing the wall lights meant the other boob light had to go as well.

Cause, really, BOOB. LIGHTS. 

We replaced the hall light with this cute little schoolhouse number that we snagged for $5!

Please ignore that I haven't touched up the paint yet.

Don't you think the jelly jar play nice with the schoolhouse light?

They also coordinate well with the bathroom lighting and the updated pendant lights downstairs.

I really feel like our house is starting to look how I have had in my head and we are coming in way under budget (for lights at least...). I expected to spend at least $30-$50 on wall sconces, so under $10 is amazing! Plus the $5 for ceiling light! 

Feels awesome!

Easy Lighting Update for under $15!

DIY has taken a bit of a back seat around here- mostly due to the sleeping, pooping ball of joy named Elynn...

But, those of you who have been reading this blog for awhile, know that I can't go long with out getting my hands on something.

Heck, I even gave my laundry room a makeover while I was 9 months pregnant...

...you also know that I like low cost - high impact updates.

So, when I found these shades at Home Depot for under $5, I grabbed them! (I also get a 10% for being military on top of that!)

Here's what I was working with before...

Perfectly nice lights, but frosted weird glass isn't really my thing. Plus, the large white shades totally drew your eye to them in bad way. Mainly, calling attention to the fact that they are off centered to the hood vent.

Ugh, WHY?

Here's a better look of what I'm talking about...

Now the after...

See how they are just a bit more streamlined. In fact now they kind of just blend in. A statement lighting fixture was not right for this space at all, so this works great! I also like how they have a vintage mason jar vibe without being literal (gotta be thinking resale!)

Now for how they look in context...oh, yea...the shade over the sink got changed out too!

Not bad for less than $15! Maybe not the biggest makeover I have done, but I am SOOOOOO happy to be rid of the other shades!!

Here's side by side, just for fun (pardon the iPhone shot)

What do you think? 

Do you like one better than the other?

I have to admit, this small change is really helping me finalize my vision for our kitchen makeover!