A Few Lighting Decisions Made

Over the past several months I've been sharing lighting ideas we've been considering for various parts of our home. So far I've covered our living room, dining room, hallway, laundry / mudroom , boys bedrooms & our outdoor lighting. I'm still looking at ideas our bedroom and both bathrooms. This month I decided its time to start talking and start shopping, after-all it would be nice for them all to be installed at the same time when our electrician returns!  

So far I've purchased lighting for our boys bedrooms, hallway, laundry room & kitchen pendant, our closet, and outdoors. Still left on my to do list, purchase our bedroom lighting, dining room & living room and decided on bathroom lighting. I have no idea why these three rooms are making me pause. 

It feels to make decisions & even better when you love the decision. 

Here's where the lighting is going. 1. Hallway Lights, I just love there classic modern spin! 2. Schoolhouse Lights will be in my closet & our mudroom, I originally planned on going with a different light for the mudroom, but the light had bad reviews. I came across the school house at at HD Home Supply for only $6.00 each, they were on clearance! 3. I found this light at Home Depot, the reviews are mixed so we are going to do a test run and see how we like it above our kitchen sink. 4. I really like lantern style lighting, I think these will look great! We are going over-sized in a few spots 5. I bought this light for Avery, I know he's going to love it and can't wait to name his light, space ship or rocket, lol 6. I bought this huge light for Tabari at Restoration Hardware Baby & Child if you follow me on Instagram you so the huge box he was helping me carry. I got this light for a steal and its huge! But I love large scale lights even in small spaces it adds to the drama. 

Sadly we have to wait a few more weeks, before we can see them all in place. I can't wait to turn on the lights each room one by one and just stare up. Ahh, things like lighting really excite me. 

Any surprises on our lighting pics for our house?

Edit: I forgot to mention I got Avery's light from Land of Nod during a 'free shipping' promotion and saved additional 10% for signing up with my email address. 

Recent Thrifty Finds

As you know, I love shopping thrift stores, Craigslist & most recently consignment stores to find really good deals. I've bought dressers, a piano bench mirrors and vases all from one of the above spots. One of the fun things about thrifting is find an old piece that's already perfect just needs a new home or a piece just in a need for a little love (paint/primer/sweat & tears/new hardware etc) My latest finds have me super happy, and even better I actually needed what I bought. I'm all about need over want. 

Anyways I've been wanting & needing a kettle for my Kitchen forever, I like the stove top kettles but I adore the electric ones so much more. We have an electric one at my 9-5 and I love using it to boil water for tea, oatmeal and ice tea. I spotted a Bella Electric Tea Kettle at Target that I loved! Super pretty & stylish, its the tea kettle that makes you want to consume more tea! But I couldn't bring myself to splurge and spend $49.99 on it, nope couldn't do it. 

Fast forward to my recent stop at Goodwill, I like shopping this Goodwill whenever I'm in the area because they get clearance items directly from Target!! I was looking for some vintage Pryex, when I spotted the Exact Bella Electric Tea Kettle from Target, for only $24.99! I asked the Goodwill associate if I could open the box and plug it in and make sure it works, he said no problem and also confirmed it was brand new. I plugged it and it turned on! I was still a little unsure of buying in case it wouldn't boil water, but the return policy is within 7 days. When I got home I made sure it worked and it did. Boiled water super fast! Its super cute & heavy!

Its one of those kitchen items 'you can leave out' because it looks decorative & not like counter clutter, lol. I plan on storing the 'hot plate' in a drawer when not in use. Man I love that tea kettle. 

My next thrifty find happened a few days ago. On Saturday Hasani & I stopped into our local Salvation Army, I was tempted by the 40% off sign out front on furniture. I fell head over heals for a pair of vintage mid century style end tables. I loved the sexy legs and I also liked the lamps sitting on top. My husband however wasn't feeling the tables, and so it reminds me compromise is important in design and holding out for something you both like is key. Even though it can suck! I snapped this pictured while in the store and shared it on Instagram, follow me here. 

We left the store, but I kept thinking about those blue lamps. I knew they would look amazing in our bedroom and I reminded myself we could always spray paint them! After grabbing a coffee and returning to the store I bought them! To be honest I was a little bummed they weren't included in the sale, but they were in prefect condition and super duper heavy & a classic shape. Even without being on sale, they where a steal only $8.00 bucks each. 

As I was walking to our car I looked down at the wood base and saw a nameplate that read 'Lauren.' I thought to myself those couldn't be Ralph Lauren, there's no way. When I got home I did a 'Google search' and discovered they were in fact Ralph Lauren lamps! 

I really love the pretty amazing detailed crackled finish on the lamps, its perfection. 

Now, I'm not sure if the lamps are vintage or just a few years old to be honest, but since I was curious I popped on to RalphLauren.com to look at their current lamps. I found two similar in style body shape and lamp shade and was blown away (by the prices) The Camille Porcelain lamp retails on the website for $540.00. The Camille has a very similar profile as my Salvation army lamps & the same thick wood base. 

The Madeline Porcelain lamp is also similar in shape to my find and retails for a whopping $1,620.00 per lamp. My friends, I only paid $16.00 for both lamps!! Can you believe I was annoyed that I paid $16.00 for two lamps in perfect condition with lamp shades, what the heck was I thinking? lol I  knew the lamps I was buying were very good quality super heavy and in amazing condition, but being a thrifty girl, I never mind if I can save even more. 

It's crazy, in the past couple of months this is my second major lighting score. Remember those lovely 98% sure they are Robert Abbey lamps I bought at a local consignment store? Yeah, I thought that was my score of the year, I guess not. I'm officially calling the amazing find my deal of the year! 

Oh, my new nick name is the lamp whisperer, lol. Since buying these beautiful lamps on Saturday I've already starting to pulling together ideas for our bedroom and will be ordering fabric swatches very soon, I have no intention of painting over their pretty blue crackle finish. We had a little blue in a bedroom before and I'm looking forward to adding this pretty shade in our bedroom. 

Have you found any amazing thrifty deals lately? I'd love to hear more about your score!