the Succulent (re)Plantation and Lotus Light

Because the random little succulent garden around the fountain looked messy and, more importantly, was a pain in the butt to water/mist, I replanted them into the 3 matching dishes that I had stumbled upon at a thrift shop a couple of weeks ago. Now I love the new little garden under the window that is easier to care for.  When the weather turns not-freezing, I'll take a park meander and collect some pebbles to dress up the pots.

Now for the lotus lights.  These little suckers were relatively inexpensive ($25ea) but make a huge impact on this wall without eating up any valuable floor space. I'm really excited about them.

And another little floor-space saver: I bought the corbels online for a couple of dollars each, spray painted them gold and attached them to the back of the bar.  I found while ordering spray paint online, it's cheaper to buy a six-pack than a couple of cans separately. So now I have a ton of gold spray paint.  Huzzah!  I've been gradually picking stuff to paint. Sammy's frame got a makeover as did the candlestick on the coffee table (you can see in the above photograph).

I am contemplating painting the coffee table base, the iron scroll work on the wicker chair and the lotus lamps.  What do you all think?  Should I go for it or leave the furniture and lights as are? 

Cheers!

Bedroom Drapes

My landlord updated the outdoor lights.  This has been great in eliminating the late night key fumbling but has resulted in a 10 million watt (mild exaggeration) spotlight that shines into my bedroom all. night. long.  So I headed to IKEA for some blackout curtains. I'm thrilled that they were so inexpensive (less than 50$ including the rod) but I wish they were about 5 inches longer. *shrug* Maybe a future project would be to add length and make them two toned.

I added the blue voile to the panels behind the bed but kept the white for privacy during the day when the velvet panels were open.

As you can see, Sammy has a new home guarding me whilst I sleep. 


While at IKEA, I picked up 4 lamps, basic white cylinders that I lined up behind the bed for added light. One of my longstanding frustrations with the bedroom is its cavelike (i.e. DARK) quality.  These (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90242194/) lamps really brighten the room.

All in all, the way the room has come together is really exciting.  I hope y'all enjoy :)

Stringed Lights

Gosh it's been awhile. I've been plugging along on a few home projects and the furniture has migrated a bit.  I've recently strung these lights across the ceiling of the sunroom.  I'm contemplating painting the ceiling black/midnight blue to mimic an secluded patio.  We'll see...

The Problem with Ugly Light Fixtures.

I've had an ongoing battle with the ceiling lights in my apartment. I know the webs recommend just switching them out for the duration of the lease but the ceilings in this lovely old building are of a crumbling plaster sort & I'm afraid that if I try to fiddle with them, they'll massively cave.  Even drilling something as small as a little hook causes a massive blizzard of white.

So all my experimentation has been with disguising the existing fixtures.  I'm actually pretty pleased with the most recent incarnations.



In the bedroom, I moved the capiz wind chimes from the corner. I didn't cut the strands but rather looped them up and over, giving the makeshift chandelier a fuller, more even appearance.

before:

The main room has undergone several versions.  Originally, it was the ubiquitous ugly ceiling fan lights.  It looked similar to this:

The triple light feature was a challenging de-uglification effort.
I originally covered it with a fat chinese lantern and added a pretty crystal pull for the fan.

but my taller classmates kept knocking their heads on it.

I then found a decorative brass bowl on clearance from pier 1 and fastened it with ribbon:

But it looked amateur and makeshift and showed off the practical but ugly CFLs.

This last week, when I moved the lion lithograph, I took down the ikea light that had been hanging in the corner.  I decided to replace the bowl with that square paper shade:

It's the 1st that I've been marginally satisfied! I like its simplicity & the natural color blends with my other lamps: