It's a girl!

This little bundle of sweetness came home with us yesterday!

Serena Opel Grace was born Friday morning. We couldn't be more excited to have a healthy, sweet, baby girl join our family!

Even her little brother is pretty taken with her!

 

We're happy to be home now, settling in and are very thankful for family and friends that have been so good to us!

a bright idea!

Most of the "light fixtures" (if you can call them that) in our house look like this.

Or worse, like this. Meet my semi-flush kitchen light.

I guess this one isn't pretty either.

Not technically a light fixture yet.  Just a cobweb wrapped cord above my sink.

The only "real" fixtures I have are in our stairwell and bathroom(it was a gift). This light in our stairwell was only purchased because it was such a steal. $50.00 instead of the original price of $470.00. I can usually talk Cameron into deals like that. 

And two fixtures for under $8.00. I can talk him into prices like that too.  

See, I tend to get the cart in front of the horse when it comes to renovating. Or so I'm told now and then. I'm too anxious to start decorating before we're even finished with the construction/renovating. 

But about the $8.00 we recently spent. Here's where it went.

The last time Cameron and I were in Menards together picking up yet another bucket of drywall mud, a suggestion was made by yours truly that we take a stroll through the lighting section. Just for fun.

Of course, Cameron was more then thrilled with the idea, and as we made our way past the outdoor lighting, I saw Jelly Jar lanterns for $3.98 each.  Even Cameron liked them and we both agreed they would suit Talmadge's currently-in-progress room.

We wired this room to have a wall sconce on either side of the window(as well as a ceiling fixture). I'd like his room to have a vintage-modern feel and I think these lights are spot on for that style! 

(That's almost 9 mo. of baby belly trying to get in the photo!)
 

We brought them home and checked that the size and scale was right for the room.

Aren't they cute? Perfect for a little boy's room and you really can't beat that price! 

Sometimes, just thinking a little outside the box gives you more options. These are considered outdoor lights, but used inside, they're a little less expected. NOTE: Don't use indoor lights outside, as the elements of nature will ruin them and it's not safe to do.

I have my eye on a few ceiling fixtures that don't match the jelly jar lights, but still coordinate. Unfortunately they're more then $3.98, so I'll likely have to wait! 

In the mean time, here's our little guy playing in his room. It's the first place he runs to when he wakes up in the morning. Lots of things to get into!

Pretty sure he'll be just as happy as I will be when he can move in!

Greek Key Goodness: Before and After

We all love a good before and after right?  Well, do I have one for you!

 

Have a look.

 

 



Paint and upholstering this chair took more work then I expected, but I learned a few things along the way. All worth it in the end.  Especially so, when I'm really happy with the results.

Shall we see where it all started? I think so.

Pretty sad. Dingy, dated and ugly if you ask me.

But after painting it (3 different times, to get it just right.), upholstering it in $4.00/yard Greek Key fabric with double welt cording, it has a whole new look!

I also whipped up an envelope or pocket style pillow from a lime green and fuchsia fabric remnant I picked up free. There was a store closing sale where I purchased the Greek Key fabric and you were given a bag of scraps when you bought a few yards of material. That was a few years ago, and I'm happy to finally put it to good use!

I'd like to put together a post with some upholstering tips as soon as I can.  With the baby scheduled to arrive on Friday morning, it might some time before that happens. But, if you have any questions ahead of time that I can address when I do write it up, please leave them in the comments, I'd love to help you out. 

If you want to see how I painted this chair, you can read that post HERE. I also thought I would give you a breakdown of the costs that went into this project too.

Chair: Free (gifted to me from my mom, who spent $5.00 at a yard sale for it)
Fabric: 3 yards (approx.) @ $4.00/yard. $12.00 total
Paint: DIY homemade chalk paint $2.50 + $9.00 finishing wax. $11.50 total
Cording: $10.00 from Joanne Fabrics
Pillow: Free fabric and reused pillow form. (I often pick up clearance pillows even if I don't like the case if the forms are down filled. Most of them have only cost me $2-3.00 each!)

Grand Total: $33.50

Not bad for a fun little accent chair! Hope you like it as much as I do!