Lighting is important. It can set a mood, allows for reading, and the perfect lighting makes everyone look more beautiful. This apartment provided ample opportunity for us to be creative since we can't have overhead lighting in any of the living spaces.

We eagerly set off to find some great lamps and were shocked by the prices of lamps! Since when have lamps gotten so expensive? And you have to buy the lamp and shade separately?? Evidently, we have not kept up on the price point of lighting, sheesh, we were going to have to get crafty.

The struggle we found was finding a pair of lamps. There were beautiful lamps at the thrift stores, but most were flying solo. We found these beauties and even after the cost of rewiring, painting, and bulbs, we were WAY under the retail cost of similar styles.

We found these lamps:

For the bedroom nightstands

For the living room table

We ended up having to buy the shades from Ikea and HomeGoods because we couldn't find any discount ones.

Here are the afters:

Bedroom

Living Room

We are lit!

Hollywood Regency Mirror

We needed a mirror for the "entryway" in the new apartment (and I put entryway in quotes because its more like the-space-where-the-front-door-opens, than a traditional "entryway").

I scoured the usual places for a similar look to these inspiration pieces:

And of course, there was the Angelique mirror at Z Gallerie that was so decadent, but so was the 349 dollar price tag!

Luckily, I found one at a swap meet for $8!

Here is the before:

I knew the brassy look had to go! I painted it black, but then we decided to paint our walls a dark granite, so I repainted it white so it would "pop."

And the after!

This look is coming together!

Decorator Tins

After seeing these great decorator tins on the amazing Dollar Store Crafts blog, I wanted them for my house!

I set to work finding some tins I already had in the house and found these from Ikea:

I spray painted the tins and then tried to use the stencil provided, but I couldn't get as good of a result as I wanted. I ended up free-handing the letters and numbers which doesn't look quite as glamorous as the inspiration photo, but sometimes one has to just let it go....




Here are my final results:

And the tins in their new home:

These tins are great for storage and ours hold crafts and quarters for laundry and no one is the wiser!

Chandelier DIY

I have been wanting a chandelier for a couple years, ever since I became enamored with the Hollywood Regency style and Kelly Wearstler's design of the Viceroy in Santa Monica. But I never could quite figure out where to buy one or how to diy one and I was especially daunted by how hard it might be to install one.

I wanted it to look something like this dining room:

After reading a favorite blog of mine, Style-for-Style, I decided I could do it. I set off to find one and follow her directions and enjoy the glow of my new "classiness".

It honestly took me about 3 months to find an affordable one, I searched all the thrift stores, craigslist, and flea markets in the LA area (and Scottsdale, AZ while visiting) and then when my frustration was at a breaking point....within a week's time, I stumbled on two chandeliers! One was $40 which double what I was hoping to spend, but by that point I just wanted to get my hands on one and get to work. The second one I found was $2 at a garage sale we happened by while driving to an apple picking farm way out in the boonies. I had to buy the second one, it was only $2!

Alas, I now have two and have given them both the same look (maybe I should have done them differently, one black and one white?) but only have space for one. I want to hold on to the second one and put it above my bed once I live somewhere that doesn't have heating coils in the ceiling (don't get me started), but I'm not sure how much longer Mr. B is going to live with a chandelier out on the patio.

Maybe something like this:

Once I got them both home and after spray painting and drying, I hung one of the chandeliers over the dining room table with plenty of help from this video, Mr. B, and T and with only a couple wrong-fuse mistakes.

Overall, it wasn't too hard to take down the previous light fixture and to install the chandelier and I think it will be easy to switch back the original light fixture when we move.

I forgot to take "before" pictures, but let me paint the picture for you.....brass, cobwebby, and lightbulb-less...not a pretty sight.

Here are the afters:

This is the one that is still on the patio :(

During the day:

And my favorite, at night

I am so happy to have followed through on this chandelier project that I have coveted for so long. Thanks to everyone that provided inspiration, tutorials, and help along the way!