Style Lush

Cute Lamp for a Child's Room

by Lawyerish

The reading nook in my daughter's room has needed better lighting for ages now, so finally I bit the bullet and shopped around for a lamp to put on her low bookshelf. I didn't want something overly cutesy, since ideally it will stay in her room for years to come; but I also didn't want it to be a generic bedside table lamp. 

After much searching and consternation, I found the Lolli Living Spindle Base, which comes in an array of colors, and has a bunch of lovely shade options.

Check it:

I went with the white base and the blue zig-zag shade, and it looks way cute in her room (ignore the adorable goofball modeling her Halloween shirt):

(Photo credits: amazon.com and author's own)

The perfect bedside lamp: ALÄNG adjustable table lamp

By Manda

Once upon a time I bought these cute little wall lamps for my bedroom from IKEA.

ÅRSTID wall lamp.

(photo via IKEA.com)

I loved them! And I still do! They were just what our bedroom needed to look a bit more grown up and pulled together. The problem? My husband hated them. "Hate" is not too strong a word here: he LOATHED these lamps. They looked lovely above our bedside tables, but unfortunately they came with a very specific (to IKEA only!) light bulb that does not give off a ton of light. And for a person who avidly reads in bed before he goes to sleep at night, like my husband, this is a problem (and for extra negative points, it takes a moment for the light to "heat up" and when you have to get out of bed in the middle of the night with a kid it is not very useful and you'll probably trip over the dog. Not that I know that from experience or anything AHEM).

So, after a few years of his continued complaints, I set about finding a new set of lamps for our room. Ones that brought light! And used regular light bulbs! When I started shopping around I couldn't believe how expensive table lamps are. Out of control! When you combine the price for a base and a shade at even somewhere like Target it's just nuts! More than a hundred bucks for two lamps? NO.

And so back to IKEA I went! Just to check.

Hark, I bring you the ALÄNG adjustable table lamp!

(photo via IKEA.com)

I searched all through the IKEA lighting section and at first couldn't find anything I really liked. A lot were too girlie. Not sturdy enough. A lot required a bulb you could only buy at IKEA. Finally, as I was about to leave (and just as my son decided he'd had enough and began a rather enormous meltdown) I spied the ALÄNG lamps! They were perfect! I loved the oval shape of the shade and the gender-neutral design. I also loved that the height is adjustable! We have a rather tall bed and I wasn't sure exactly what height lamp would be best and this solved my problem. And lucky for me, I was attracting a lot of attention with my wailing child and I was able to round up not one but TWO IKEA employees to confirm for me that this lamp took regular light bulbs! And for $20? I snapped two up and ran for the door (and they were a cinch to assemble. Bonus!). They're available with a white or grey shade.

I think my nightstand is looking pretty snazzy these days, and I haven't tripped over a dog in the middle of the night once since I moved our wall lamps to the sides of our mirrored dresser. And the peanut gallery - aka my husband - has had nary a complaint.

(photo via my iPhone. And yes, I did straighten up my nightstand for you, friends!)

Where's your favorite place to score a cheap lamp or home accessory?

Splurge: Burlap Drum Shade Pendant for my Breakfast Room

By A'Dell

I'm in the market for a new light fixture in my breakfast room and I'm very nearly convinced this is the absolutely perfect item:

Burlap Drum Shade Pendant, $199

I just LOVE it. It's textured, it's not a pure white, it flares ever-so-slightly and is clean and simple without being overly modern. It hides the light bulbs, casts a warm, soft glow and it's perfect except for the part about how it costs $199. It just doesn't LOOK like two hundred bucks worth of light to me, you know? It's so simple. There MUST be a cheaper version out there, right?

It's so pretty!

But, WOE. I have looked at many, many shops in the real world and in the computer. The flare and textured fabric seem to be unique qualities in the drum shade pendant market. I keep thinking I ought to just settle for a different, similar, cheaper version but I really don't want to now that I've seen this one. I think I'm going to keep this baby on my Christmas list and cross my fingers. After all, $200 isn't THAT much for a light fixture, but when I'm replacing a perfectly functional one that I've simply grown tired of, it seems more like a splurgey purchase to me.

Currently Coveting: Edison Lights

By Jessica

 

I'm in the midst of project fever at my house and my most recent (failed. FAILED) project lead me to the lighting section at Lowe's were I stumbled across and fell in love with their Edison Lights.

Now, I know CFL's are the future and are more energy efficient and all that but they are also UGLY. 

This Allen + Roth Bronze Edison Pendant Light  however is gorgeous

and for my imaginary house in Portland or Sedona? This Mission Aztec Bronze Edison Pendant

or this Mission Aztec Bronze 3 Light Island Fixture are equally perfect

Someday, my pretties, someday.

 

{Photos: Lowe's}

My Living Room Has Needs

by Christina

These two items are not on my Christmas list because they would be a waste of ink as my individual budget is less than one of them. But, if I could have anything I wanted, after I unwrap the giant red bow from my brand new cream Lexus, I'd want these two babies for my living room. It needs a clock and a floor lamp, and, it has really good taste. See?

I'd trade my bed for this clock. (It's old and hard and I spend more time in my kids room, anyway.) I love it so. It's big, too. 32 inches high, 17 across. It would be amazing next to my fireplace.

This wants to live next to my couch. It's so cool, and bottom heavy (like me) And it's tall! 5 foot 6. Awesome. My room has so much color in it that adding these all white pieces would be a nice relief. If only that Lexus came with them both in the trunk.

(images via pinterest- via west elm and country living magazine)

DIY Light Fixtures

by Christina

My neighbor is a genius. She and her husband recently gutted and redid their kitchen and she came up with two of the best lighting ideas in the history of lighting! She started with an old water bottle from her father in-law, from what she calls the floor of treasures (the upper level of the building where his company is run).  With a little bit of vision, she took one of these:

And turned it into this!

She had someone cut the bottom of the bottle for her and then her husband wired and hung it. Amazing! Then, THEN! She found an old industrial whisk at The Country Living Fair and again, a literal light bulb went off and her husband did this!

I mean really, I consider myself to have fairly decent vision but a light out of a whisk and then to have it turn out this good? Please! Incredible, right? This is upcycling at its absolute best! (check out that old school scale on the counter holding her bananas. COVET!)

I am just so moved by how amazing these both turned out. Aren't you?

{Photo credits: pinterest.com and the last is of her actual kitchen}

Reader Question: What To Do With This Hideous Light Fixture/Chandelier/Monstrosity?

By Jessica

 

That's quite the title, no? Let me just clarify that those are her words, not mine but let's see what the exact problem is, shall we?

Jennifer writes:

Hi! Y'all have helped me in the past coming up with a solution to cover a giant window-door in our rental house, but alas, we have moved again. This time, to on-post housing. Where the light fixtures from the 80s have taken over our house. I've been in other houses on post, and (I think clearly for entertainment value), all of the light fixtures are different. Equally AWFUL, but different. Since there is no option to physically change it, I would really love to cover this up somehow as I'm not into brassy things and wanna-be chandeliers, but can't figure out what to do with it...

 

So of course my first inclination was to take that thing down! TAKE IT DOWN but alas we can't do that, even if it's put back if/when they move, so the next idea is COVER IT.

Idea #1 via Pinterest

These are tiered atlas pages clipped on with binder clips. Cute when the light is off, would provide a lovely glow through the pages when the light is on and can be tailored to locations y'all have been for a personal touch. This is a DIY'd project although she doesn't mention how she did it, I'd bet it could be done with a trip through the hardware store, some round objects and bits of chain supporting the differently sized tiers.

Idea #1 via DesignSponge (also our very own Elizabeth)

The wax paper faux capiz shell chandelier. It's a gorgeous effect. Of course, if you wanted to spare yourself the time and effort you could just buy a capiz pendant and figure out how to hang it around your existing chandelier. If it's got a wide enough opening, it'd just be a matter of supporting it with chain and S-hooks right from the existing chain to the ceiling. It might be easier to work with the curtain variety however and stringing that onto a similar round object like from the above atlas situation.

Idea #3 Also from Pinterest

You could hang various chinese lanterns, paper flowers and decorations to obscure it altogether. The example I've shown is a bit over the top, obviously, but you get the general idea. Chinese lanterns pretty much weigh nothing and can be supported with thumbtacks or even tape and ribbons. No muss, no fuss.

And my final suggestion, one which I have no picture for, is to purchase (if you can find it or maybe make it if you can't) a velcro on chain cover for the brass chain in whatever color you'd like (or can find). Then I would get some frosting film and frost those individual panes of glass. They have a kind that is removeable so it wouldn't damage the glass and if you change the bulbs to a low wattage CFL there wouldn't even be a worry about heat making them peel. Between the frosted glass and the chain cover, you wouldn't see much of the brass at all.

I hope these ideas help, or at least give you some inspiration!

How would you solve this problem?

Arhaus warehouse sale

By Katie G.

Arhaus is a FABULOUS furniture store. It is so eclectic with fun finds from all over the world. I absolutely love this store, but it tends to be on the more expensive side. I had wanted to get pendants for over our island in the kitchen, and when I told my husband how much they were, he wasn't exactly thrilled with the price. They were $250 for one pendant and I knew that was too much for us to spend on something that wasn't a "must have" for the house. But, I did love them.

Recently during their warehouse sale, my hubby and I decided to walk through. I mostly just like to walk through to get creative ideas for my own home. When we walked in, it was a Friday night, and they had just started their warehouse sale for the whole weekend. And there I saw my pendants hanging, with a much cheaper price tag. The pendants were the last two and since they were floor models, they needed to get rid of them. I was so excited.

Sign up to get their flyers and they will send you a post card for when they have their warehouse sale. During the sale, they have all sorts of floor models for really great prices. Also, I have learned, get to the sale the moment it opens. All the good stuff is gone within a few hours.

 

Reader Help: Bedroom Light Fixture

By Hillary

My husband and I recently moved into a new-to-us condo. The previous owners had a very distinct style that in many ways aligns with ours (bright magenta accent wall in the bedroom, yes please!) As we settle into the space, however, we've started discovering a few quirks. Like the master bedroom light fixture. Behold the giant, paper, boob light in all its glory:

It's hideous. I hate it. It has to go. (My husband? Does not understand what all the fuss is about. "Just don't look at it!" he says, as if that's a reasonable solution.)

The problem is that I don't know what to replace it with. The bedroom is fairly large and has 9-foot ceilings and an entire wall of windows, so I feel like a large or dramatic fixture won't overpower the room. That being said, I'm not really a chandelier type person, and I hate to dust, so anything too elaborate is out. I don't want a boring boob fixture, I don't want anything too fancy, and I'm paralyzed by all the choices in between. Any and all light fixture suggestions are welcome!

Here's a (crappy iPhone) picture of the room to give you an idea what I'm working with (and so you can see how giant the paper boob really is!) I should have pulled up the blackout blind but just imagine a wall of glass there, okay?

{Photo credit: me and my trusty iPhone}

Summer Outdoor Lighting

By Leah

Cheap twinkle lights have been a staple inside and outside everywhere I've lived for the last decade, but since becoming a homeowner and then a parent/old married person, I've stepped it up a bit and explored what lies beyond the your basic plain white string Christmas lights. Here are my current haves and wants: 

3" multicolored paper lanterns. We hang these over the backyard deck every summer, and it makes every night feel like a party. (A fresh mojito helps too.)

 

These clear globe string lights are out of stock online, but we found them last weekend at our local Target. (You can still order the frosted ones online if you like that look.) They make me think of old-timey small-town street fairs--I can almost smell the popcorn and underlying scandal--and I'm crossing my fingers that they perform better for us than they did for the disgruntled online reviewers. 

 

You can't go wrong with a classic bamboo tiki torch, now available in both fuel- or solar-powered styles, depending on if you need the citronella protection of the former or kid-proof flamelessness of the latter. I also just discovered these colored fuels, which would be really fun to get in red and blue for a Fourth of July party. 

 

We saw some basic solar path lights--not the one pictured above, but close--on sale for $1 at our brick-and-mortar Target, but our neighborhood is a little too "thefty" for us to dare put them out front. Darn. 

 

I read this tutorial for homemade solar sun jars on Not Martha about four years ago, and I can't seem to forget it. Maybe this year's the year! (Using those $1 solar path lights!)

 

 
If you have, and love, your plain white string lights, here's a quick tutorial from Martha Stewart about how to fancy them up with silk flowers. I saw this on someone's personal blog years ago, but darn it if all the good ideas don't end up at Martha's eventually, right?  

 

A recent Pinterest find: glow paint speckled in mason jars! Worth it for the photo ops alone. (I tried and failed to trace this back to the original source/instructions.)

 

And finally, if you missed them the first time around, here are two great DIY projects from the Style Lush archives: recycled bottle torches and a tabletop fire bowl.

What are you doing for outdoor lighting? Is your Target wishlist full of things from their outdoor lighting page, or are you working on some DIY ideas we should know about?