Weekend Hair

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Black Lamp Shades

I've recently realized that many of my favorite rooms feature lamps with black lamp shades. Black shades- especially when paired with an oversized mid-century ceramic lamp make such a glamorous statement in a room.

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Behold. Probably one of my most favorite spaces ever published. From the terrazzo floors, to the grasscloth wall in the background and furniture placement in the foreground, this one photographer's shot encompasses a lot of the things that make me say "dream home". But it's the massive vintage lamps with their oversized glossy black shades that draw me in every time I look at it.

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With far moodier hues, this room is also a favorite of mine. The white ceramic lamp sort of lightens the load here. But can you imagine it with a shade in any other color?

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The glass bases disappear into the background here, emphasizing the black shades which frame the art hanging on the wall. It is such a sophisticated arrangement. 

Danish Magazine Rum Via Solid Fog 

An atypical arrangement hung so low over a desk, but in this space, it's all about the shades and the moody glow they cast.  

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A room with many statements, but it works for me. The tall vintage floor lamp with black drum shade adds symmetry and keeps the room balanced.

And then there's this one... sort of the end all be all vintage lamp with black shade combo for me.

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I loved this so much, I set out to model not one, but two of the lamps in  my own home after it. Wanna see?

I already owned these lamps and I really like them. But the browntown shades that came with them were not working for me at all, so much so that I actually considered replacing the lamps altogether. The fact of the matter is, lamp shades are expensive. I had tracked some I liked down online, but also spent weeks checking my local Home Goods store to see if I couldn't better the price. They often have shades stocked at some very affordable prices. But black shades are rare- even more rare is the size I was after. So I had a couple of choices. I could live with the brown shades, I could buck up and pay the $40 per shade or I could try and paint the shades with some black fabric paint I had, with the hope that my little DIY would pan out.

It did. Especially once I sprayed the insides of the shade with metallic gold. I'm going to confess, I did try wrapping the inside of the shades first with metallic gold contact paper like Jenny. But unlike Jenny, I just couldn't get it to lay flat enough on the inside, despite my best efforts. So I ditched that idea and grabbed the spray can.

I'm tickled pink at how they turned out. The fact that I saved $80 makes this project even more satisfying.

On Order

It took us many months to make a decision, but we finally ordered it. I'll give you a hint...

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

{Project Reveal} Budget Bedroom Makeover

In yesterday's post, I shared all about the inspiration and plans for my Sister's big bedroom update. Today, I'm showing you the happy outcome of all that fluffing and fussing this past weekend.

Remember, we started out with some spare furnishings in the space. She had recently moved in and knew that we'd be going to work with some new bedding and wall art to bring this space to life. 

This guest room featured in Domino served as the inspiration for our make-over.

The idea was to up-cycle a lot of what she and I already owned between us. I scoured my treasure trove of fabrics, linens, pillow inserts and curtains in the weeks before. Once there, we moved in accessories and photos found elsewhere throughout the house to polish off the space.  Only minimal purchases were made. 

We played off the Domino guest room image; the red headboard I made, the pin-stripped black and white bedding and blue ikat throw pillows were all influenced by that design favorite. The headboard will eventually don a nailhead trim border much like the Domino image. I had pre-orded some upholstery nails, but when they arrived last week, I decided they were not what I had in mind.  Some bedside accessories we added gave it a real "his" and "hers" touch.

The pillows in the Domino image were made of this Ikat design. I found a look-alike fabric that was really so beautiful in person for only $8.98 a yard here. The fusible grosgrain ribbon applied as a border to the shams added some extra sophistication.

For attractive home make-overs on the cheap, I always turn to IKEA. I've got a real soft spot for this big blue box, because I'm always able to find something I can hack and turn into exactly what I'm looking for. Like these sconces. I've been infatuated with brass sconces lately. Brass sconces with a black shade are even better. To achieve a similar look, I sprayed these IKEA sconces a metallic gold and topped them with some simple black shades found on the next aisle over. Total cost with the shade: $25.

These metallic curtains once resided in my own home. I'm in the process of replacing them with some black and white striped panels and was able to put these to work for us in hers.

Yes, it's true. I jumped on that bandwagon. I saw. I "pinned". I made.  This simple weeknight project added a little edge to the room that in just a few hours had gone from bedroom to master suite.