Easy lighting updates

We've now lived in this house for eight years.  We know how the house works.  We know how we live in this space--and what doesn't work for us so well.  So we've been making some updates over the past several months.

One of my favorite things about the kitchen updates I made this spring is the new chandelier in the breakfast area.



We've used this space in many different ways over the years, but we finally decided that our extra-long table is a keeper, so we added a chandelier to the space.

I'll tell you the truth--finding the right chandelier was not easy.   We needed something fairly big and wanted something a little on the rustic side.  And we wanted something that would be well-made and heavy-duty without costing a fortune.  The Arturo chandelier from Ballard Designs was just right for us.  (One of the great things about Ballard is that they often have promotional coupons.  When I bought the chandelier, I used a coupon that I found in a copy of Southern Living.)

When we found the chandelier we wanted, I wished for new pendant lights over the island.  Luckily, the pendant lights over our island were the easiest home improvement I've ever made--they're inexpensive light kits that simply screw into existing can lights. 

The only downside to using these kits is that the fixtures only accommodate a chandelier-sized light bulb, but that's really not a big deal.  Here's how they looked for years.  You can see the old wall color, a sage green, in the background.

This latest update was even easier--I just replaced the shades on the pendants!  The new shades were less than $10 each, so this was a very low-cost change.  Someday I might bite the bullet and have custom pendant lights installed by an electrician, but for now these work just fine.  

I like the way these complement the new chandelier.  Here you can see the pendant lights with the chandelier in the background.

Some of you have asked when I'm going to share the updates we've made to our living room.  My answer: as soon as I can!  One last piece is still on back-order.  Waiting for it has tested my patience, for sure.  But the room should be done soon!

Meanwhile, I have a few more plans for updates to our kitchen, but the next ones are going to take a bit more time.  Slowly but surely, right?

Super-easy decorative pillow made from scraps

This spring I made a new faux Roman shade for my kitchen window, and I love the new look.  This particular shade I made from a tablecloth, so I had extra fabric left over.  Of course I saved the scraps--do you do that, too?



Here's a close-up of the shade:

A few days ago it occurred to me that I could use those scraps to make pillows for the new captain's chairs in the breakfast area, adding a bit of coordination between breakfast room and kitchen.  So I made them.  Out of scraps.  For free.

I just rolled up an old towel cut to size for my chair to make the innards of the pillow.  (This produces a nice firm pillow--you can use a different kind of filling to make a squishy pillow.)

I followed this tutorial for making a no-sew bolster pillow--it's really simple!

Adding a covered button to the end makes the pillow look finished.


I had the covered button kits in my stash, so my total cost for this project was $0.  Zero.  Nothing but a few minutes of my time.  It took me much longer to take the photos and write this post than it did to make the pillows!
Now the captain's chairs sport colorful little pillows that coordinate with the kitchen window treatment.  You could make much bigger bolster pillows using this same method.  I didn't want the pillows to get in the way of the person sitting in the chair, so I purposefully made them kind of skinny.

Do you have any chairs that could use a little splash of color?  Check out your fabric stash--you could be well on your way to custom-made pillows!

Soul Care Sunday

My prayer for today and every day:

Will you join me in this?