jumpstart: 5 minor updates

Nothing has improved on our posting frequency since the last time we posted and this time we don't have vacation to blame! We have been working around the house on little things here and there but nothing seems noteworthy enough to earn it's own post. So here we were are, almost to the end of April, with a re-cap post that will highlight some things we have done since we last posted! 

1. Plants:

We are getting ready to build out our raised vegetable garden and our plants are really starting to look like plants instead of just little seedlings! It will be so fun to have them out in the yard instead of down in the basement. 

   

2. The Shed:

It's gone! There is still a huge pile of broken up cement that needs to be carted off but we are relieved that it's gone. It makes the yard look must larger now that we can see the whole back fence. Once we get the cement removed and the ground behind the pile (photo on right) leveled and back "up-to-snuf" we will build the raised beds and be in business! To see the original shed click here.

      

3. Painting the living room: 

Yes, we painted the living room over... originally it was white and then we painted it a darkish tan color that I (Lindsey) finally came to hate hate hate (you'll notice in the link that I didn't love it to begin with) and couldn't help but paint right over it!! Now, it's a lovely cream color and everything in the room looks much brighter and less cave-ish. It's a much better contrast even though it's not a big bold color. 

   

4. Outdoor patio set up:

We are so thankful that we have been gifted most of our outdoor furniture. The swing came from a client of dad's who no longer wanted it, the bistro set came from Lindsey's grandma's friend and the four metal chairs (there is also a table to come soon) came from Lindsey's Aunt Kathy! It's so nice to have family that love to take care of you and think of you when they make their own upgrades!! The original cover on the swing was gross so we decided to eliminate that altogether and just go with some outdoor pillows for the swing and chairs (9.99/two pillows at Costco!). The bistro set has cute striped cushions but I think I will recover those so everything matches... the jury is still out on that! 

   

5. Outdoor chandelier:

One of my weirdest ideas so far actually came together and Rob was kind enough to play along until it was complete. Now he actually likes the idea and it does makes our patio look a bit more interesting! I took a craigslist chandelier and ripped all the wiring out of it, cleaned it, planted ivy in each cup and hung it from our biggest tree!! (Thanks to our neighbors for letting us borrow their tall ladder :)) We are hoping that the ivy takes over and grows down so it "drips" from the chandelier... we'll just have to see what happens with this crazy idea. 

   

Our check-list is still long as ever as we are currently saving money and making some decisions that will push us in one direction or another with some areas of our house. Once we start working on the bigger things, the posts will flow once again!

Thanks for checking back in with us! Until next time, enjoy the sunshine!

our very own game of thrones... er, light fixture

Enter Game of Thones theme music and picture me (Rob) in a "Winter is Coming" type of hat. Now that we have the setting, we can begin!

A light fixture wasn't something that we were necessarily scouring the earth for but when Lindsey's mom sent her a picture of this chandelier, we were sold immediately!

Lindsey's mom is always on the lookout for house stuff and it is really helpful because she definitely sees things that we wouldn't ever think to look at or look for. This chandelier was actually marketed as a fixture for a kitchen island. Our idea for a light fixture was something a bit more rectangular than square or round and because our dining room is long and we have a long table we thought something like this would fit that space evenly.

This fixture by Savoy Lighting was originally around $500 and is now for sale on Savoy's website for $240, that's a good deal in itself, right? Well, sure it would have been but because we ordered from Joss and Main, we got the very same light fixture for only dollars over $100! What a deal! Lindsey is the bargain hunter between us and sales like this make her giddy. 

In the stock picture above the shades look brown but in real life they look much darker. The metal is brushed bronze and there are some gold highlights. Overall, it matches the dining room perfectly and gives it a "Game of Thrones" feeling as we were joking last night after installing!

The installation process was surprisingly easy and only took about an hour from start to finish. Since, neither one of us had hardwired a light fixture in before, we felt accomplished. 

I started by shutting off the power to the dining room and detaching the old fixture from the ceiling.

     

***SIDE NOTE: Because "Winter is Coming" now rings so true in Michigan and seems as though it has come to stay, I donned a winter hat for this assignment, not because our home is frigid but because I wanted to. It just seemed right. (Lindsey kept reminding me that "that hat is going to be in pictures!")

Taking the light fixture down wasn't hard at all. After unscrewing a few screws the light was down - leaving (as you can see) a lovely ring from the previous owner painting the ceiling and not taking the fixture down. Lindsey was thrilled underwhelmed to add another painting project to her list... right now, it's not a high priority for either of us but it's been added to the list.

After the original fixture was down we had to measure and see how low we wanted the new fixture to hang. They gave us so much extra chain as you can see below, it was longer than Lindsey is tall! We decided to go with four links from the ceiling which is about 36 inches from the table top, giving us a nicely lit table and a good view throughout the room.

     

As always our girls were close by our sides and very often underfoot during this project. Harlee found her place under the ladder which I think makes her unlucky for seven years, sorry about that girl, and Oswin has always got her nose or paws into something! 

I used two sets of pliers to bend the links to first detach and then reattach to the proper length. Lindsey held the fixture while I adjusted the links and cut the wires. We didn't want to cut too much wire so we left some extra that we ended up just pushing into the ceiling and under the ceiling cap.

  

Once everything was cut and reattached, I was able to easily wire in the fixture. Because we weren't using the full length of chain, Lindsey had to hold up the weight of the light while I was attaching everything. Thankfully, it didn't take long and the light was up and attached with no glitches. 

 

 

The light looks great in the dining room and flows perfectly with the feeling in both the dining room and the adjoining living room. We are very happy with this purchase, not only because it was easy to install and the price was perfect, but because it works great with our existing decor! 

We also installed some metal antlers that Lindsey bought before we even moved in. She has been dying to find them the perfect home and put them up and well, she found it! I was super skeptical at first, thinking "antlers, really??", but honestly I do like them now that they are up! They really lend to the Game of Thrones feeling that I have towards the dining room; now all we need is an iron throne!

Thanks for following along with us,
Until next time,
Rob