Lighting on a (tight) Budget: DIY Drum Shade

Last week I introduced you to Ella, my lil’ vintage dresser. In my excitement to show her off I neglected to mention that Ella has made herself at home in our dining room. She will be storing all our extra dinner & party wares! Thank you Ella we needed the extra storage.

Now onto my lighting dilemma…pretty boring and generic right? I’ve been dying to replace this baby for a long time.

I recently discovered Barn Electric and Vintage Barn Lighting. I’ve fallen in love with their fixtures and while their lighting seems to be reasonably priced I just don’t have the extra cash to replace my fixtures yet. So for now I’m pinning my faves with the hopes I’ll be able to replace my dining AND kitchen lighting after the New Year. *fingers crossed*

OK so back to my boring light fixture and that tight budget.  I Googled ‘DIY light fixtures‘ and was pleasantly surprised with all the cool alternatives! After reviewing my options and narrowing down the candidates my choice was obvious…DIY Drum Shade.  There are quite a few drum shade tutorials online so I won’t go into too much detail; just visit a few of the sites I linked .

First, I removed the glass cups and hung the chains that will be holding my drum shade in place.

Here is my previously assembled shade made from a wooden quilt hoop and poster board.

I used binder clips to hold the fabric in place before and after hot-gluing.

And here it is in place, covering that shameful looking chandelier.  Major improvement.

Project cost breakdown:

23″ Wooden Quilt Hoop (on sale) $3.59
2 Poster boards $1.00
Fabric: $6.00
5 pack S-Hooks $1.18
Thin steel chain $1.80
Eye hooks (already had on hand)

Total: $13.57

Updated lighting for under $15…priceless! I LOVE the new shade and the impact it’s made in the room.

Up next…more chairs!

Linking up at:

Sew Much Ado |  Shabby Creek Cottage  |  Delightful Order  |  Somewhat Simple  |  Five Days…5 Ways

Lil’ Vintage Dresser Makeover

Wednesday I admitted I have a wee-bit of an obsession with chairs. I also mentioned that I had a few other projects up my sleeve.

Let’s meet Ella shall we.  When I walked into my local thrift shop I spotted this beauty instantly. It was the perfect lil’ vintage dresser I’d been looking for and it was love at first site.

She was in good shape..not a wibble nor a wabble.

Her top had seen better days but with a little love & TLC she’d be good as (almost) new.

Isn’t she lovely? I used Valspar’s Signature Paint and Primer; Fleecy which is a warm white & Lincoln Cottage Black which is a velvety gray/black. Hardware got hit with Rust-Oleum’s Hammered Gold.

She may not be perfect…

but in my eyes she’s pretty darn close.

Next topic: Lighting…on a (tight) budget.

And look at this photo taken way back before I had any photo-takin’ knowledge. Oh so grainy!

Linking up at:

Funky Junk Interiors | Be Different Act Normal  |  The Dedicated House  |  DIY Project Parade  |  What’s in the Gunny Sack?  |  Mod Vintage Life  |  Southern Hospitality  |  Boogie Board Cottage  |  Primitive & Proper  |  Not Just A Housewife  | Vintage Wanna Bee  |  Sew Much Ado  |  Shabby Creek Cottage  | Delightful Order  |  Miss Mustard Seed  |  Redoux Interiors

The Painted Chair Affair

Summer has kicked my tush thoroughly. My blog has been neglected but at least I can say I have a Summer full of great memories. That counts for something right? Now just because I haven’t been posting doesn’t mean I haven’t worked on any DIY projects. On the contrary, I’ve worked on quite a few and it’s time to post some.

So it has recently come to my attention that I have a bit of an obsession with chairs.  In the past 2 months I’ve purchased 10. Eek I know, but they’re just too hard to pass up especially when they’re priced right and have fantastic details.

I should have taken a true ‘before’ picture to show you what this chair looked like with its ‘gag’ worthy seat cushion in place. Yuckkk! I still shudder when I think about it.

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