What a difference some lighting makes...

Hello, Loves!

So for this week's home decor post, I'm sharing some new updates around here. Well some new, some old. Actually a quick little lighting change up I did (all by myself) a few weeks ago spurred this entire post and sort of triggered me to share lots of the lighting updates we've done around here. Most were done the week we moved in! Some of these are old news to us, but still something I haven't shared yet, so new to the blog, right? ;)

So my point here is that when you move into a home, usually it doesn't reflect your personal style right away. People usually think to change paint colors and of course bring in unique accessories and furniture that reflect their style,  but I've found that a lot of people overlook something that makes a HUGE difference. Lighting.  It can really change the whole feel of your home.
We talk about decor and fun stuff to make your home unique on here all the time, so I can't believe I've never really talked a lot about this subject!

Part of that is because it can get expensive. The other part is because they can be a hassle to install. This post definitely isn't a how-to on that, because the day I start giving electrical advice, I'd probably need to re-think this blog... haha
So we're not even going there. If you're unsure about installing fixtures yourself, hire an electrician to be safe.
Ok, back to the post...

So our house came with builder-grade fixtures. However, they were brand new. So we brought a few fixtures from our last house we loved (the dining room and breakfast area chandeliers) and replaced the ones at the old house with the ones at the new house. The dining room chandelier at our current house was actually really beautiful. Looking back, I kind of wish we would've kept it for the foyer, but the lantern-style fixture in there is really growing on me.  Oh well, it's living at our last house and that's fine by me.

So we'll get to those in a moment, but my point is that we knew we'd want to change out a lot of the "boob" lights. Surely, you know what I mean. No other way to describe them. They look like ceiling-mounted boobs. Not really what I'm going for around here.

So anyway, I'm going to share with you all the fixtures we've added so far, but first I want to share these little guys that inspired the whole "lighting" post.

These are in the little bar area in the basement...

Ugh. that room looks straight up yellow. I will learn how to photograph it one of these days... haha. Until then, imagine it as a pretty tan.

Can you believe I put up those little pendants in less than five minutes??
Ok, don't get too impressed. I cheated a bit- They're a recessed can adapter. They screw in at the top just like a lightbulb. We had these in the kitchen at our last house and the other day it just totally hit me that they would be perfect down there! I got mine from Ballard Designs.  The only catch is that you have to have a recessed (can) light already installed. You just unscrew the bulb at the ceiling and screw in the adapter. Kind of genius.

You may notice the table is gone. Yeah we decided to garage-sale it. I figured it wouldn't really get a ton of use down there. We're still on the hunt for a great bar or maybe a long, taller table that is narrow. So that we can still use bar stools with it. I'll keep you updated!

So speaking of pendant lights... how similar do these look to the ones in the basement??

These are actually hard-wired. We replaced some boob lights with these. We had these in the hall of our previous home too.
But seriously, how cool are the lightbulbs??

They have chrome ends! Pretty awesome. I can't believe we blinded ourselves with regular bulbs in these for so many years. I put these same bulbs in the similar basement fixtures too.

Before we go on, you may notice the little cutie in the laundry room. It was the chandelier in the closet at our last house. I didn't have plans to change the light in there until my dad was over here helping us change out the fixtures and he said, "Hey, let's put it in here."  Good call, dad. Good call.

Seriously how fun is that? Adding a fun little touch like that in a space like a laundry room makes it feel special. I've had this little chandelier for years. I got this one maybe six or seven years ago at Home Depot. I mean, who doesn't want to feel a little fancy doing laundry?

Speaking of fun fixtures (and hanging on to them for years), we added this fun fixture in the little landing area at the top of our stairs in the hallway the week we moved in also.

The hallway is still basically untouched other than the little fixture change up, but I think it made a huge difference!

This guy sat in our garage at our previous house for three years!! I got it on sale at a ridiculous price at a local sale and just held on to it, waiting for the perfect place to put it. Can't believe we never hung it at our last house, but I guess it worked out perfectly!

Here's a very similar one...

This one is nice because it is an actual pendant so you can have some more options.

Next up, the lighting change-up in the kitchen. I have no before photos, because I made it a point to crop the old fixtures out of any photos we took when we moved in. The kitchen was complete with two HUGE ceiling-mounted fluorescent box fixtures. Fluorescent lighting is basically the bane of my existence.
For the few weeks we lived here with them up, I got used to cooking by the light of the chandelier over the breakfast nook and the one recessed light above our sink. It was awful.
So we replaced those with these and have been loving them ever since...

Still contemplating changing the paint in here. It's definitely not as yellow as it looks. It's more true to the backsplash on the left and the front of the island (since those are the same exact colors). Crazy how different it looks up top on camera huh? We think the color is Sherwin Williams Macadamia.
Anyway, those fixtures can be found here.

Ok, so I wasn't planning on going through every changed fixture in the house, but we've come this far, so I guess we'll just keep pushing through! haha
Chandeliers next.

So you may have noticed I changed the chandelier in my closet where I film.

For a tour of this space, check out this post for all the details.

I got such a crazy amazing deal on it (so amazing that they don't seem to be available anymore),  that I purchased two. The other lives in our master bathroom now.

I can't wait to begin the re-do of this room. We've got some HUGE plans to completely makeover the space. Bathroom renovations aren't cheap so this one may come further down the road, but I'm sure you guys know that I'll document all of it here!

I found some similar options below...

Here's our breakfast nook one that we brought from the last house too.

Funny how when we put this one up, it felt more like home.
This one was a great find on Overstock.

For more on the chairs and rug, check out the posts here and here.

And last but not least, my absolute favorite. Our pretty dining room chandelier.

Check out how I made-over these antique chairs in this post.

This one is so special to me. It was our first big purchase for our last home. I'll have this one forever. Well, hopefully I'll have all of these forever! But I just love this one so much. It comes without shades, but I added these pretty black ones I found at the Ballard outlet in Atlanta.
Chandelier shades are awesome because you can change the whole look without having to change the whole fixture. You can find inexpensive ones all over the place.

Whew. I totally didn't expect that post to turn into such a doozie.  It's just that I really think lighting is so fun and makes such a huge difference.

So those are just my updates we've made in the lighting department since we've moved in. I'll definitely update you guys as we change any more. We've got LOTS of plans and a ton more to change.  Can't wait to share it all with you!

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