A Few {Light} Changes

I was out shopping at Marshall's one day, actually looking for a light fixture for a friend. But, of course in my quest for others, I happened upon a fabulous find for myself. (I might need to work on not being so selfish in my shopping endeavors!)

J and I had been talking about sprucing up our living room for a while, but just hadn't taken the first steps to doing anything about it. We really have what most people call a "Great Room". It's just one large open space that counts as living room, eating area and kitchen. It's perfect for making the space seem large, but it causes a bit of a decorating dilemma having to marry all three spaces together.

In my trip to Marshall's I found 3 metal baskets that had a hole in the bottom. Something clicked in my mind, and I thought these would make PERFECT light fixtures for above our bar area. After a little burlap addition, they were perfect! It was the start to our Great Room make over. Who knew a little burlap ribbon from Hobby Lobby (my biggest obsession right now) and $12 baskets from Marshall's would cause such a chain reaction? J probably wishes he had told me to return those baskets!

How I Made Them

It was extremely easy! All I did was take the Burlap Ribbon found in rolls at Hobby Lobby and wove it into the basket. I secured the ends together with a little hot glue, and that's all it took! I believe it only took 2 rolls to do all three baskets. If you wait for the ribbon to go on sale at 50% off, you only pay $5 for 2 rolls! That means these are extremely affordable light fixtures that make a huge statement in your home.

I really wanted to replace the light kits with an oil rubbed bronze to go with the baskets a little better, but we have vaulted ceilings. That means we would have to borrow scaffolding to take the lights down, which is a big project. For now, I promised my husband I would live with our nickle light kits.

This is just the beginning! We have plans for under the bar area, a fireplace make-over and an entirely new wall for our living room. I'm getting tired just thinking about all of the work that we're doing!

Here are a few before pictures to give you an idea of what we're starting...

Our fireplace BEFORE...

This gives you an idea of our wall.

Our entry wall.

See how boring and blah they look? Nothing a few scraps of wood and paint can't fix! I'll reveal our wall make-overs next week.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Happy November!

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