DIY Flush-Mount Drum Shade

Hello! First, I want to apologize for my extended absence. This has been a crazy busy Summer and although I've gotten a couple projects done, I haven't had time to actually blog them. I will be better. I promise :)  Second, I want to welcome my new followers! I'm looking forward to sharing lots of projects with all of you :)

Raise your hand if you've got these generic, builder-grade (I call them boob lights) light fixtures in your home...don't be shy! I know they're pretty standard and it's so easy to overlook them when you're focusing on other design aspects of a room. I'm here to tell you that you can prettify your lighting in LESS THAN five minutes WITHOUT having to do any wiring! Yes we can!

With a simple drum shade from Target, a nipple, coupling and a cross bar, I've updated my light fixture.

First, remove the finial at the bottom of the glass shade and slide the whole thing off.

Then, use a nipple and a coupler until it's long enough to reach the part of the shade that sits on the socket (I know, I'm not very technical here.) and add your crossbar to hold the shade up. I put the finial back on the bottom of the nipple just to make it look a little nicer.

I still need to get something to use as a diffuser to cover the bottom but haven't really decided what to do yet. I considered a light-colored, thin fabric but am a little concerned about heat build up in the light. Because the shade fits snug against the top of the light there isn't really air flow. I'm thinking I'm going to have a piece of glass or fiberglass cut so there is an inch or so around the edges but it can still be held on snugly by the finial. I just haven't had time to get that done yet. For now, it doesn't look horrible unless you're looking straight up into the light.

I really love the end result and can't believe how it makes the ceiling in this room look so much taller! I think I'm going to have to replace a couple more of these in my house :)

I've got a few more posts in the works for this week. I promise that from now on I'll be better! I'm really looking forward to fall and all the fun projects that come along with it!

Linking up to:

Not Just A Housewife

Dittle Dattle

Office Re-do...In Process

So I've been putting off posting on this because I really wanted to wait until it was all done to show you the transformation but I'm realizing that things are moving more slowly than I had hoped. The office/guest room re-do is moving along, just at a turtle's pace.

I don't know why I didn't take a before pic. This room has been in bad shape since we moved in a little over a year ago. We put a coat of paint on the walls without really thinking about it, basically just to have something other than primer on the walls. I've never really been happy with the color we chose, it was leftover from the basement family room in our old house and although it looked really great in that room, it was just a little too dreary for this room. Also, this room kind of became a catch-all for stuff. We moved from a larger house into this smaller one and we are still working on getting rid of the junk.

We decided to go with Behr's Creamy White. I love this color and have used it in other places. Normally I would prefer to have some color on the walls but because these basement bedrooms don't get much light, I wanted to get my color from fabrics and accessories instead of the walls.

Here is my husband wading through all the junk to paint. Bless his heart :)

Here is a better pic to see the contrast of the two colors.

Here is the workspace he built for me. I wanted it to fit like a built in and be the whole length (10 feet) of that niche in the wall. I'm planning on skirting the desk and will paint and refinish that chair. I'm also going to fill the wall above it with shelves and a cork board. I was inspired by Britt at Gus + Lula and her long desk. If you haven't seen her blog, you MUST check her out. She's got so many great projects and such a great eye. When I first found her blog I spent hours going back through all her old posts...love her!

I was saw this fabric used in the master bedroom of Rambling Renovators and fell in love! I bought it and will be using it for the curtains in here. I've mentioned before that I've really never been a fan of blue but I really think I'm changing my tune :)

Add a DIY headboard, some new bedding, a new drum shade for the ceiling fixture and some pretty turquoise accessories and I think the room will be looking pretty good! Here's hoping I can find some time to actually work on this to get it DONE!

What are you currently working on? Have you seen Brtt's blog? Go check it out and tell me what you think!