Home Improvement

I've been dying to change the light fixture in our dining room since we moved in. There was certainly nothing wrong with it, but it was just very average, lacking any sort of charm or style. My mom got a linen drum shade pendant in their last house for $100 so I was thinking eventually we'd just shell out the cash for the same one. Here's the before (the only picture I could find without spending a ton of time digging clicking through old photos, decorated for Bennett's 4th birthday):

When we went to Memphis for labor day weekend I got to go to the Pottery Barn/West Elm outlet and found this beauty for $50! (Just the shade. We bought the pendant kit separately.)  I had some cash to spend from my wedding hair gig and this was definitely worth the splurge (not that a $50 light fixture is a splurge but spending $50 of my own spending money on anything feels like a splurge!):

My hubby had it installed like, 5 minutes after we got home. He's a go-getter like no one else. Actually, exactly like someone else: his mom. I hope our boys all take after him in that department! (Ok, slight exaggeration. I think he had it hanging the very next day).

I absolutely love the look of it but think my whole house is way too simple and majorly lacking panache. I love choosing paint color and furniture but am terrible at accessorizing. I've had my eye on this pendant for a long time. What do you think? Should I take the risk and try to paint it??? Any opinions/advice is appreciated!

Majorly lacking some accessorizing but I'm happy with the "base":

I should clarify that I'm the type of person who likes to wait and find stuff I really love and want to live with for a  l o n g  time. Or forever. I'm not at all a rearranger. I'd rather a space sit empty than fill it with stuff that's just good and not great. The bad thing is that I don't get to spend money on the house that often so I usually wait til my birthday or Christmas if there's something I really want. My husband has this silly thing with only spending money on stuff that retains its value or is a true investment that we could potentially resell down the road. Psshh. That's no fun. (I kid. I'm so grateful to have a hubby who's so wise with our money!)

I finally got the boys bathroom decorated too! I always wanted to wait to decorate it until we'd had all our kids so I'd know if it needed to be gender neutral or just for boys. Boys it is.  

I debated getting three different color towels and designating one for each boy but the chances of finding 3 colors that matched the curtain perfectly seemed very slim. Initials work just as well and it'll be easier to just have all white towels in there.

All I did was find a font I liked on the computer, printed out one letter on a page in giant size font, cut it out, traced it onto the wall in pencil and painted it in by hand. Originally I was thinking of ordering a wall decal from Uppercase Living or something like that but realized it would probably be really expensive and I knew I could hand paint it (I'm cursed with crazy meticulousness. I say cursed because I can't do anything fast. I always joke if you want a job done fast, don't ask me. But if you want it done perfectly, I'm your gal ;) Oh, and I got a sample size paint from Home Depot, custom matched to the soap and toothbrush holders for only $2.48!

This shower curtain is from Land of Nod, the cutest kids store ever. I'd had my eye on it but it was expensive so I just asked for it as one of my Christmas gifts last year. (You know you're a mom when...)

Again, I wanted one that I loved and that could grow with the boys since I'm not ever redecorating it! :)

My sister, Claire, came over about 3 different times this past summer and helped me do all the painting! I would call her and say, "wanna come help me paint?" So we'd work together for like 5 minutes and then Channing would start crying and she'd be on her own :) Man, it was wonderful to have her help. We just made our own stencil for the waves and measured up from the floor and used a level. Relatively simple. I'm so happy with how it all turned out!