Finally A Bright Hallway

Over the weekend we tackled painting our Hallway and installing a new light fixture. As I mentioned before painting the hallway was on our ' We'll Get to it Later' Project list. I'm so glad we finally completed this project, our hallway looks bigger and brighter and now seamlessly blends into our living room. No more sudden new color once you enter the hallway like before, which is a good thing.

Here's a look at our hallway ceiling, yep the ceiling is green! To top it off we also had and outdated light fixture and that gave no light light.



Below is how our hallway looked before, very dark. At night it felt like walking though a tunnel. 



I painted the ceiling bright white using Olympic Paint Low VOC ceiling paint, and painted the wall the same color that's in our living room. I debated going with a modern yet expensive light fixture, or going with a more affordable option. In the end we went the budget option. While I was looking at paint colors at Home Depot I stopped in the lighting department a found a simple light fixture for $ 9.99! I like the price and energy star rating, plus it was ten bucks cheaper than the Lowes option I was planning on buying.

Here's the in progress view of our hallway after the the ceiling had been painting and the new light installed. Even with half of the hallway painted it looks so much bigger and brighter.

Here's a better picture of the new hallway color against the white trim.

Consider our hallway completed for now. I'm still on the hunt for a great mirror, and plan on hanging some pictures in the hallway. We also plan on replacing all our bedroom doors / bathroom door etc with new panel doors. The new doors will make our house feel so nice and freash and much more modern.

I'm glad our hallway project is almost completed, we slowly taking on those 'We'll Get to it Later' Projects. The little things all add up!

Did you tackle any projects this weekend?

Light From Above

Among other diy projects this weekend, I really want to tackle a painting our hallway. Months back when I repainted our living room Woodrow Wilson Putty, I skipped painting our Hallway. Fortunately no one noticed or said anything to me! My plans on Saturday are morning is paint the Hall way and install a new light fixture hallway & hang a large to help bounce light around our dark hallway.

First up our hallway with its dated light fixture - it has hard to get a good shoot. Did you notice our ceiling looks a little green? Yup, I will be painting the ceiling a nice bright white. The ceiling is one of those left over projects we never got around to doing! It's of of the those projects that are b-o-r-i-n-g. 

I love modern elegant light fixtures, but for the hallway I wanna keep it thrifty cheap and it must be a close to the ceiling light fixture / flush mount. Also the light fixture can't be to big, because next to it is our HVAC filter vent. I started my search at Lamps Plus more for inspiration, since they don't have many budget friendly options. I quickly fell in love with this flush mount light fixture { Possini Euro Design White Flower } ! Its so pretty and unexpected in a hallway, but I wasn't loving the price tag of $ 89.00 for a hallway fixture. I quickly google coupon Lamp Plus, praying a valid 50% off coupon would pop up! Alas nope Nada, plus its too bug :( 

I decided to start my search over and look for basic ceiling mount light fixtures ( that weren't too boring) I like this Design House Millbridge light fixture simple base and clean looking light shade. Certainly not as amazing as the flower fixture from Lamps Plus, but that's OK. The price only $ 14.97 from Home Depot

I also found the Design House 8 inch light fixture a with a more modern light cover. For only $ 19.47 also from Home Depot.

I also popped over to Lowes virtually and checked out their lighting options, I came across the Portofilo light fixture which is in stock at my store! For only $ 19.97, the ones from Home Depot are available online only. 

In the end I decided to go with the Portfolio light fixture, its not was modern as the one I first fell in love with, but but the price and size are a perfect fit. Plus we've been consider adding another light in the hallway and buying another one of these will be super affordable. 

What projects to you have on your 'I'll Get to it Later' project ?

Oh Baby: Belly Reads

With our bundle of joy arriving in June, I thought I would start a new series on my blog dedicated to things baby appropriately title ' Oh Baby '  I plan to talk about baby books, nursery inspiration, artwork and how I'm dressing my bump and much more. I thought it would be a fun way to share whats on my mind with everyone, and answer a some email questions I receive from readers. Don't worry this blog is not turning into a baby blog! lol - We have a long list of projects on our DIY list to get completed before our little Junebug arrives :) 


First up I wanted to start with some pregnancy books I've been having so much fun reading! One of my best friends recently gave birth to a sweet little boy a few months ago and was thrilled when I shared with her our great news. Well a few weeks ago when I was visiting her, she sent me home with 5 baby books! I was beyond thrilled and wowed by her generosity. Here's my stack of books {  from top to bottom: Hot Mama, Belly Laughs, Baby Names, Eating Well When Your Expecting, What to Expect When Your Expecting & Your Pregnancy Week By Week } 

 I quickly read Hot Mamma and Belly Laughs both cute books to read if your expecting or have family or friend who is. Both books will put a smile on your face! 

But of course my favorite books are: Baby Names, your Pregnancy Week By Week and the Eating Well Book. The Eating Well book is keeping me in check, of course occasionally I hear Reese's Pieces begging for me to buy them while in the check out line! A few days after I received lots of good belly reads, one of my girlfriends gave me another baby book! This book is all about soothing a cry baby and helping them sleep longer. I've been reading this book everyday and find it really interesting and like the concepts! 

What books did you like reading while pregnant or if your are pregnant?  If you are pregnant what are your current favorite reads? 


Any other fun books I should check out? Let me know! 

Basket Found?

As I mentioned on Friday, one of my weekend plans was basket shopping. I know Iead and exciting life lol - but I really needed to find the perfect storage solution for { baby clutter coming in June 2011} I'm pretty sure I found a a basket that will work. Its nice and deep, had a great weave and has handles! The only minus is its not round, but I still like it. I filled it with my sons stuffed animals { yes, I'm that mom who saves stuffed animals that remind me when he was little } 


So I took these pics early this morning with no natural light (boo!) so be kind they suck - but hopefully you get the idea. The best part of the basket is it was only $ 16.99! I total steal for the size and price! Right now the basket is residing on our living room and looks pretty cute. 

Am I the only one looking forward to Spring? I can't wait to have decent pictures to put on the blog! lol

In Search of Baskets

For the past few days I've been in search of the perfect basket for our living room and nursery { read about our preganacy news here! } I want the basket to contain the stuffed aniamals and toys in a cute way. My urge to find a great basket increased while looking on West Elm and Crate & Barrel. My basket musts are: must be mead of natural materials and handles are a must - both for the cute fact and ease of moving the basket around the room and round is a plus. 


I like this soft jute basket from West Elm for a few reasons - I love the braided handles very unique and the large would be perfect in for a nursery of living room. While I love this basket, i'm not crazy about spending $ 79 x 2 for both rooms. 

Next I jumped over to Crate & Barrel, and found the Basay basket which is larger then West Elm basket plus its cheaper. Again I like the braided handles and chunky weave on the basket. This one is $ 59. I'm still not loving the price, so the search continued. 

I like Targets Banana leaf baskets { we have one in our living room for extra storage } I was happy when I came across a large round basket with handles. This basket is only $ 29 and I think would look great in either room. 

Before I decided to head to my local target, I'm going to check out Home Goods this weekend and hopefully I'll come across a large round basket with handles. Crossing my fingers I do. 


What do you use for extra storage in your living room to contain toys / stuffed animals or magazines / blankets etc.? 

PS. Thanks everyone for their lovely comments about our Baby News & Appearing on The Nate Berkus Show Tuesday. If you missed my post about it, click here for the details. 

CLH on the Nate Berkus Show! Today!

Hi Everyone! I'm so excited to finally be able to share this wonderful news with all of you, keeping this secret has been super hard but very cool. Remember when I said Hasani and I took a quick trip to NYC a few weeks back ? Well we went to NYC to be guests on The Nate Berkus Show! We were contacted by the producers to be a part of the House Proud Series!!


I hope you all get a chance to see out clip & we also reveal a New Project were working on! Trust me this new project is very exciting { Hint: I added a bump to my belly :) }

Here's when to watch the show:


http://www.thenateshow.com/station-finder

Or watch the clip here! Now, House Proud California Rancher 

http://www.thenateshow.com/

Please tell me your thoughts ( I have yet to watch it, lol) and did you guess our Next Project?? 

CLH in Review

Wow another year has gone by so its time to do a little reflecting at Chic Little House. And look back at a few of our favorite completed projects and few that have yet to get done! Plus its a great way to let 'new readers' look at past projects!


We gave our seen better days wood front door a face lift with bright red cheery paint. Our red front door pops off our grey house and looks good with the white trim and black shutters.

Before

After

I love to find bargains whether it be on clearance, shopping thrift stores or stalking Craigslist. So I was really happy when I found an amazing dresser with dovetail drawers all wood for only $ 45 bucks!! I transformed a dark and date looking dresser for our bedroom with paint and new hardware! 

Before 

After ( I loved this makeover so much it deserved two pics!)

In April I found a blah tray via a thrift store for a few bucks and with the help of some paint and remnant fabric leftover from making pillows the tray was transformed. I love how the yellow tray pops in our living room. 

Before

After

In 2010 three rooms in our house got new lighting: Dining room, Sons Bedroom and Master Bedroom. To this day every time I turn our bedroom light on, I fall in love all over again. Before we had a basic builder light in our room, we took the light down and replaced it with a pretty modern romantic chandelier drum shade.


 Before 

After 

So looking forward to talking our Project for 2011 ( trust me its much longer then mentioned last week!! ) 1st up on our project list making Euro Pillows and a lumbar pillow for the Master Bedroom, I'll be sharing the project on Thursday.