Cheap Buy

Last night while I was at Michaels getting a a custom matte cut for my sons artwork for his bedroom re-do I spotted a super cheap buy. Which is always a good thing, and so good I wanted to share with all of you. They were selling 14 sponge bushes for a buck! That's right one dollar. I bought two bundles which should last me quite a while. 

Instead of having a bunch of roses in my window sill, I have a bouquet for sponge brushes. Oh the joy of home  improvements! I think I have plenty of brushes for upcoming projects. 

I love using sponge brushes for painting projects. I love that they are cheap and can be tossed, which means less clean up. My son also likes uses sponge brushes for his artwork. Most recently I used sponge brushes to apply primer on my yellow tray in our living room, and bench and dresser for our master bedroom. 

Do you love using sponge brushes like I do? What's the last item you painted with a sponge brush?

Sons Tween Room: Light the Room in Style

I couldn't wait to replace the boring lights our son's room. He had a very basic light fixture in his room that gave off adequate light, but it's boring. It was the same light fixture we had in our dining room, and master bedroom before we updated them. My son and I start looking for lights for his bedroom a few weeks back, starting our 'looking trip' at Ikea. I like that Ikea has a great light options that are affordable and great value. I really liked the Borja pendant lamp, I liked the look of the basket weave, but $59.99 was a bit more than I wanted to spend. 

He like the Fado pendant light. I thought it was cool too and like the price of $ 29.99, however I worried it might be too small for his bedroom. We decided while he was at his grandpa's that I would continue the search for a light fixture and gather more ideas, if I found nothing he liked I would buy the Fado pendant from Ikea.

As luck would have it while shopping for a Carpenters Clamp at Lowes for his bedroom, I spotted a the perfect light fixutre for his bedroom. It was a large drum shade { you know I love drum shades! } pendant light fixture. Now I've seen a few of these at Lowes before, but at 
$79.99 they weren't in the budget - so I kept it moving! However this one was on clearance and I loved the look of the shade. The shade resembles dark walnut wood grain. Very cool vibe. It was on clearance for $ 53.98, I just couldn't pass it up knowing it will grow with him & with all the DIY projects were doing for his room, it will be the splurge item. I pulled out my Blackberry and Googled the style pendant drum shade, and found out I was getting a steal, compared to a similar version at Bellacor for $ 268.28! 

I've been crossing my fingers for a few days hoping my son would like it when he got back from his grandpa's. Sigh of relief he thought the light fixture was cool and likes the inside detail of the pendant shade the best.

Here's my sons old light fixture, basic and boring. I now how three of these light fixtures to drop off at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Remember to take your no longer needed home goods to their restore { light fixtures, bath vanities, doors and more } they resale the items and then the proceeds help fund construction on Habitat homes. It's also a great place to shop for bargains. 

Here's his new light fixture in his bedroom. We choose to use the shortest portion on the down rod for his bedroom, so the drum shade still has impact while being kid friendly. I love when the lights on, came with a large bulb that doesn't hurt your eyes if your directly under it. It's the city scrape perfect. 

The dark wood grain is so pretty and unexpected.

Here's the light when its off. I took the picture in the evening, so it looks a darker then what it actually is. 

Months and months ago while shopping at Kohls I came across this cute table lamp on clearance for $ 3.99. I love the fabric on the lampshade and the colors work perfectly with his bedroom. Sadly the little bench the lamp is current;y sitting on will be stored in the garage, since he's out grown. 

I'm glad I continued my light fixture search. What do you think of his new drum shade for his bedroom?

ps: Here's a recap of completed projects for our sons bedroom: Painted the Bedroom (here) Tools Used in Decor (here) 

Loving Acrylics for Work Spaces

I've been loving arcylic for quote sometime, even more when I added three acrylic bins to organize my makup in the my top drawer of our dresser.


I love the idea of using acrylic pieces to organize workspaces, the ones below are from CB2. I like the clear magazine holders the best, pretty and clean lined on top a desk or in a bookshelf.

These clear stacking boxes are the best. I might have to upgrade my work space a bit. 

Of course they gorgeous in rooms too { but i'm more a fan or the clear acyclic coffee tables }

{ image via decorpad }

What are your thoughts on acrylics?

Sons Tween Room: Tools, Not Just for Tool Boxes

I love the fresh modern style style of CB2. They have so many great items in there store that up the  'fun factor' in a space. I so glad they have a store about an house away for our house, we even popped in there a couple of months ago, and got plenty inspiration. A couple of days ago I was looking though their latest catalog they sent me and spotted a cute idea for a bookend. It's a large black carpenter's clamp.

I love how the carpenters clamp adds visual interest to a bookcase, shelf or desk top. I thought it would be cute to addition to my sons room. It's just so cool! While I love the large size of the CB2 carpenter's clamp, I'm not huge fan of the price $ 24.99 for one. Then it dawned on me to just buy one from Lowes! Plus I needed one anyways to finish up a project that Mr. CLH and I have been working on for on sons room. 

Our local Lowes has a whole aisle devoted to carpenter clamps, all types: metal, wood, and plastic. The metal ones range in size and price from $ 2.98 and up. 

I bought the four inch clamp which was only $ 5.98 which will work great in his room and work perfectly for the project. 

Tabari just got home yesterday and I showed him the progress on his bedroom as well as my idea for the carpenters clamp. 

Conversations With My Kid

Since Tabari's is fully involved in the process of re-doing his bedroom, I'd thought I'd share the conversations he and I have about design elements for his room

Mom: What do you think of the carpenter's clamp, being used as a bookend?

Son: It's cool, but I want a bigger one! 

Mom: Ok, sounds good. We can leave it metal, or paint it any color you like: red, blue green whatever.

Son: Um, I don't want red, I don't want too much red in the room

Mom: Really? Its your favorite color

Son: Yeah, but I'm thinking blue. Love you mom.

Mom: Love you too!

So the measly little four inch one I bought is too small for his tastes, lol. I'll be heading back to Lowe's soon and exchanging the carpenters clamp for a larger one. I'll also be picking up some spray paint, but will be paint the clamp light blue, or dark blue?

What are your thoughts about adding a little industrial edge into your home?

ps: Here's a recap of completed projects on our son's bedroom: painted the walls