Let There Be Light

We are slowly plugging away at decorating our basement family room. For a while, we had turned the room over to the girls to use as a bedroom. For some time before that, it had been mostly a playroom. Finally, we have reclaimed it as family room and are attempting to make it feel homey and warm. I bought a table off Craig's List and refinished it as a game table for the space. We have played games there a couple times now, and have determined it needed more light. In October, while we were in NC, I picked up a wicker lamp shade at a yard sale for a dollar, I think, with this space in mind.
I took a hanging lamp kit we had kicking around from 2 houses ago,

fitted it in the shade,

made a cord cover from leftover slipcover fabric,

and attached an exaggerated ruffle made from more of the leftover fabric.



I'm liking it.
I was going to add some ribbon trim at the transition from shade to ruffle, but when I pulled on the end of my ribbon I discovered only one rotation of it on the spool. And I was out of hot glue sticks anyway. Maybe later. Or maybe I like it just the way it is.

My New Favorite Color

Orange has always been my favorite color. It's warm, it's happy, it's festive. I've decorated with it, painting our living room in NC with a vibrant pumpkin hue. The color got mixed reviews from visitors, but it made ME happy.

Recently I went on a search for an orangey-brown color for my mudroom. When we bought the house, the mudroom was painted a fun terra-cotta-type color, but way over to the pink side.
I wanted a nice terra-cotta color, leaning toward the orange more than the pink. I found exactly the color I wanted, and I. am. in. love.


(I'm also in love with the fact that I was able to pull my vinyl "Welcome" lettering off the wall and reuse it after painting. YAY!)