Lamp Redo....

We've had these two cheap target lamps since we first moved in together. We didn't even pay anything for them; we found them on the side of the road near our apartment.  I wasn't really loving them in our new living room but floor lamps are not cheap! (and we needed 2) so we decided to make due for now.

I picked up a can of Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint and went to town....

Big difference in only about 10 minutes....but they still looked like well, cheap target lamps.
These shades that came with the lamps I bought for our bedroom....but I hated them on those lamps and had already bought other shades - these were just sitting in our basement.

They look a little odd when they are illuminated since you can still tell the plastic shade is inside.  It's good enough for now though; and much improved for the minimal $5~$6 spray paint cost.

Have you completed any dirt cheap make-overs recently?

A House Tour....

Do you want a little house tour?
I thought you did -
*Please excuse the terrible picture quality, I was too lazy to adjust them :)

Lets start from the outside and work our way in -

If you come in the front door, the kitchen is to your left, the living room (which they used as a dining room) to your right.

I didn't like the feeling of walking directly into the dining room so we are currently using this as the tv room (the tv is against the wall on the left of the image).

It's also got a second connection to the kitchen.  The fridge is right behind that light switch - so convenient for snacks.

The other side of the tv-room/dining room has the access to the mud room and downstairs bathroom.

There is a huge window in the mudroom-

and stone floors :

This leads into the downstairs bath (1/2)

The previous owners took the mirrors/vanity cabinets -

If we come back through the tv-room we move into the kitchen.

And through the kitchen you can see the family room and doors to the backyard:

Lets step outside for a second -
We have a tall fence and shed :) Although you can't see it all, the backyard is a decent size (for our area) and behind the fence there is a swamp pond.  The lawn needs a lot of work - that is a boy job.

Okay, lets go back inside.

And head upstairs -

At the top of the stairs, to the left is the master bedroom, to the right is the upstairs bath and bedroom #2/office and straight ahead is what we are calling bedroom #3/guestroom.
The Master: (to get these three pictures I stood in the door and rotated from left to right)

Our bed will be located between the windows on this wall.

Next up, the bath -

It's SMALL.

Again, they took the vanity - 

And there are random fish tiles in the shower -

Right beside the bathroom is the 2nd bedroom and what I'm going to be using as my office -

The floors need work in here -

On the way to the final bedroom there are built-in storage cabinets on either side of the hall.  Although right now they don't really shut (also need work).

And thats it!
Well, half of the basement is finished - but it's boring down there (and filled with stuff)....we'll save that for another day.

Window Seating and Secret Storage

Yes, me again - with the built-ins....but this time I want a built in window seat with storage to either side.

traditional family room design by seattle architect Sullivan Conard Architects

And super stealth storage underneath....

traditional family room design by new york general contractor S.A.N Design Group, Inc.

The other option would be drawers underneath....

family room design

traditional family room design by other metros interior designer Veranda Estate Homes

But drawers seem much more complicated to build, no?

Whats your vote?  Stealth storage underneath or visible drawers?