Let’s talk about my boobs. Boob lights that is.
Remember the hanging boob light that I had painted and hung up in the basement?
It was quite the transformation.
And it served us well for the last year…but it was time.
Time to say goodbye.
Yes…our basement dining area has zero natural light hence the dimness and this little baby chugged along…(any other moms-of-toddlers singing the theme song to Chuggington with me?!)…but it just didn’t really scream dining area.
So when we spied this chandelier hanging out in the clearance light section of our local Lowe’s marked 75% off, I stopped in my tracks. I don’t wanna spend a lot of money (it’s a basement afterall) but a simple five shaded light fixture is perfect for only $45.
After Jer checked that it had all it’s nuts and raisins (that’s toddler-DIY-talk for ya) we headed to check out and brought er home.
My darling boyfriend wasted no time in getting this bad boy up. I did my job of picture taking (a la Instagram) and rear-view watching 🙂
Hallellujah…it worked.
And this definitely screams dining room, right?
Boobs scream something entirely different.
It puts off a little more light than the single bulb too. I think I probably will switch out the bulbs for a higher wattage for even more light.
Not too shabby for $45…and makes me excited about getting some art on the walls and putting a little more function into the space.
So short and simple….not the most exciting update in the world but definitely an inexpensive upgrade. Make any of those lately? find anything on clearance that makes you happy? Lets chat…
Tiffany says
I love me some Lowe’s clearance! I walk around the store hunting those little yellow tags. I just scored an awesome large fabric shaded pendant for $25!!! I literally did a little happy dance in the aisle…which becomes even weirder when you’re 7 months pregnant 🙂
The light looks great!
Bill says
What did the old fixture say to you?
Emily R. says
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Katie Bower! Able to remove boob lights in a single bound!
Lori @ Lighten Up! says
Oooh! I like! Much better than the boob light, definitely.
Sarah K says
The light looks great! What a nice find. And go Jeremy for getting it installed so quickly. Despite the lack of natural light, I think that dining space can look awesome – can’t wait to see what you come up with!
I found some gorgeous and fun fabric on sale at JoAnns this weekend. I plan to make a baby blanket out of it, but have to wait for someone I know to get pregnant with a baby girl.
You can see the fabric here: http://ournextgreatadventure.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/saturday-shopping-success/
Sarah
Lisa P says
Wow! Great find! Definitely better than the boob light!
Katie says
It said what most boobs say. I think you know 🙂
xo – kb
trish says
Looks much better Katie, and such a deal. Looking so much more dining roomish! We saw a foyer light fixture for 75% off at Home Depot but we wanted one for each end of the hall so I think it’s going to be alot harder to find a deal like that on 2 matching lights. So happy it worked out for you!!
When do you use that dining room as opposed to the dining room upstairs? Just curious…
Dianne P says
I love it! I bought the same light as your old one for our entryway when we moved into our house 8 years ago. I still don’t know why I thought the boob light was the way to go. Anyway, instead of changing out all my lights at once, I’ve given a couple of them makeovers by attaching upside down drum shades to them. And by the way I’ve mistakenly thought that “boob light” was a universal term until I brought it up to a Home Depot worker. Oops.
Jennifer says
love it! and love lowe’s clearance! 🙂
Carrie says
Do you use a dining room in the basement?
Mallory says
But boobs DO mean dining–for little ones anyway!
RBC says
Looks great! I need to start checking for clearance items! Does Home Depot have them too? The closest Lowes is not that close 🙁
Amy says
Oh boob lights… meant to be taken down! Looks amazing. Great deal!
Megan says
“Boobs scream something entirely different.” Best line ever.
Sava says
Definitely an improvement. Is there anyway to add a window somewhere downstairs?
Nellie says
What a difference! LOVE it!!! I have a quick question, do you use this room at all? I’m just wondering as my house is super super small in comparison and was wondering if it’s just a pretty space (like a lot of formal dinings) or if it’s functional?
keri says
looks fabulous! or….fab-u-less if you want to be corny 🙂
thought of you driving yesterday – i went past “Bacon Road” – my jaw dropped.
Amy says
Not only is it stuck in my head..it makes me want to do the little chuggington dance I came up with (trust me, it’s amazing, and it makes the kids laugh, so totally worth it).
Sweet find on the light! I have some boob lights that need to be retired as well!
Amanda @ Our Humble A{Bowe}d says
Great find, Katie! It looks so much better now! 🙂
Brenda says
What a pretty light! Makes the space look so much better.
Stephanie M. says
I just wanted to comment and say…..CHUGGington, Chugga, Chugga, Chugga, Chugga, Chuggington! 🙂 That’s all.
Oh and the light looks great!
Eliesa says
Love the new light – and I love the clearance sections at Lowe’s! I found a ton of lights there to replace all the nasty lighting when we moved in to this house. There were way too many “white head” lights to count – ugh! I think I paid $3 for one of them, and it was fabulous. I am actually heading there this morning to find some new lights for our master bathroom. Hope I have as much luck as you did!
Kristen says
What a cute update! Love that look.
Chuggington..chugga,chugga,chugga,chugga, Chuggington! 🙂
Erin {Home Everyday} says
What a great find! I love the style and how much lighter that space looks. We just found the perfect schoolhouse light fixture for our kitchen and it was on way clearance! We absolutely love it.
bekah says
Looks great! We just did a similar Lowes clearance light upgrade! With a similar-ish light! Here is a link if you have a sec to look – you know…cause moms of toddlers arent busy or anything 🙂
http://www.countrymousetales.com/2012/08/let-there-be-light.html
I really like that yours has fabric shades!
Katie says
I need to see that dance 🙂
xo – kb
Katie says
There are plenty of windows down there on the other side of the house…but it just so happens that this side of the house is underground (aka the safest during a tornado!)…pros and cons I guess 🙂
xo – kb
Katie says
To be honest…no. I have only used it for my sisters wedding and for parties…other than that, it just sits there.
xo – kb
Katie says
haha…TRUE!
xo – kb
Katie says
Sometimes! You can usually find them in a end unit on an aisle or in a pile in the middle of a walkway!
xo – kb
Katie says
Nope…just sortof a bonus space.
xo – kb
Katie says
haha…priceless 🙂
xo – kb
Katie says
To be perfectly honest, we don’t use it. We actually probably would use it more if we had the basement entertainment room done but since that is gonna cost a pretty penny, we plan to stay upstairs for a while 🙂
xo – kb
Sharin says
Love Lowes clearance! I was able to buy 2 matching chandeliers for our crazy 40 foot hallway for $35 a pop! And finally able to finish up the necessary lighting purchases ! Crazy when you think about having to replace lighting to every room in the house. 9 chandeliers in all plus bathroom lighting. I was exhausted!
Jennifer says
Love it! I am on the hunt for lights too, just not dining…I’m not that picky but they are hard to find!
Chrissy says
That looks great! Gotta love an inexpensive upgrade. I got some unfinished adirondack chairs on super sale at Home Depot a couple of months back and finally got around to staining them this past weekend. What a difference! Getting into all of the little crevices almost left me with a claw for a hand but we’re back to normal now. Close call.
Tessa says
Oooo, I like it!
Katie says
haha! I hear that claw hands are all the new rage 🙂
xo – kb
Martina says
You can tell that the light is distributed more evenly across the entire room – no more shadows!
Nice job!
Sara says
I love that! The dining area attached to our kitchen doesn’t have any overhead light so it’s like a dungeon in there unless we eat in the daytime (where’s the fun in midnight snacking if you can’t see your Cocoa Puffs??). We’re finally doing the wiring to put in a light this weekend! So excited! Might have to go look for that fixture at our Lowe’s.
Karyn says
My husband steers me away from yellow tags because I always end up buying something I dont really need. And btw, I think your boyfriend tortures you with those famous Nike shorts. Seems like whenever he is on a ladder he has them on!!
Christina @ Homemade Ocean says
Oh-la-la I love the new light! Death to all boob lights!!!!!
Kim says
Nice light fixture… but to more important things… BACON!!
Have you skimmed the Yahoo! headlines today??
http://shopping.yahoo.com/news/top-bacon-varieties.html
mmmmmm!
AmyHH says
I have that same chandelier in my foyer and I love it.
Jill says
I recently made my husband help me fix up our shower. But he was not wearing a shirt when I recruited him, and it’s actually pretty close quarters in the area-that-will-be-the-shower, and he kept, like, REACHING for things. It totally killed my remodeling usefulness, so I just quit working and took a lot of pictures of his back while making really helpful comments.
Which brings me to the point, which is that nothing about our remodel has been particularly cheap. However, I purchased my hot hot husband on match.com for the bargain price of $40. That’s less than your new light fixture!
Katie says
Ha – I love that you call them boobs! I moved in with my boyfriend, now husband and I was sitting on the couch one day and I realized that ever light fixture I could see looked like a boob. I counted 5 from my one position. Our first step was exactly what you did, we hung a chandelier over our dining room table. I just have to find a way to replace our kitchen boob, the boob in the living room, and the two hallway boobs.
Melinda says
You have a dining room in your BASEMENT? Brand new information. Have you ever done a video house tour on the ol’ blog? Apparently there are rooms your internet friends don’t even know about. Also — started following you on Instagram recently. Go Vols! You and your boyfriend has good taste in sports teams.
Katie says
Yup! You can search for the tours (there are actually two of the basement).
xo – kb
Jenna at Homeslice says
Beautiful! It definitely makes a difference.
Paige @ Little Nostalgia says
I LOVE Lowe’s clearance. We scored a light fixture, too, but ours is in the kitchen. It’s a schoolhouse-style milk glass dome, and it was only $30. Much better than the florescent box that was there before.
Laura says
My husband installed that same fixture over our dining room table a few months ago and we are loving it! We also found it on clearance at Lowes! It looks great over your table!
Elizabeth says
I was so distracted by your boyfriend’s shorts I couldn’t pay attention to the after pics! Is he a mailman??? I’d know those shorts anywhere!
Maura says
I made the same mistake with my mother in law. Not only had she never heard of it…I realized her home is full of the faniciest boob lights I have ever seen. Ackward.
Kate-I love this post. It felt so relateable and proves how the little (and unexpensive) changes can have great impact!!! Thanks for all you do. I love your blog.
Layla says
Gotta ask- is boyfriend a nickname?!
Katie says
Yup…here’s a better explanation 🙂
xo – kb