All lit up inside!

Last weekend was an exciting one for the ol' homestead... Matt and I popped out to Home Depot Saturday afternoon for some odds and ends and wound up craning out necks, checking out the lighting fixtures.  We had done a quick lap, landing looking at these two similar, yet very different chandeliers to potentially live over our dining room table.

Matt really liked this Mission style guy.

And I really liked this lovely lady.

I thought his was a little too severe, and while Matt liked my choice, he isn't crazy about having downward facing bulbs.  Looking up = going blind and that's no fun for anyone. Fair enough.  We decided to make another lap around before giving up. And in this crazy little section that was all on it's own {we still aren't sure why...}  we found our Kate Middleton of chandeliers. 

She's clean, sophisticated, not too flashy, but still totally stunning.  Sure, it's not the most original chandelier known to man, but it's clean look will withstand any of my future crazy, design changes in the house. After falling in love with our Princess Kate Chandy, we were talking about how much we loved her and that with all of our huffing and puffing about how ugly our 1970's etched glass chandeliers were, it would be better if we shied away from the trendy oil rubbed bronze look anyway for fear that down the road, that will look just as dated.  I can just see our grand kids saying "Ew Grandma!  That chandelier is so 2012!"  Let's be real- I'll never let my house get that way, but it's kind of funny to think about.

But the best part?   If you check out the link, HD has it on their site for $189!  That crazy little section must have been the clearance corner because we snagged this puppy for $79.99!  Putting my math to work, that is a 57.7% savings!  Our wallet was thanking us!  

 

We also noticed this little $6.99 flush-mounted ceiling light whose box was sitting right next to our chandy's, that was perfect for our hall way. And again! On the website... $29.99!! That is 76.7% off!  We thought we got good deals, but until I was checking them out on the Home Depot website, did I really realize how much we saved!! I am on cloud nine!

On our way home, Matt prefaced to me "Now,  these might not go up until April break, is that okay?" {Remember, he is a teacher.}   Of course it was! As long as we had a light at the end of the tunnel {believe it or not- that was a fully unintended pun.}  I was sittin' pretty!  That evening I set sail on a beautiful and super fun Odyssey Cruise, for my girlfriends bachelorette party.  While sitting at dinner I got a text from Mr. Handyman himself "The Chandelier is almost up!"  He decided he couldn't wait either, and took advantage of my evening away to make a mess with his brother and install the new lighting fixture!  If I wasn't already happy before, I was elated after that text!  The boys hadn't finished the chandelier when I got home that night, due to some technical difficulties, but they finished it the next morning and tackled the hall light.  In less than 24 hours the house was looking like a normal home in 2012 and no longer a throw back.  

We certainly still have a long way to go but to think that this is where we started.....

 

You can see a wee bit of it up at the top of this picture and you can see it from afar here as well...

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Okay enough drooling over the  new chandy.... Here is a vague picture of the hall light before....

See how the door {the ugly, ugly door} hits the light? It was no good. I wish we had taken more pics of the old lights before they were gone-zo. But then again, I don't even want to remember what they look like.  So maybe I'm not that sad! HA! 

Thank goodness for flush mounted ceiling lights!  Now, we don't have to worry about our weird little storage closet hitting the fixture like it used to!

We couldn't be happier with how things are coming together.  A huge bonus that we hadn't anticipated with the new fixture, is the additional light.  Our dining/living room is so much brighter than it was! We catch ourselves sometimes just staring, like a moth to a flame.   This was also the very first light that Matt ever installed, so I am super proud of him and he did a fantastic job! Everything is up to code and safely done, as opposed to before which was apparently done very poorly and unsafely.  Another happy bonus! Safety!

Well there you have it, Nesters! Another happy day in our house hold.  Has your husband or wife {or boyfriend in my case or girlfriend} surprised you with a house upgrade while you were gone?   Or maybe you got an awesome deal on something at the store instead of online?  Spill the beans!  We want to hear it! 

I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday weekend with family friends and loved ones. 

<3  Gina