Dining Room Light Fixture

     I am still attempting to sift through our home photos which have become saved in various places and by various people.  However, until I am able to further nail down an exact flow of photos I am going to just start in the middle of the sentence, shall we say, and start talking about renovations we have made to the house.
     When we first bought this house there was a 1940's chandelier hanging in the living room.  The owner, who was the original owner, asked if she could keep it considering in had been in her family a while.  I was a-okay with that one because I wasn't in love with it anyway and if you would have met the previous owner you would know how sweet and spunky she was and wouldn't be able to say no either.  So once that sucker was gone we were left with a completely blank slate and had several ideas on how we wanted the light to look and the impact we wanted it to make.  The dining room is an open area and is connected to the living area.  Since the living room doesn't have any overhead lighting we figured that the dining room light would be our only way to get a little puh-zazz to the room.  We liked a fixture found at Anthropologie.  It had exposed bulbs and ran along the outside of what looked to be a black painted hula hoop.  We were almost settled on it when I found this.....

It is called the Edison Chandelier and is from Pottery Barn.  Once it was delivered we had to decide how to install this baby.  This is where Ross got very inventive.....

He measured the length of the cords and cut that length in string/twine

We realized that Solo cups were a similar height to the light bulbs so we taped them onto the twine. Then we hung them from the ceiling.  We used Blue painters tape to adhere the twine to the ceiling so that we could see what we thought about the spacing.  The height of the solo cup wasn't a concern since we would be able to adjust that once the fixture was installed, more to come on that later.  Once we decided where we would like the spacing to be we removed the solo cups and left the tape on the ceiling.  It looks like a little reneck chandelier.  Jeff Foxworthy would be proud.

 With the chandelier installed we were ready to start drilling into the ceiling. 
Also---I thought I might just in to say that Ross decided to take on this project during a Thunderstorm.  Not just a light shower and dark skies!  I'm talking like we couldn't watch The Office because the weather lady from Channel 4 was completely monopolizing the television screen telling people in counties around us to get ready to enter their 'safe area'.  Even though Ross had disconnected the power to the lights I still felt that in the case of lightning stiking our house directly (which seemed to be a plausible event since it was lighting up the sky all around us) it would still go through the electrical wires and take out Ross or at least make his hair curlier then it already is.  I was worried to say the least. sheesh.

The finished product!  I was soooooo proud of him (and mad at him too for doing it during a lightening storm).  He is really proving to be a substancial handy man around the house. yee haw for us.  I am just tickled at how it turned out!!

Why so blue??

Recently, we painted what I have deemed 'the ugliest room in the house'.  It is a converted garage that when converted was fashioned with faux wood paneling (oy!) and indoor/outdoor blue carpet (major Oy!).  Both make for an exceptionally ugly room.  Fortunately, the room is outfitted with 2 double sets of windows and 1 single window on the side. So the room is capable of being well lit while still seeming very dark and dreary.  We decided to take a wild hair and paint the room.  We chose Martha Steward 'Wrought Iron' blue.  We had the nice folks at Home Depot color match it to Olympic low-VOC paint.  Less smelly. 

 Once we applied 2 coats to the walls we could tell a world of difference!  You may be wondering why we decided to paint a dark room a dark color like the navyish selection we made.  I didn't want this room to be a light, airy, breezy room like all the other rooms in our house.  This is where we do the majority of our TV watching so I wanted it to feel more cozy and intimate.  Little did I realize that this color is extremely, if not exactly the color of Auburn's shade of blue.  It must have been a more subconscience decision.  (Not sure if I mentioned it but my husband and I both completed our Undergraduate degrees at Auburn so we are a truly devoted Fans!) 


Perhaps, my design idea might swing more towards an Auburn room? maybe? 
Overall, painting the room Blue and the trim white has revamped the room to a whole new level.  It actually looks like it fits into the rest of the house! hallelujah!  More pictures to come.

Hellooooooo Lover!

During our recent trip to Arizona we made a side trip to the Scottsdale Mall.  It was beyond exciting to shop at so many stores that we don't have in Nashville like Neiman Marcus, Lucy, Crate&Barrel, Barney's...etc.  While in Neiman Marcus I noticed a glittering shimmer out of the corner of my eye...then I saw these  (que the Mormon Tabernacle Choir):
I have had my eye on these since Ross and I were engaged.  I wanted to wear them during the wedding.  However, since we were marrying at an old Plantation home in the garden I had to come to the conclusion that these wouldn't be practical.  adorable, yes. practical, no. They have always been in the back of my mind ever since the wedding.  And then-when I saw those fabulous Lady Peep slingbacks they brought back so many memories.....sigh.

    It was hard to walk away from them but my eyes were distracted by something that was much more practical and yet, still adorable. Hunter rainboots!  With my profession, I am outside doing carline when it rains, walking around in the watery-ness outside on the playground or at the dog park with Coley.  So when i saw these I knew they were perfect.

        

I left with a fabulous pair.  I have already worn them several times and feel they were well worth their money.  We have received a large amount of snow here in Nashville so they have been used on the playground at school and as brakes while riding on a sled. I'm happy.  Plus I think they will even look descent this summer with a cute flowy Anthropologie dress. Stoked!!

Dames for Danes Rescue Organization

Ross and I didn't realize how attached we would become to Coley until we brought her home.  I feel that I am becoming that person that will wear sweaters with Great Danes stiched on them.  I am absolutely in love with the Great Dane breed.  I told Ross that I never want to have any other kind of dog.  They are such easy going, mellow dogs.  Well in my pursuit to be further educated on the Great Dane population I came across this website for Danes.  Dames for Danes offers dogs that need to be rescued a chance to find a home in the Middle or East Tennessee area.  There are several dogs that need a home that I would absolutely LOVE to bring back to our home.  Ross says that once Coley is 2 years old (currently shes 5 1/2 months old) we will start to discuss the option of bringing in another dog (a Dane if I have any say in it).  So until we can bring a dog home I am telling my friends and any person I run into about the website and how they should consider adopting a Dane.  DamesforDanes do their best to insure that the dogs are properly taken care of and find good homes so I also encourage people to Donate financially, which is available on their website.  Considering how much we love Coley and how much joy she has brought us I feel an obligation to give back to the Dane population and do what I can to sing their praises.  Check out the website and make a small donation or pass on the website to friends and encourage them to adopt!