Life's little details have been keeping me busy lately (i.e. I spent an hour shovelling our driveway this morning. Winter, I'm so over you), but I wanted to share a quick DIY lighting update. The plan is to replace the vintage globe pendants in our kitchen with recessed lighting (the placement of the current light fixtures is really wonky, so I'm hoping to switch them out and add another recessed light), but in the meantime I wanted to fix them up a little (lipstick on a pig, if you will).

As you can see in the first picture, the finish was really beaten up and no amount of cleaning was helping (I tried several of the internet's tips and tricks to no avail). I had some leftover liquid gilding from this, this and this project, so I applied a quick coat and left it to dry. I also took the globes off and gave them a good wash (there were dead bugs, it was gross). Not a dramatic before and after, but much improved - and free!

I spotted this vase at Value Village several months ago. The colour was pretty boring, but the shape reminded me of some geodesic accessories I'd been coveting (spotted here) and I figured I could easily spray paint it.

So I took it home, put it on a shelf and forgot about it until the weather was too cold for spray painting. Dammit, self. Luckily I had discovered gilding by then and in less than 5 minutes I had this beauty (well, more like 10 if you include transplanting time).

I used the same bottle of Martha Stewart's bronze liquid gilding that I used here and here (I also used it on a picture frame - not the one seen here - and still have plenty left, so I'm going to go ahead and say the tiny bottle is well worth its $11.99 price tag). 

{Are we the only people who still have a landline?}

I wanted to apply a clear gloss finish, but Adam said he liked the matte look so I left it (I think he was right anyway). I also re-painted my thrifted wooden tray and finished that with my clear gloss spray (I needed something glossy). I liked the blue, but the white works better in our living room now that I've switched a few things around. I need to take some updated pictures for you guys, but I'm waiting for a certain giant rug to arrive first :)

BTW, I just looked back at my pictures when I first put my DIY message center together...what happened to all the pens?!?!

Way back in August I shared that I wanted to make some tweaks to our bedroom, including repainting our $10 yard sale nightstands and switching up the hardware. I finally got around to it a few weeks ago, but I was waiting to take pictures until I sorted out our lamp situation. Turns out the lamps I bought weren't right for the room (not to worry, they were an inexpensive Kijiji find and my mom wants them), so I shopped my house and came up with something I think I'm happy with.

 
I stole the lamp and alarm clock from the guest room. The lamp is pretty tiny, but perched on a stack of magazines it's just the right height. The dried hydrangeas are from my mother-in-law, the glass votive was a Christmas gift from my mom, and I found the vintage tray at Value Village a couple years ago.

                                                                                                                      
The colour is C-I-L's Cinnabar. It's an orange-y coral and I just love it. Totally makes me smile every time I see it and it really warms up the room at night. Instead of replacing the hardware, I decided to gild what I already had. The difference is incredible. I went from hating the hardware to absolutely loving it. #gildingchangedmylife.

                                                                                      
Here's how my side of the bed looks now. I'm still playing around with the styling on Adam's side of the bed, but it's very close.

I have one more DIY project planned for the bedroom and I'm hoping I receive a certain piece of art on my Christmas wish list (hint, hint family) so I can take some updated shots of the room to share with you (I've made a few other tweaks around the room, so there's lots to share).

I'm much happier with the direction of the room now. I unintentionally ended up basing the room's colour palette on the huge vintage map of Iceland hanging next to Adam's side of the bed (a souvenir from our honeymoon). Lots of neutrals with some oranges, blues and a tiny bit of deep purple. It's still coming together, but hopefully I'll have a reveal 2.0 to share with you soon!

I finished painting our headboard over the weekend and wanted to share a little sneak peek. I'm making a few tweaks to the rest of our bedroom - sparked by some great suggestions from Shannon - so I'll share the whole thing with you when I'm done :)

In terms of the how-to, I sprayed the entire headboard with Rustoleum's Ultra Cover primer, followed by their Ultra Cover satin heirloom white. There aren't many warm and windless days this time of year, so it took two entire cans (1 can of primer + 1 can of paint) to cover the headboard (and if I'm being honest, there are a few spots that still need touching up).

For the finials, I used Martha Stewart's bronze liquid gilding. It was my first time using it and this stuff is awesome. I did two coats - only one was really needed - and it was easy to apply. The only downside is the smell, so make sure you open a window. And yes, I'm now tempted to gild everything we own.

Now that it's done, I'm so glad I listened to you guys and broke out the paint. I. love. it.