One Room Challenge: Week 6 - Lighting

It’s week 6 of the One Room Challenge and I’m focusing on lighting. I truly believe one of the most overlooked and under valued aspect of interior decorating is lighting. It’s easy to buy a small, cheap lamp from Target and call it a day, but choosing light fixtures that “have an opinion” will give you a much higher end look… and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Having multiple sources of light also creates coziness like nothing else.

I found this large lamp for $5 at the thrift store, but pink isn’t exactly the vibe I’m going for in Aaron’s room so I decided to DIY it. Here are the steps I took:

Removed the shade - I’m not big on second hand lamp shades… ‘nuff said.
Cleaned and dusted the lamp
Lightly sanded the pink part. I wanted to keep the gold base and top, so I also taped those off.
Wiped everything down.
Mixed 1 parts baking soda to 1 parts acrylic paint and stirred.
Applied the paint with a foam brush (any brush will work but I prefer the foam brush because they’re easier to clean and it’s easier to control the texture).
Replaced the shade. I found a new one for $16 at HomeGoods.

Ta-daaa! My favorite part about it is the scale. It’s a great size for this little corner of Aaron’s room and the black is the perfect contrast with the white walls (Polar Bear by Behr).

Then I turned my attention to a lighting solution near his bed. I wanted to give him something he could turn on if he needed to get out of bed in the middle of the night so I found this 2-pack of wall sconces on Amazon for $30! I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the second one yet, but $15 each is a steal. I also liked that they are plug-in sconces so I don’t have to do any wiring. It took me all of 20 minutes to hang and Aaron loves it.

Next week I’ll be focusing on artwork and finishing touches because we’re closing in on reveal day! Don’t forget to check the One Room Challenge Blog to see what all the other guest participants are up to. It’s been so fun to see the different room designs.