What Ana Does

Let's talk lighting.  I love the chandelier over the dining room table. I love how it's long and black, and pulls the color of the cabinet and also the shape of the table. It also matches the rest of the house chandeliers and eventually the one that will hang in the foyer.  But a secondary light source is needed.  I briefly considered tall lamps on the black buffet cabinet, but that felt dated and will take up space. Not deal for this space. So sconces it is!   I searched for scones that were wired. But then I found this pretty cool innovation -- sconces that used LED puck lights on a remote.  I found these on Amazon for $50 for the pair. And they felt fight. A little goosenecked. A little rounded for interest. And super-easy to install. No wires. No wiring.  Perfect! And they arrived in a few days.  As far as location, I'm taking inspiration from our kitchen, and putting them up above the ledges. Centered off center.  Now they're up, I'll m...

 I'm way too excited about this light to wait to show you ..  Ok. Now that you've Ooohs and Awwwed, here's some context: this is the guestroom and it's the room I'm currently working on redecorating. I didn't install a ceiling light when I did the other bedrooms a few years ago and I very-much regret it to this day. But, it did allow me the opportunity to buy a fun wicker hanging light that I've been eyeing for a while.  (Link to this fixture on World Market .) I'm so happy with its location and the peeks of bamboo. I'm using a 3M contact hook right now, but I'll install a real hook in the next day or two, now that I know the position is right. And once that curtain is back in place, it will hide the cord hanging down the wall.  In other guestroom news, I ordered the new curtains. They are light-blocking, pretty creamy linen curtains I found on Amazon. And I painted the first coat of the white trim color. It's making me like the taupe color o...

Souvenirs come in all shapes and sizes. For me, I was so excited to bring home these inexpensive fixtures we got at Ikea in Paris. They hung in the long entry hall of our Paris apartment and were the first light we flicked on when we got home. Of course I wanted to hang them in our home when we returned. Just After Hanging the Lights The electrician we worked with in our bathroom said we'd need new hardware, as European electric standards are different than the U.S. They recommended these pendants  that fit perfectly in the shades. And the electrician spent is last hour here hanging these three lights. And now they grace our back hallway and finish out the laundry room! The Back Hallway Lighting Improved Before: Ugly Little Boob Light After: Happy BIG Paris Light The bulbs give a soft light, so I may upgrade to a brighter bulb for the laundry room for a brighter room. But they're a perfect souvenir to remember our time in Paris every time I look up. ...

Our landlord moved quickly on sending an electrician for the lights in our hallway and BAM! in one visit, in less than 15 minutes, he got them working. Hallway Set to Go! And they are so cool! Again, we got them from Ikea for a pretty sweet deal (25€/each + 5€ for each bulb). In fact, I'm thinking we'll definitely bring them back to the US with us and find homes for them in our house. Related posts: More about the Paris Apartment

As is common in these lovely old apartments, our front entry is a long, wide, central hallway with doors into the kitchen, living room, dining room and water closet. It's the lovely main artery of the flat with tons of vintage molding. And when once we moved in, it looked like this: Center Hallway - With Light Bulb Hanging From a Wire! Charming! I was planning for this hallway, of course, so I made sure to pack the navy Flor tiles from our foyer (and I'm so grateful we did), as well as the white Ikea benches. They look almost custom to the space and both are super-useful. The little shelf is also handy to hold keys, socks, grocery sacks and whatever else ends up there. The Hallway Is So Big Rey Can Practice  So really, there was just a few things that I needed to do to complete the hallway so it was most practical: hang coat hooks, buy inexpensive light fixtures and accessorize with some art. We picked up some GREAT stainless steel lights from Ikea that were very i...

The View From Alice's Window We're almost there. When we moved in last Monday night, we were surrounded by boxes, the kitchen had new appliances except for the oven, which is disconnected and sitting on the floor, and our internet wasn't hooked up. There was no hot water yet (something with the furnace/boiler not resetting) and only a few lights.  The bedrooms were completely dark. It felt like camping indoors. We did discover this ... somehow, unbeknown to any of us, our apartment has Eiffel Tour views. Seriously. I nearly fainted. Over the last week we got the hot water fixed (and all took showers!). Our internet was connected (Netflix, hooray!) and we've been filling the kitchen with food staples. We hit Ikea on Saturday for Leah's dresser, some rugs, room lighting, and other necessities. And I even got an Amazon order! Which is exciting because I do love my Amazon. What's left? Getting that oven installed. And installing the chandeliers in th...

I have loathed the dining room chandelier -- if that's really what it can be called -- since we first looked at this house. I remember pointing at it and saying "that's got to go." (See an early dining room post here .) But, on the List of Things That Had to Go (and it was pretty long) this chandelier kept getting prioritized lower because it was functional. And I did a pretty good job camouflaging it with those pretty silver stars ! Ooh! My Dining Room With Stars! But, because we couldn't find replacement parts, we're down to one, flimsy lightbulb. So not only was it ugly, it wasn't working. That's a one-way ticket to replacement-ville! I know what you're thinking ... why bother replacing it, we're leaving for Paris in a few short months? But, guys! It was so annoying not to have a bright light in a room I like to use. Also, we're not entirely sure what we're doing with the house while we're away but having functional ligh...

Today we added overhead lights to the girls' bedrooms. And by "we" I mean I called our handyman Rick (who can do just about everything) over to take care of it. Before we had little lamps that provided very poor light at night in the bedrooms. Not to mention they took up the limited space on dressers and shelves. Since we moved in I've wanted an overhead light to really brighten up the rooms. So, I bought these hot little numbers from Amazon  almost a year ago with a gift certificate. They looked least like the common overhead "boob" light I was trying to avoid. You know the ones ... they look like this . Don't be embarrassed, we all have them. Anyway, it's a "semi-flush" so if anything, it looks like a slightly dangly boob light. So there you have it. Here's the final photos of the (not clean) bedrooms. Before pictures seemed unnecessary, as there was just an empty ceiling before. Honestly, the lights look like they'v...

For the last week we've been meeting with contractors -- pulled from various sources -- to talk about the deck project. I work with vendors (albeit code and design vendors) at work, so I'm pretty comfortable with this part of the process. Here's the secret to hiring out work: Be clear about your project and then LISTEN when they explain it back to you. If they are picking up on what you're going for, that's your guy. If they are way off or pushing you into a directions that you're not comfortable with, they're not worth working with. You'll spend way too much time explaining your point of view and won't be happy with what you get. Sure, hearing their recommendations as the experts is important. But, I'm the type of person who generally knows exactly what I want. Especially on this deck that I've been envisioning for the last three years. Overall, the deck design is super simple: A large rectangle that's low enough to the ground that...

I'm hosting a big Halloween party this year (more on that later) and using it as an excuse to get crazy crafty. So, you've seen the awesome owl wings costume . Here's another little up-cycling project that cost me ZERO dollars. 1. Start with salsa and pickle jars.  I've been collecting these for the last few weeks. (We eat a lot of salsa.) Start With Glass Jars 2. Paint them a base color. I choose acrylic paint from the kids' craft set, in white and green. Let them dry completely. (If you'd rather glue, get out some crepe paper in similar, spooky colors and glue to your hearts content.) First Coat Done 3. Paint ghostly and Frankenstein faces on the glasses, drop candles inside and ... viola! ... fun and almost FREE Halloween luminaries!  Done - Ghostly and Free!  Relate posts: Read more Craft ideas