March 2011 – Page 5

Simple Solution: Great Bathroom Lighting

Published on March 3, 2011 by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

So, this might seem strange. More than once, we’ve had people ask, “Why is the lighting in your bathroom so great?” They weren’t referring to the actual lights, rather the quality of light. Three things are going on to make that happen.

1. Large mirrors. Both of the mirrors in our upstairs baths are huge. The main bath mirror is three feet wide and 4 1/2 feet tall, so it reflects a lot of light. Our master bathroom mirror is about the same size, filling the wall both in width and height. Mirrors are your friend, in almost any situation.

2. Light colored walls. This isn’t a must, but again, it helps bounce light around the room.

3. Ditch the overhead light fixture which casts harsh shadows. Opt for sconces on either side of the mirror. By using sconces, you’re getting equal lighting from both sides, eliminating those harsh shadows. It doesn’t matter much if you choose a down lit or up lit style. Ours happen to be down lit, just because the fixtures we chose looked better hanging. Height matters! A rule of thumb for hanging pictures is eye level or 60 inches from the floor.

We have sconces in all three of our bathrooms and all are within five inches of each other. The main bathroom sconces are 70 inches from the floor to the center of the electrical box. The master bath are 66 inches from floor to center. By keeping the fixtures near eye level (even if it is someone who is 6’2″), the lighting is more direct. This also means you can use a lower watt bulb and pitch the flood light.

Anyone interested in changing out their bathroom lighting? Do you have a design problem and would like our help? Send us an e-mail at ourhumbleabowed@gmail.com.

Etsy Me: March

Published on March 2, 2011March 22, 2011 by Our Humble Abode16 Comments

We finished our basement nearly a year ago, but we’re finally adding art to make it look lived in. Second to Target, Etsy is my go-to place for art and home accessories. Why? Because there are so many options, from around the world, right at your fingertips. That and, I love when I can get something custom-made to my specifications. A few weeks ago, I started a new series highlighting my recent Etsy purchases.

Since that post, I’ve also purchased a few small prints from Cat N Photography. I fell in love with the sweet sentiment of the Heart print, while the Float print will fit nicely into a gallery wall I have planned for the basement, but more on that when I get around to it. Both prints are 5 inches square. Fortunately, Cat had a BOGO sale, so I got both! For now, I have the Heart print on the guest room nightstand.

Cat was so friendly and accommodating; just a pleasure to work with. And, the quality of prints is fantastic. It looks great in an 8 inch square frame I swiped from the boys’ bedroom.

Now I have to find a few more cheap square frames. IKEA is in order.

I believe the art you have in your home should reflect your personality and as a bonus, it should have meaning. When I saw the Great Lakes in teal paper cut out art by Crafterall, it struck a chord with this Minnesota girl living in Montana.

I was thrilled to tear open that package. I got so giddy once I saw the cut out. The attention to detail is amazing.

Then, I saw Lake Superior in teal. I decided to pick one up as a gift. I’ve had great luck dealing with Etsy sellers, and Marnie is no exception. Seriously, she was friendly, thoughtful and super quick to respond to my messages. The art pieces were packaged nicely and arrived completely unscathed. Definitely impressed with Marnie, her products and service.

While browsing nature prints, I found another fantastic shop, Ara133 Photography. This shop specializes in surreal, abstract photography. Now, I usually don’t gravitate toward surreal art, but this isn’t too out there. Again, I made my purchases during a BOGO sale, so I got two prints. Both are 5 inches square, too. The Willow print has beautiful coloring and a nice balance of sky and leaves. Yep, still need to find a frame for this one, too. If You Listen has beautiful contrast of a bare tree against a bold blue sky.

Unknowingly, I got three pieces of art. What was the third piece? Ara133 Photography’s business card.

Seriously, it was too beautiful not to frame, so I dug out a 5 by 7 frame, cut a mat, popped it in and placed it in the small basement bedroom.

The blue statue and hazy purple-ish pink background coördinate perfectly with the blue and fuchsia color scheme I’m planning, but for some reason, the pinks don’t seem as bright in photos.

Please note: We were not compensated for this post, we simply love the items we’ve purchased from these shops and want to share with you!

All images found via the featured Etsy seller’s listing as linked above.

Life’s Good

Published on March 1, 2011 by Our Humble Abode20 Comments

LG definitely has the right slogan. Life is good with a new washer and dryer. Are you ready to hear the smokin’ deal Ben scored? Well, you’ll have to wait until I give you the back story.

Everyone knows Black Friday has great deals, right? Well, we saw Home Depot had an appliance deal for Black Friday weekend. A new, front loading LG washer and dryer was now only $1, 000. Sweet right? Yeah, I guess we weren’t the only people with that thought process. When we went to place an order that Sunday, we were told they had sold their LG quota, so we couldn’t get in on the action. We I sulked home, wishing we had ordered sooner, thinking we wouldn’t see another deal that good until the next Black Friday sale.

Then, when Ben sprang this finish-the-laundry-room-thing on me, we picked up our search. We knew we wanted LG. Sears and Home Depot are the only places in town to carry the LG line. Ben saw that Sears had a sale on the LG 4.0 cubic foot washer and 7.1 cubic foot dryer. The price? Originally $599.99 on sale for $509.99 each. (Unfortunately, this seems to have been a week-long sale).

What did Ben do? He called Home Depot to ask if they match the price of their competitors. The nice man on the phone said, “Yep, as long as it’s the exact same thing.” He proudly added, “AND, we beat the competitors prices by 10%.” So, Ben filled the salesman in on Sears’ sale price and said Home Depot had the same set 10% off currently, but their price wasn’t lower than Sears. So, Home Depot matched the $509.99 each price, and took another 10% ($102.00) off, bringing the total to $899.98! Because we’re stacking ours, we had to spend another $48.00 on the staking kit for a grand total of $947.98. seriously, it’s amazing what Ben can get stores down to. If Ben didn’t get that bug up his butt, delivery was included as well as hauling away the old machines, if we didn’t sell ours. The moral of the story: if you find a good deal, check to see if anyone can beat it.

Speaking of selling our old set, we listed those on Craigslist for $100.00 for the set. They were sold and outta our sight within hours of listing. So, it feels like we paid $847.98 for our new, front loading, Energy Star rated, squeaky clean, stackable washer and dryer.

Last night, Ben’s brother came over and helped Ben lift the dryer on top of the washer. We did our first load of laundry, too! Love them!

We now have a ton of free space in the laundry room to add cabinets for tool and paint storage as well as Ben’s reloading system and supplies.

We also have poor lighting right now thanks to the stacked dryer. We have wiring ready, just need to install the new light centered over the door. You’ll also notice we have a pipe that hangs about one foot from the ceiling, so this will stay unfinished.

P.S. Our washer door opened to the left while our dryer door opened to the right. Not ideal for stacking. It turns out, you can remove six screws, rotate the door 180°, and reinstall the screws to change the door swing. Just so you know.

What deals have you scored? Anyone in the family a sweet talking, deal getter like Ben?