In our quick office makeover we had initially planned on keeping the ceiling fan that came with the house, even though we never really liked it. Though we had plans to spray paint it white to help it disappear into the ceiling, we realized just how much this room was missing a central ceiling light fixture with a little style.

After determining we didn't need fan in this room thanks to the installation of central A/C, a massive search begin for a new fixture that was reasonably priced, fit the casual style of our home, and importantly, was the right size. We held up fixtures I had already purchased for other rooms in the house, looked all over Northern Virginia including several HomeGoods stores, Lowes, Home Depot, and World Market, and scoured online. 

Unfortunately though, we were striking out. Rather than spend a lot more time looking for that elusive unicorn of a fixture, we decided to go ahead and make one on our own.

Our first stop was at our local Restoration Hardware Outlet in Leesburg, Virginia. They have a large collection of lighting parts and fixtures that work well for this sort of thing. This is actually where we found the light above our bathroom vanity, in the room adjacent to our home office. (Check out this post for a complete look at our home's floor plan and how the rooms all flow together.)

My hope was to score a fixture that was from the same family as the bathroom fixture (called 20th Century), and then use that as a base. But the inventory at the outlet is very hit or miss so you never know what you might find.

The great news is that on our trip we really lucked out! We found one fixture buried near the back of the shelf that just happened to be a style match to the bathroom fixture, but was also a ceiling flush mount version. After opening the box to be sure everything was there, we had the base of our fixture. After discounts the total price was just $32.

Next we started searching for something to make the light fixture interesting and unique. We had kicked around the idea of finding an antique oyster basket and had looked around the Old Lucketts Store (our favorite place to shop for antiques), but didn't find anything that had the right scale. It needed to be large in diameter (at least 12" across), but short in stature (max of about 10" tall). Anything larger would protrude too far into the room from the ceiling, threatening to hit people in the head.

After turning our search to eBay with terms like "vintage oyster basket," "antique egg basket," and "crusty clam bucket," we eventually came up with a few good options. We settled on a basket that was about 14" in diameter and 9" tall.

The most important part of the basket is that it had a hole in the bottom where we'd be able to run the light fixture and wires. Total cost with shipping, $49.

To light the room we wanted an interesting lightbulb for the fixture, but it also needed to be energy friendly. Alex was shopping for bulbs at Lowe's and found this great large bulbed light that is also a filament style LED. This bulb was $15, which is a little more expensive than we anticipated, but it would add that very unique look to the light.

Finally, we needed to disguise the very bumpy and oddly cut section of drywall around the junction box. We could have patched it with joint compound, but we'd still have the issue of the junction box protruding from the ceiling.

Instead we settled on an 18" diameter ceiling medallion with a classic yet simple look, also from Lowe's. This medallion rang up at $21.

Before we get started on the build, let's look at total cost. All of the parts and pieces together, including the ceiling medallion, came to $117. While there are certainly many fixtures you can find for less, there are quite a number you'll see for far more. A little over $100 for a cool one-of-a-kind ceiling fixture was something we could live with.

The build of this fixture was very straight forward. I'd rate it an easy to moderate on the DIY difficulty scale.

The first step was to place the ceiling medallion. For this we had to slightly alter the polyurethane backing to accommodate the slight protrusion of the fixture box by razoring away some of the backing. In the process Alex nded up stabbing himself in the stomach with the blade. It was a minor scratch but I recommend omitting this step if you're following along at home.

Once the medallion was ready to be placed, Alex ran several beads of Big Stretch caulk around the backing and then used a fixture plate screwed to the fixture box to secure it in place while the caulk cured overnight.

He also took the opportunity to run a good bead of caulk around the perimeter of the medallion to fill any gaps.

When it came to assembling the fixture it actually started with disassembling the base fixture we picked up from Restoration Hardware. Alex unscrewed a few pieces and removed an internal nut on the threaded rod, and suddenly all components of the fixture were in pieces.

Our goal was to thread this fixture through the hole in the bottom of the basket and reassemble. This simply meant following the reverse process of what he did to take it apart while including the basket as part of the process.

The majority of re-assembly just involved screwing all of the parts back together.

We also paused to remove the handle from the basket since we won't be needing it hanging into the room. This only required a pair of pliers and some brute force to bend the loops back open.

Attaching the wires was simple enough. The ground attached with a nut on the threaded rod and the neutral and hot were threaded right from the light socket.

As we assembled I pointed out a small bend in the basket wire that was driving me crazy. This was a simple fix by gently pressing a wrench against the bend to straighten it back out. We used the wrench here to make sure we didn't scratch the patina with the coarse teeth of a set of pliers.

As we worked on the fixture we noticed how much rust was falling off of the basket by handling it. We want the old patina to stay, but we don't want a circle of rust appearing on the new carpet below the fixture. In order to prevent a mess in the future, Alex knocked off the loosest rust and grime with a little "00" steel wool.  

We continued assembly by reattaching the components, running the wire through the threaded rod, and securing all of the components in place.

In order to control this light we're using an Insteon micro dimming module that is installed in the fixture box, so Alex installed that before placing the light on the ceiling. The intent of this step is to reduce the need to hold the light awkwardly near the ceiling several steps down the road. 

Things were humming along pretty nicely and all we needed to do was to install the fixture in place on the medallion.

Since the bottom of the basket is very close to the ceiling, it was a little tricky to place the small nuts on to secure things, but we were able to make it happen as I held the fixture while Alex carefully threaded the nuts onto the posts.

We thought were were done, but we thought wrong. I mentioned we were using the Insteon micro module. Well, in our haste...someone...forgot to record the 6 letter/number code that uniquely identifies the module, and we needed that to properly program it. 

Our friend staying with us that day perfectly captured the moment when Alex informed me we needed to take the light down, write down the number, and complete this process of struggling to install the light fixture all over again. Apparently this is the look I give when my partner in crime has forgotten a critical step in the process and we have to duplicate our efforts.

After removing the light, getting the code, and then putting things back up one more time, we turned the breaker back on and got ready for the light!

It was perfect. The large bulb looked great and cast wonderful shadows on the ceiling from the wire basket.

The light it gives off in the room complements the desk lamp and floor lamp and really adds a much needed layer of dynamic light to the room.

All that's left now to complete the whole project is to replace three light switches and then we can call this quick office makeover done.

We feel absolutely great about the end results of this project. It turned out better than either of us hoped, and now that we have our completely custom DIY light fixture, the room has what it's always been missing. 

Have you ever gotten creative and made your own light fixture? If so, how did it work out for you? Do you feel like you created something unique for far less than you may have paid elsewhere, or was it more of a DIY Fail? 

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Luckily for us, closing went off without a hitch on the originally scheduled day and we were able the walk the couple blocks from the settlement office to our new home. We had actually parked our car right in front of the house and had the trunk loaded with the half dozen tools we owned at the time so we could get started on our projects immediately. Our plan was to hit the ground running and get as much done in those three short weeks, while also working full time jobs. If you're reading between the lines, that meant lots of late nights, hard work, and crankiness.

Since we knew the kitchen would be one of the most frequently used areas, we set out right away to make several inexpensive yet big impact changes, making the most of what we had to work with. After all, what we were dealing with was dark and dingy, and despite the many, many other areas in the house calling out for help, I knew I couldn't live with what we had in this room, even for a short time. Here's a glimpse at what we were starting with. 

And here's another look at the refrigerator/stove wall.

I'm getting depressed just looking at these photos. 

In the kitchen we opted to start with the fixed elements that we could improve upon without a lot of money, which led us straight to the cabinets. We quickly decided we'd apply a coat of primer and paint in order to turn the dark brown natural wood into something brighter that suited our style. 

Now I realize this may be a sore point for many readers. The cabinets had been unpainted, dark stained wood (maple?), and we planned to brush paint them white. If you're shaking your head in disgust at our painting of unpainted wood, we totally get it. We'll just have to respectfully agree to disagree in this situation. 

The dark wood cabinets are solid, but not particularly high quality cabinetry. They served to make a poorly lit space darker than it had to be, and made the kitchen feel like it belonged more fittingly in a woodsy cabin than in the middle of a city. With little prior painting experience, and having never taken on a task of painting cabinets, we began removing the doors and hardware to do just that.

We made sure to carefully number each door and drawer, so that re-installation would be a snap.

The interior of the cabinets was covered by a dingy and yellowed contact paper that featured a small floral pattern. Removal of this vintage 1980s piece was a pain in the butt, but necessary to allow us to paint the interior, as well as stomach opening the cabinets at any time in the future. Gross!

This brings us to the first item we would do differently now. We took the extra step at the time to paint the interiors of all of the cabinets. Over the last eight years, general wear and tear has taken its toll, and the surfaces of the shelves and drawers are now scuffed, scratched, and are looking pretty shabby. At the time, we liked the idea of the inside matching the outside, but it sure was a pain, and you really don't see it. I think today I might be okay with leaving the interior dark. I'm still thrilled the contact paper is long gone.

Yes, I'm standing in the sink.

While I worked to remove the paper and begin priming the interior and exterior of the cabinet boxes, Alex was hard at work sanding the cabinet doors. If you want to paint your cabinets, this is a crucial step. You aren't sanding to remove anything or get it to bare wood, you're sanding to remove any gloss covering, sort of to rough up the surface to give the primer something to grab onto.

Alex used a 150 grit sandpaper for the first pass, and followed that up with a 220 grit. This is another item we'd do differently now. The paper is good for the flat areas, but to really get into the corners of intricate or detailed areas, it is best to use a #1 or #0 steel wool.

The sanding seemed to take forever, but once completed we quickly moved onto priming. We used a Kilz primer, nothing special or out of the ordinary, and a 2 1/2" angled brush. When painting raised panels of any kind it is best to choose a routine. And to us it seems best to paint the panel borders first, then the raised panel area, and finally the frames. This approach keeps a consistent wet edge, let's you move quickly, and allows your brush strokes to follow the grain of the wood while maintaining a consistent stroke pattern.

Alex found it was easiest to paint the backs of the doors first, allow them to each dry thoroughly, and then paint the fronts while holding them like a pizza. It was an odd approach that seemed to work for him. Personally, I'd use a table with a couple of those paint pyramids, but hey, that's just me.

While Alex worked on the doors I was painting the interior and exterior of the cabinets and drawers...and I wasn't always happy about it. It was January, we had the heat set very low to save money (since we weren't officially living here yet), and it was a pretty uncomfortable work environment. At least we remembered to stock the house with toilet paper, judging from the package next to me in this picture. I guess that beats heat in my book any day.

Once I finished painting and allowed some dry time we applied two coats of polyurethane onto each shelf surface. This step definitely helped preserve the coat of paint for quite some time, but back to my earlier point, the shelves don't look great today.

We actually finished painting the cabinet boxes long before the doors, and we had to start moving our stuff in. So for a little while we had open cabinets. I'll tell you one thing for sure, anyone without cabinet doors needs to work extra hard to keep their cabinet goods super organized.

The final step on the minor kitchen cabinet upgrade was the selection and installation of cabinet hardware. We picked up a bunch of inexpensive chrome hinges from Home Depot, and purchased glass knobs for all of the doors from House of Antique Hardware. Mounting the hinges actually took quite a bit longer than we anticipated. It seemed each hinge had to be slightly adjusted to ensure plumb and level. If memory serves, I'm pretty sure there was a fair amount of swearing involved.

It was a slow process, but the end result was a significant departure from what the house looked like when we took ownership. It took us a few weeks to complete the cabinet transformation, and it seemed to take far longer than either of us originally anticipated. The end result though was something we enjoyed and could be very proud of. Little did we know at the time, the "this project took far longer than anticipated" theme is one that has been repeating itself for the last nine years. 

There are some things we'd surely do differently if we were doing it today. I've already mentioned the fact we wouldn't paint the interior of the cabinets, but beyond that we'd make sure we used better (high quality) paint. I think we used America's Finest true white for this project. It took us four coats plus primer to get complete coverage, and even then I kept finding places that needed minor touchups in the days and weeks following the project. 

Note: Using high quality paint supplies is also very important. Here's the low down on the steps we take and the tools we use to ensure a high quality paint finish.

If we had used a better paint, we would have gotten better coverage and saved ourselves quite a bit of time. Next time around we'd absolutely use a color other than true white. We might also try to use a sprayer instead of a brush. This would have taken a bit more money at the onset, and that would be money we didn't have, but the time savings might have been worth it.

And if you're wondering how our countertops went from gross hunter green to a softer grey, be sure to check out our post about the inexpensive approach we took to update our countertops using spray paint. Next up? We'll take you through how we installed under cabinet lighting, transformed an ugly 1980s brass chandelier into a custom light fixture, and how disaster struck mid-project.

What do you think of our inexpensive kitchen makeover at this point? Decent? Worth the time and effort in our first few weeks in the house? Are you attempting to makeover your kitchen on a shoestring budget? Have any time and money saving tips you'd like to share? We'd love to hear all about it. 

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As 24 and 25 year old "kids" (that's how our neighbors referred to us), we sunk the small savings we had worked to build into the down payment of our home, so the initial improvement budget we were left with was about enough to buy a packet of ramen noodles. But we weren't deterred. So with what little money we had, we knew an inexpensive update to our kitchen and adjacent sun porch was one of the first projects on our list.

What we were dealing with was a beautiful heart pine floor so badly neglected that bare feet in the kitchen meant you'd soon be picking splinters out of your toes. The counter tops were a hunter green laminate (not our choice to begin with) that were scratched and stained. The insufficient lighting consisted of a fugly ceiling fan/light combo that appeared to be no newer than 1970. The cabinets were dark, dated, and lined with a hideous contact paper. The walls were dirty, cracked, and nicotine stained. The tile floor of the sun porch featured a brown, tan and orange pattern that made me want to put on some Bee Gees and get down. All in all, it left a lot to be desired.

We're going to take the next few weeks to reminisce and guide you through the steps we took to transform our kitchen from this...

...to this...

 ...using a ramen noodle budget, a lot of elbow grease, and reusing or reinventing what we had.

Why show you the kitchen and sun porch now? Well, a few reasons actually. First of all, we hope someone out there can benefit from reading about some of the cheap-o and creative projects we undertook. We want to show that even if you don't have a large budget, there are still a lot of inexpensive things you can do to improve the look of your home. Second, you may recall that one of our 2012 resolutions is an overhaul of our sun porch to update the window treatments, floor covering, furniture and layout. Well we'd be remiss if we started in on that project without showing you where we were, and where we are now.

Buckle your seat belt because it's going to be a bumpy ride that involves rodents, structural deterioration, water infiltration, termite damage, fast food, and a lot of naivete.

Has anyone else tackled a kitchen makeover on a shoestring budget? Is anyone else living with a kitchen that's better suited for another decade, while saving up the funds to do it right? Any quick and easy tips you'd like to share on how to improve upon what you have? We'd love to hear your stories.

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Lately we've been seeing a lot of talk about "quick and inexpensive updates" meant to temporarily dress up an area on a very tight budget. One that we see over and over are people asking questions or providing tips on improving their outdated and ugly counter tops without dropping a few thousand on granite.

Now, we'll be the first to tell someone that "anything worth doin' is worth doin' right..." but sometimes it isn't the best first step. (By the way, I love that quote from "A League of Their Own.")

When we moved into our house back in 2003, were working on an extremely tight budget...I'm talking ramen noodles budget here, no joke. We knew we planned to eventually replace the kitchen counters as part of a complete renovation, so we didn't want to put any more money than we needed to into their rehab. We also didn't want to sink a lot of time into searching for some remnant pieces, tearing off the old counters, and putting in all of that effort if we were eventually going to be getting rid of it at some point down the road. But the thing is, when we moved into the house, we were faced with these hideous counter tops, now scratched and worn since their installation back in the 1980s.

To the naysayers out there, I know we could have done so many different things, including living with the green laminate, but that just isn't our style.

Rather than do anything significant, Wendy decided we should try to spray paint the counter tops. She had seen the approach on various websites and home decorating shows, so we figured what was the harm in trying?

Back when we did it, the product was called "Stone-It," but they've since changed the name to "Make It Stone." It's a textured spray paint that is an all in one application, not a two part system or epoxy product. There are several other products out there now that do about the same thing. We found the coverage amounts on the can to be just about right, so I think we bought about five or six cans when we did our project.

In true Old Town Home fashion, our timelines have been greatly adjusted over the years. And what once was considered a "short term fix" has morphed into a counter top solution spanning nearly a decade. Despite living with them for much longer than we intended, we haven't replaced the counter tops (but we surely still will...I promise) and the paint still looks great. Here are our steps if you are interested in doing the same.

1. Surface Prep

Clean and lightly sand your counters with a 120 grit paper to give the paint something to stick to. You don't have to sand really hard, just rough it up enough to take any shine or gloss off of the counters.

2. Mask & Paint

Mask off the rest of the room and spray paint all of the surfaces in thin and even coats. If you do it right, it should take you three or even four coats to really get a good coverage. If you don't do even coats, the textured paint will tend to sort of glop up (technical term), and will look lumpy and patchy.

3. Polyurethane

Once the spray paint dries, apply many many many coats of water based polyurethane. I think we did eight or nine coats. The paint really looked great right away, and I wanted it to stay textured and colored the way it was, but we knew this would be a very high traffic area, so we had to put lots of poly on it. It has held up so well over the years that I'm very glad we did all of the poly.

4. Caulk (optional)

The edges to our sink and area between the wall and back splash were very uneven. Rather than trying to get the paint right up against the sink and wall, we left a small gap. Once the poly dried, we used a white silicone caulk to bridge the gap and dress up the area a little bit. You will only need to do this if you want to, but it did make it look far more finished and less spray painted.

5. Enjoy

Allow at least 48 hours dry time then enjoy your "new", "stone" counter.

Our project took about two days total, plus dry time, and ran us around $50. It was a great way to spruce up the kitchen for very little money. We've had a few chips here and there over the years, but we've glued them back into place or touched them up. 

One note of warning: My parents were in town helping us move and put a cup on the counter top that was wet on the bottom. This happened about one week after we had finished the project, but the cup left a milky white ring. I sort of freaked out at the sight, but after about 20 minutes it dried and disappeared. We noticed this several other times over the first few months when we would leave a wet towel or something on the counter top, each time it faded away as the water dried. It seems like the poly just needed several months to fully cure. I can't remember the last time we've seen a splotch (again, technical term), so it seems to have taken care of itself. So this warning is more of a "don't freak out if there's a white splotch on your project" type of warning.

When we tell people the counters are spray paint, they are usually very surprised. We think it was a great way to really brighten up the kitchen with a $50 temporary fix and a little bit of effort. It's especially great if you are doing it as a way to bridge the gap between something horribly fugly and when you want to really renovate.

Do you have any experience in this department? I know others must have done similar type approaches. Please share and let us know.

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