Since I don’t have anything brand new to write about today, I thought I would share some more details of my half bath makeover.

First, my oh-so-fancy TP holder…

I knew I wanted something nontraditional, so when one of my “pickers” sent me a picture of a wire fry basket (I’m assuming that’s what it is), I thought, “Hmm…If I can rip the handle off, that would make a pretty nice holder for the toilet paper.”  Don’t ask me how I think of this stuff, but that’s just how my brain works.  It ended up working out perfectly.

The story behind this light fixture is a little embarrassing and evidence that I get waaay too emotionally invested in DIY.  I had a chandelier in bathroom that was beautiful, but it didn’t provide enough light, so I went out to Lowe’s to find a new one.  I had an idea in my mind of what I wanted and, of course, I couldn’t find it.  So, after meandering around the lighting department for a while, I decided this simple black chandelier would work.  It was the right scale and I could personalize it with shades.  I looked for the box and…no box.  Ah!  My mom and I started digging behind other boxes to see if one might be there.  I finally asked someone in the lighting department if I could buy the floor sample.  “Well, we’re getting more in on Monday, so I don’t really want to sell the floor sample…”  This poor man had no idea he was dealing with a passionate DIYer who was ready to have her bathroom finished that day.  I asked again, “Please.  I’m trying to get a project finished and I don’t want to have to drive back out on Monday.”  He wasn’t budging.  I was ready to cry or go into a speech something like, “You have a light fixture and I want to buy a light fixture.  This is a store, isn’t it?”  I just sighed in defeat.  I started to leave the store, really bummed and decided to try one more thing…  talk to someone at the customer service desk.  I pleaded my case to the woman who was behind the counter and I must’ve seemed very distressed, because she treated me as though I was about to go into hysterics.  The end result was a store manager telling the gentleman who had declined to sell me the light fixture to take it down and sell it to me.  Yeah…it was a little awkward as I stood there waiting for him to hand me my prize.  I felt embarrassed for making such a fuss over a light fixture.  Well, it was done and I went home with the chandelier.  “We’d better hang it today, since I made such a commotion about it.”

I bought some plain white shades to dress it up a bit and then sewed a pleated trim out of gray grosgrain ribbon.  I simply affixed it to the shades with a hot glue gun.  It was a happy ending, but let’s just say I didn’t show my face in the lighting department at Lowe’s for a while.

I, Miss Mustard Seed, do solemnly swear that I will never make such a fuss over a light fixture again.  Hold me to that, OK?