bowl light shade

When I last shared photos of our kitchen (last fall maybe?), we were still missing a light fixture.  So there were wires hanging out of our ceiling.  It wasn’t very pretty.

And we missed that light fixture for a few months before coming up with a cute and creative idea for a replacement.

It was a tricky task because we had already installed the ikea track lighting and wanted to find something that would a) match, b) provide a decent amount of light for this dark corner of the kitchen, and c) be cheap.

But we finally found something that did the trick: a melamine bowl.  A $2.50, Tarjey, Liberty of London bowl.  (On a side note, I – like the rest of the interwebs – am loving the cheerful colors + flowers in their line.  I pointed out the floral-y office supplies to J while we were there and told him that I might actually like paying the bills if I had something pretty and flowery to put them in.  He didn’t believe me, so they stayed at the store.  But I am hopeful that the Easter Bunny might bring me a file/storage box or two.)

After installing a $20 light kit from Lowes, we simply drilled a hole in the bottom of the bowl and hung it upside down, using the pieces that came with the light kit.  That means that my grand total for this project was: $22.50.  Not bad for a totally unique and cheerful light fixture.

I love how fun it is.  Love.  And it adds some serious light to my coffee nook, which is much needed in the morning now that I’m teaching an 8 a.m. class (totally rocked my first class this morning – and by that I mean no one fell asleep).

I love creative solutions for everyday things… so if you want to share a few stories of creative solutions that you’ve used lately, please do.  Or you can just stare blankly at me like my students did this morning. 🙂