It’s starting to feel like fall!
Oh wait. No it isn’t.
Even if you doused the scorching earth with iced pumpkin spice lattes pumped straight from gushing firehoses across the entire God-forsaken state of Texas, it wouldn't cool down here until late October and sometimes well into November.*
But these vibes ain’t gonna change themselves, so the time is NOW to get some fall feelin’ up in herr (not a typo).
We just completed this fun tween boy’s bedroom update and I’m in love with how it turned out. We put in a shiplap accent wall, repainted some previously hodge-podge furniture, and got his room organized and grown-up looking.
But my most favorite part is these farmhouse sconce lights, which I installed without having to run electricity, and I’m currently in love with myself even more than normal.
I’m sharing a tutorial on how I did it, and I’ll warn you: there were moments when I thought it would have been easier to just call in a damn electrician, but then it became a quest to get this thing done by myself.
And I did it!
Here’s how to install sconce lighting without electricity:
We just finished an overhaul of our tween boy’s bedroom, taking it from hodge-podge to rustic-modern-almost-teenager-friendly.
This is a pretty new house - just two years old - and we’re still trying to make it look warm and homey. The thing about newer homes is that the open concept - which makes things feel bigger and open and airy - also can feel cold and sterile.
To warm up my son’s bedroom without making it feel small and dark, we installed a shiplap wall, and it was so, so easy.
We’ve only lived in this house for two years, but we’ve already ruined it.
Am I the only mom who’s raised a bunch of filthy animals who shove things onto shelves and set things aside to “deal with later,” creating piles everywhere, until, before you know it, you’re surrounded by so much clutter, you can’t escape and your family’s had to carve their names into the sides of the cave that used to be their bedroom, just so that someone knows there are humans inside, if they’re ever rescued?
No? Just me?
I had a few projects planned to tackle this summer, to rein in the clutter, and I’ve finally completed the first one: my 11-year-old son’s room.
He had a hodge-podge of furniture from his Texas-themed room at our old house that didn’t match his new Texas Stars hockey theme here at the new house.
Also, he’s not into toys. So all the toys he’s gotten for Christmas and birthdays have just gotten shoved onto shelves, where they’ve sat collecting dust.
You know how I’ve been working like little Cinderella on my IKEA faux built-ins upstairs, which is sort-of a catch-all room that I’m trying to make look like it’s not a catch-all room.
It’s the only room we have upstairs (along with its bathroom) and it’s a perfect place to send the kids to play their video games, and it’s where my desk is so that I can get uninterrupted work done. **Note: I have not shared that part of the room with you, yet, because it currently has piles of books I don’t want to part with, but need to, and other things that “I need to go through” 🙄
You know how you can admire someone so much because they are just perfect in every single way, and you love them so much that you’re actually disgusted by them at the exact same time as being in love with them?
Like you follow them on Instagram and they post something amazing (as usual) and you get irritated and say, “Dammit” sort-of under your breath, annoyed at their perfection and also annoyed that now you have to spend your time copying their incredible fall centerpiece or autumnal mantle setup because all you want in life is to become that person?
Kristan (Braziel) LeBaron is an author, writer, marketing professional, and the voice of the blog, Bring Mommy A Martini. Mom to two hilarious boys: one in college and the other in middle school, she writes “real mom” stories on life with anxiety & depression, and choosing happiness as a daily practice. She lives outside of Austin with her two sons and two lavishly kept dogs.
