• Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact
  • Let’s Organize These Posts:

    • Art Attack
    • Backyard
    • Barn
    • Basement
    • Bathroom
    • Beach
    • Bedrooms
    • Being Thrifty
    • Business-y
    • Buying and Renting and Selling
    • Casual Celebrations
    • Closets
    • Curb Appeal
    • Dainty Details
    • Deck
    • Decor
    • Dining Room
    • DIY
    • Dog-Related
    • Entryway
    • Flooring
    • For the Kids
    • Garage
    • Gardening
    • Helping The Economy
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects
    • Holiday-Related Projects
    • Home Safety
    • Kitchen
    • Lighting
    • Living Room
    • Merry Travels
    • Office Space
    • Organized
    • Other Pads
    • Outdoor Living
    • Scooter Fun
    • Stairwell
    • Sunroom
    • Supporting Sponsors
    • The Art Room
    • Tools
    • Uncategorizable
    • Wedding
    • Windows
    • Work-pads
  • Search

  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)
  • Search

  • Pages

    • blog
    • Merrypad Features
    • Privacy Policy
    • about emily
    • before + after
      • before + after, our current home
      • before + after, our first house
    • contact me
    • choose a badge and share the merrypad.com love
  • Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact

Sunroom Light-age + More IKEA Lovin’

September 23, 2011

It’s not everyday that the man calls while traveling for work and says “My hotel is near IKEA. Email me your wish list.”

That proximity, it never happens. The Land of Neverdom. Bordering the town of Pigsflyhere. And let me stress this: He sacrificed the first half of a Monday Night Football game after 9 hours in the car to go to IKEA.

Godly. And send Pete a list, that I did. Not that I needed much, and not that I wanted to keep him from a man-night of beer and football, but I’ll never pass up the opportunity to acquire a few new RIBBA frames (same as the ones that are hanging above the mantle in the living room and, in brown, flanking the bed). Also a few small $2.99-er models for good measure.

Because a girl can't have enough RIBBA frames. It's a sickness.

I had him snag a few more GOSA ASTER pillows too, because at 26″x26″ and $6.99 each, they’re nice to have around; the last one that I bought has been serving as the seat cushion on this chair that I’ve been meaning to refinish for two years. What can I say, time’s gotten away from me, but the pillow makes working in the sunroom on that laid-back chair muy buen.

More IKEA Pillows. Because I can never have too many. Best of all, having to make my IKEA wish-list in 45 minutes forced me to narrow down on some items that I might otherwise have dilly-dallied-the-decision-making-on.

You know what I’m sayin’. More time to think usually = more time to talk myself out of buying something.

So I bit the bullet and asked him to bring me a simple paper shades and a light kit to use in the sunroom.

IKEA VATE paper light.

The inexpensive VATE (with umlaut) paper lantern shade ($9!) and electical kit ($3!) were just the ticket for lighting up the sunroom. The ceiling was recently painted blue, which really warmed up the space and has encouraged me to work out there more often, but now that the sun is setting before 8PM (say what!) I’ve been wishing for a little sunroom lighting more and more.

New IKEA VATE shade. Notice two things about that shot:

1) I hung the shade upside down. It was going to be positioned closer to the ceiling in the sunroom, and I wanted to appreciate that little pop in the paper. Cute complement to the swooping shape of the shade, which has a more flattened surface on the top (of my picture) or bottom (of the website picture):

IKEA VATE pendant shade recommendations.

2) There’s an enormous hole in the ceiling. OK, not enormous, but as I’ve pointed out before, it’s something that I’ve been meaning to cover up. At one time or another, my guess is that there was a fan or light installed, but it’s not there now, so I patched it quickly with a piece of thin plywood cut to size and painted it light blue to blend in as best as it could. Voila.

Patched. Voila.

There’s a single outlet in the sunroom, but no light switch, which makes it an ideal space for one of these non-hardwired IKEA lights. I purchased 1/4″ coaxial cable staples to secure the exposed cord to the ceiling and wall, a small $2 investment on my part (and true story, I’ve still got 19/26 left for future cord wranglin’).

1/4" coaxial cable staples to hold the wire taut against the wall.

I lucked out in a big way too; the cord from the middle of the room, along the ceiling, and down the right side of the door frame left me with just enough length to plug the thing into the wall.

The cord was within an inch of it's life, er, an inch of being long enough to plug into the sunroom's sole outlet (to the right of the door).

 

The fixture, which stands 10″ in height (and 22″ in diameter, wowza) was allowed to hang an extra 8″, giving me enough room to walk beneath it easily, but not make it appear to be a more close-to-ceiling light model.

The light, hanging 8" from the ceiling from a simple hook.

At night, it’s a nice sight. Maybe even too bright. Crazy CFL bulbs.

The sunroom, bright, for the first time ever.

Did you hear in your travels that there’s an iPhone app of the latest 376-page IKEA catalogue? Be forewarned, it’s 82MB of data over 3G, but totally worth it (if you’re crazed like me).

Share

Helping The Economy  / Lighting  / Sunroom

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

5 Comments


Cait @ Hernando House
September 23, 2011 at 9:29 am
Reply

I have that app! The first time I downloaded on 3g, but I updated to the new one over our wifi at home.

I like the light :)



    Emily
    September 23, 2011 at 10:01 am

    I didn’t get a new catalogue in the mail this year, so the app has been a nice fix.

    Cait @ Hernando House
    September 23, 2011 at 11:16 am

    Oh sad! I think I signed up for another one because I was tired of watiting, but now I’ll probably get two.

Rebecca Ziebarth
September 23, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Reply

You could always travel up to Cananda to go to Ikea. Only 2 1/2 hours away! We have done it many, many times!

Rebecca



    Emily
    September 23, 2011 at 1:41 pm

    So have we, and if you go a little past Burlington, Toronto’s store is enormous. But to bring back anything sizable through customs, you have to stay overnight, and even then, the spending cap is pretty low.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • Instagram

    Can’t believe I ever bought dumpling wrappers. 🥟 Pulse a few cups of flour in the food processor drizzling in cold water until it forms dough. Roll smooth. Use a conveniently large cookie cutter, or just trim out squares. The end ❤️ #hny #dumplings
    Didn’t think I’d be making more masks, but her Didn’t think I’d be making more masks, but here we are (now feat. recycled t-shirt layer for added softness and bonus-layer protection). #diy #amateurseamstress #diymask
    Get out there ☀️ Get out there ☀️
    The gang finally showed up. 👻 The gang finally showed up. 👻
    A record 233 cloves + 10 shallots 🧛🏻‍♀️ 
#merrypadathome #garden2021 #garlic #gardennotes #whatisnormal
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    Immeasurably tall, lanky tomatillos. #garden2020 # Immeasurably tall, lanky tomatillos. #garden2020 #tomatillos #nofilter
    32 oz., reserved for the brave 🌶🌶 😍#homeg 32 oz., reserved for the brave 🌶🌶 😍#homegrown #tomatillos #harvest2020
    Nothing says “let’s stay home all fall, too” Nothing says “let’s stay home all fall, too” like a badass custom fireplace on our patio. 🔥 #chiminea #merrypadathome
    Load More... follow emily: @merrypad



  • Like Us On Facebook

    Facebook Pagelike Widget



  • Popular Posts

    • How to fix an IKEA drawer. Cheap IKEA Drawers (And The Quick Fix) 40.1k views
    • DIY sideboard rehab. Our Refinished Midcentury Buffet 39.7k views
    • How to design and make a barn quilt. How to Make Your Own Barn Quilt 33.3k views
    • DIY driveway removal. The Driveway Rocks 24.7k views
    • How to hang art on brick surfaces using specialty clips. The Easy Way to Hang Art on Brick or Stone 24.4k views
    • Goodbye, gold fireplace covering. Less Is More: How to Remove a Fireplace Surround 22.2k views
    • Our DIY flagstone patio. Building a Patio in One Day 17.4k views
    • Bedroom paint, freshened up with Snowbound paint. Painting Everything White: We Chose Snowbound, By Sherwin Williams 16.5k views
    • Tips for dying pasta different colors, and a Halloween Recipe for the kids. Tips for Dying Pasta Different Colors (+ A Special Halloween Recipe) 15.3k views
    • Finished stained kitchen cabinets. Javalicious, A Gel Staining Reveal (Update #3) 14.2k views



  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)





  • a little bit of everything, friends, DIY, and inspiration

    • Dadand.com < My husband and his BFF
    • DIY Network
    • HGTV
  • Get Posts Via Email

  • Some Legal

    Merrypad incorporates the occasional affiliate link to Amazon.com and Minted; we link to many other websites and products, but if it is in context of a paid sponsorship, it is always noted as such. Please review the privacy policy and contact me if you have any additional questions.

    Theme customized by Pete Fazio Creative, the guy from dadand.com.


© Copyright Merrypad