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Bam! Four posts in one week! Just like old times. Pre-toddler times, that is.

Above the big old messed up builder grade mirror in our master bathroom hung this not so messed up chrome vanity light:

I actually kind of like the shape of it….it has some art deco-esque kind of waviness going on at the edges that sets it apart from most examples of builder grade vanity lights. We’ve already replaced the other two lights in here (you can see one of the replacements reflected in the mirror up there), and this is supposed to be a BUDGET bathroom makeover, so we opted to work with what we have in this case.

I first got the idea to paint it and add Edison style bulbs nearly a year ago, and, at the time, I thought to myself, “I bet I’m not the first person to come up with this idea.” And, sure enough, I googled and found that the fabulous Shavonda from A Home Full of Color had already done this. Great minds, right? So I didn’t get to be original, but I did get to proceed (uhh, eleven months later) secure in the knowledge that someone else had done this and had it turn out great.

I won’t lie….I was a little conflicted about this project because 1. Edison bulbs are CRAZY expensive and 2. they use up a ton of energy and aren’t the most environmentally friendly option in the world. More on that first one later. As to objection #2, my rationalization is that we really don’t use this light much at all. As I mentioned, there are two other light fixtures in the room (and 2 big windows). Dave turns it on when he shaves, and I turn it on twice a year or so when I attempt lipstick. So it’s not really on the same level of energy consumption as some hipster restaurant in Manhattan running these bulbs 8 hours a day. What’s that quote from The Big Chill about how long you can make it without a rationalization? Anyway.

Okay, so we took this down when we painted the wall, and I hauled it down the garage (because it won’t stop raining lately), scrubbed it down, and painted it with Rustoleum’s Champagne Mist. I can’t remember where I first saw this color recommended, by the way, but I’m a big fan. It’s a great subtle, not too shiny, antique-y gold.

2018 update! Ignore everything I’m about to say below, back when I originally wrote this post, because Edison bulbs are way cheaper now. Here’s a good Amazon link for buying Edison bulbs! /2018update

So about those bulbs? I went to Home Depot and bought eight of these:

….for nearly $10 each. I’m sure you can do the math here. This means my cheapo lighting update (I already had the spray paint) cost me EIGHTY DOLLARS. Now, I likely would have spent a good bit more on a light fixture or fixtures that would look good over that giant vanity, and there would have been wall patching and maybe wiring stuff to deal with, but still…..

In my defense, I did stop and check Amazon while I was at the store, hoping to find a cheaper option. The best deal I could find was this pack of six (affiliate link) for $35 plus $11.50 shipping. But since I needed eight, I still would have had to buy two individual ones at Home Depot like prices and then hope they were all identical when they showed up….and this would have completely destroyed my mad quest for four posts in one week like old times. So. I bought my Home Depot bulbs.

Here’s the part where you can learn from my mistakes. That’s why I’m here! Later on, after opening all eight of my new, overpriced bulbs and putting them in my champagne mist light fixture, I did a little more googling. I discovered that this place sells Edison bulbs that look like the ones I got for $3.83 each with very reasonable shipping! Oops.

So I was just going to say, “I guess that means no one’s going to be using my Amazon affiliate link up there, since I just told you where you could get the bulbs way cheaper than Amazon” when I happened to do one MORE quick Amazon search and turned up THIS six pack of bulbs for $3.25/ bulb with FREE shipping (another affiliate link, only this one’s better). Doh!

So I am kicking myself for my impatience and poor googling skills now, and I can only hope that I will save someone literally TENS OF DOLLARS by passing along this hard earned information.

But. My light looks really pretty now, so it’s all worth it. Well, I mean, it’s not WORTH it, since clearly I paid way too much for my light bulbs. But I guess maybe it is, because I was willing to pay that, so apparently the market supports charging three times as much as another company for cool light bulbs because of suckers like me and isn’t that what capitalism is all about? Supply and demand, baby!

Before I show you 100 more pictures of my cool new hipster light bulbs, I should mention that, as you can see, we picked a black paint for the bathroom wall and then….well, painted it. We went with Benjamin Moore’s Jet Black, and I’m pretty much in love. You can see it in these pictures, and I’ll give you a better look at it and talk about it more in yet another bathroom post (on a roll!) next week.

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