nice shades

I've been thinking about lamps lately.  With our fabulous re-dos on the main floor, the lighting needed updating as well.  Mary & Ben gave us this yellow one (I've had my eye on it for some time... it came from his family's lake house in Snow Camp, NC) and I found this neutral & textured shade at Target.  Perfect!

I updated our entry table lamp as well, because I didn't want two yellow lamps.  This simple shade goes perfectly with the base!  I will save the old shade in case we want to mix it up again later.

I swear that pic is not black & white.  

It looks kinda blah in this tiny pic, but the table below it has bright blue legs, so it works well with a more neutral/calm lamp on top.

I found this mercury glass lamp at TJ Maxx.  I thought it would do nicely with the mercury glass finials now framing the windows in the living room.  It ended up being 1. too short and 2. too dressy for the casual hang-out space we wanted to create.  But, I still like the lamp so it lives in the craft room now on my sweet sweet new desk (my birthday present from David).

In our house, there is only overhead lighting in the bathrooms and kitchen.  This is why I need to think about lamps so much!  I saw a neat idea for pendant lamps, so if we ever change up the dining area light, I think we will try this:  1 lamp shade plus 1 lighting kit.  Simple and inexpensive.  The shade is the focal point and where you could "splurge" if you want since there is no need for an actual fixture.  This would also be cheap and easy to change out so you can keep your home ever-changing and interesting!