Lamps, Lamps and More Lamps…

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My name is Beverly and I am a lampaholic! There I feel better! The word is out; show me a pretty lamp and I will do whatever it takes to find a place for it. Just this week, I got a lamp in that I saw on an ad that screamed, “BUY ME!!!” I was a good girl though, I got rid of two lamps that didn’t make me smile too much. The lamps that I said goodbye to were a plain little buffet lamp and the other was cute, but the shade never stayed on straight. I was patient with him though, I corrected his shade for years, but, he had his chance….he is now gone!

As a young girl, I remember my mom driving us through a beautiful neighborhood on our way home from church during the Christmas season. We would drive through the neighborhood because of all the lights in the trees. Each house had twinkling lights in every tree. I began noticing that most of the houses had their windows open and I enjoyed seeing the beautiful lights shining through the windows. I would always see a lamp on a table that would softly light up the room and oh, how cozy it would look. I so wanted to go in each home and see the beauty. I think that may be when my love for decorating began; while seeing the beauty from the streets into beautiful windows and the lamp lighting up the room. I always would tell my mom that I was going to have a beautiful house someday and decorate it perfectly. Even to this day, I get a cozy feeling when passing a house in the evening and see a lamp on as it reflects the beauty of the room.

Jim and I get tickled when we are shutting down the house for the night. We get a workout turning all the lamps off. I always like to leave one on in another room to give a little light if one of us gets up in the night. If you have guests, it would be a welcome feeling to see a little light far away from their room.

I would count my lamps for you to give you an idea, but, you may think I’m crazier than you already do, so I will just keep it to myself. I did have a guest one time and she mentioned my lamps and wondered how many I had. I simply said, “I don’t know.”

Lampshades are just as important. Those are hard for me to find as I don’t like just a plain lampshade. I’ve dressed plain lampshades up with large glittery pins, flowers, ribbon, trims, whatever it takes to make it pop. I have even tried putting fabric on the shades and am in the process of putting Christmas fabric on a shade this week. I had a lamp that was a bronze color and painted it a Christmas red. Now it is asking for a cute Christmas fabric shade. I hope it turns out like I think it should.

I hope you will take a look around your home and see if there is a spot for a lamp. Get in the habit of using lamps instead of an overhead light. It makes such a cozier difference.

My challenge for you is:

*Drive in your favorite neighborhood and see if you see any lamps shining through the windows. See if it gives you that feeling that you would like in your own home.

* Find at least one spot in your home for a lamp and decorate around it. I would love to see what you did.

*Do a lamp inventory. Do your lamps make you smile? If it does, yay! If not, do something to it to make you smile. Paint it, change the shade, embellish the shade or say goodbye to it and get a fresh one.

Lamps? Who knew they could be such a life changer.

Think about this verse….I love this verse!

“Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105

I told you lamps were important!

If you missed the last post on the subject of Lights, click on the link:

Welcome Lights

Until next time,

Welcome Lights

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On our first trip to Hawaii, we had a reservation for a hotel close to the airport as we would get in very late. When we arrived, the hotel was nothing like we had hoped and saw online. I’m a hotel snob….I’m extremely picky so you know what happened. I refused to stay there. So, we got our bags and headed back down to the desk and a miracle happened; they refunded our money. We got in our car and began driving to look for a new place. Little did we know that we would not find anything for another 4 hours as we drove around the island. We had never been there before so we really didn’t know where we were or how long it would take to find something. All we knew is the road was driving along side the ocean. The moon was reflecting off of the water and we stopped at a couple of places that looked like a bed and breakfast. They were closed of course and we kept driving. Around 4 a.m., I could see a cluster of lights down in a valley area. We decided to head toward the lights. As we pulled up, it was the most beautiful hotel. The girl at the open air desk was so kind and friendly. Such a welcome for two weary travelers. She told us we were getting one of their best rooms. At the time we could have cared less, we were just thankful to be somewhere safe and to get some rest. We got to our room and crashed. The next morning we opened the window and I can’t describe how beautiful it was. We had a corner room on a high floor with surrounding windows. We overlooked the ocean and it was breathtaking! When I think back on that adventure, all I can remember is those lights that we saw in the distance. How thankful I am for the lights and that we had sense enough to follow them. Of course, I know who was guiding us the entire time. All that to say, lights are important. I love lights of all kinds. I love them so much, that I will be writing about lights for a few posts on my blog. I hope you will follow along and we can be enlightened on a few things. How did you like my word that popped in my head just now…..enlighten? I love that word!

The way we light up our home on the outside is very important to us. I’m loving this time change where it gets dark early in the evening because not only things slow down and we can enjoy peaceful evenings more, but, I can enjoy all the lights longer. Yes, I’m one of the crazy ones that like the getting dark early time change.

Porch lights are important. We turn ours on as soon as they are needed. I do not want a dark house. I want it to look welcoming and having lights on outside to me, look welcoming and safe. I want our house to be like those lights that brought me comfort in Hawaii while looking for a place to stay. We like to walk in the evenings and it’s interesting to pass by houses that are completely dark. Such beautiful homes but, if they only knew how more beautiful their homes would look if they had some lights shining. Maybe it’s just me, but, you can’t beat beautiful porch lights reflecting the beauty of your home. It speaks coziness, welcoming, safety and a beautiful life is happening in that home.

Landscape lighting add even more to our homes. We had lights put on our trees. I love that look! We are now working on getting some soft lights that shine up from the flower beds onto the house. If that isn’t enough, we added “party lights” in our back yard. We have large windows across the back and looking out in the back yard with the lights on the trees and then the party lights glimmering, well…I just love it!

Have you ever been invited to someones home in the evening and you pull up and its all dark. You see some lights peeking through the windows and that lets you know someone may be home, but, you make your way to the door and you feel around for the door bell. Then someone turns a bright light on and after your eyes adjust you make your way into their home. What a difference it would make if when you pulled up and saw lighting around the house and you could clearly see your way up the walkway and as you ring the door bell you would have such a different welcome feeling, don’t you think?

Lights…..they are so important! I hope this encourages you to take a look at your home tonight and see what you can do to make it look welcoming and cozy to those that pass by or who are coming to your home for a visit.

*Drive around your neighborhood or other neighborhoods and notice how people light or don’t light up their homes at night. What are some things that you like and don’t like?

*Make adjustments if needed to your home to get the look you want.

*Take a drive around your block and take a look at your home. Does it make you smile? Go for a walk and as you walk up to your home, do you get that feeling that you hope others have when they see your home?

*Don’t save the lighting of your home for special occasions, keep your lights on each evening.

*Bonus! Invite someone over in the evening for dinner or dessert and have your lights set just right and see what a difference it makes. Of course, you probably won’t have anyone say, “Oh, your lights are beautiful, I feel so welcome here!” But, I have a feeling they will feel welcome the second they pull up to your home.

I hope you will follow along the next few posts as we talk about lighting. You are probably wondering, “What more can Beverly have to say about lights?” Well, I have lot’s to share on this subject that I only hope it helps you think about things differently than before or affirms your thoughts that you already have and not to mention, my brain is always thinking and it helps me to write about it.

If you haven’t subscribed to my blog, I would love for you to so you won’t miss a thing! Click here to subscribe. You can also go to the sidebar and find the subscribe form.

I can’t wait to hear what you are doing about the lighting outside of your home. Your home is a reflection of all that you are; let others see it.

Remember the song when you were little from Sunday School, “This Little Light of Mine, I’m gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine! Hide it under a bushel, NO! I’m gonna let it shine…..”

I love that song!

Don’t hide your home, let it shine!


“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14

Until next time…