Bringing in the new light, trying out LED bulbs

I was approached to try something new recently. I have partnered up with Home Depot to switch out all of my light bulbs in the house with new LED bulbs.
I was a little hesitant because when I hear LED I think of the early Christmas lights from oh 6-7 years ago , you know what I mean those glowing blue neon looking lights that people were putting on their trees. They were to save lots of money on the electric bill and were going to last a long time but if they looked like that who cares.
Here's the thing Canada has banned the sale of incandescent bulbs so when they are gone off the shelves they are gone....did you know that? I didn't know that until recently.

You can check out Home Depot's selection of LED bulbs HERE or check them out in store.

I know we have all tried the compact florescent bulbs right! I don't know about you but I have always gone back to the incandescent bulbs.

I was being offered a great opportunity to try out the new LED bulbs by partnering with Home Depot and so I accepted the challenge as it was offered.

I have now replaced 95% of our houses bulbs(we have a lot of bulbs) with LED bulbs. I selected a soft warm color light for all of our lamps and hanging fixtures as well as bathroom fixtures, and bright white for all of our pot lights.
I have to say I am very pleased with all the new light. The bulbs are all dimmable so I will be installing lots of dimmers ASAP.

 Lasts 22.8 years wow I won't miss changing those pot light bulbs, I have already changed all of our kitchen bulbs twice in 2 years.

 Over the next year I am going to see how these new bulbs impact our electric bill, this should be interesting to see. This pkg says saves $231.00 well that sounds great to me.
It's amazing how new lighting and better lighting changes a space, for instance our basement is no longer a dingy space. I had thought to replace some of the builder basic single bulb fixtures in our unfinished basement with track lights to gain light but it turns out just changing out the bulbs has made the basement much brighter and lighter which is so nice. The change in the bathrooms is amazing it is so nice to have the perfect lighting for make-up even on those dark winter no sun days which we have had a lot of lately.

 Here is the before of our pot lights

And the after ...the light is bright and clean I like it.

When you go to choose your new bulbs bring in what you are replacing and ask the Home Depot associates for help because you may need some help getting the right bulb the first time. 

They have a great display set up in the bulb dept to showcase the different colors and bulbs, everyone has a preference and it makes it easy for you to select what you like. 

So far my opinion is that I am pleasantly surprised with the new LED bulbs , big thanks to Home Depot for asking me to try them out... now how do I get them to let me try out a new HOT TUB!!! kidding....

click here to more on LED bulbs

The completed Family room tour

I thought that I should take some photos of our completed family room ...that feels so good to say , completed! The kitchen is completed the powder room is completed and now the family room is completed. So many room are just not there yet. But these things takes time. 

 Drapes are linen from Ikea 2 pairs for fullness. The rug is from Home depot and is an 8'x10' synthetic sisal which we love. The fan is from Lowe's.

 I added book cases to the fireplace and added a marble hearth and tile to the surround.

 My daughter Mason and I added the chair rail moulding for her bring your kid to work day. The little side table is from Winners.

 All our soft seating is from the Ikea Ektorp collection. The lamps are from a second hand store. The frames are from Ikea. Most of the pillows I made from Tonic living fabrics.

 The coffered ceiling is my latest project which is the crowning touch this room needed. The coffee table is from Urban Barn.

And of course the 6" pine flooring finished in dark Kona stain and top coated with satin varathane, it is getting worn daily which is all part of the plan.

I hope you like my little tour ...thanks for stopping by.

A little news to share

I wanted to remind you to get prepared to watch an all new season of Canada's Handyman Challenge. 

Tune in January 21st at 10 pm on HGTV  Canada for the season premier. 

I was invited to visit the set this past fall. It was so nice to get a behind the scenes look. A few other bloggers and I were able to sit down with the judges and the host and chat about DIY projects and blogging, it was a lot of fun they were all so nice and charming of course. Sadly my computer crashed recently and I lost all but this photo. 

I was thoroughly impressed with the final challenge, it would have crippled me.  It is amazing what some people are able to accomplish in such a pressure cooker, I don't know how they did it.

You will have to tune in to watch their journey and to see who walks away with the grand prize. 

I wanted to share with you a NEW BLOG you must check out. My dear friend's sister Jenna has just jumped into the blogging world. I think it's a great idea, she is very talented and lucky us she is wanting to share her talents with the world. She transformed her previous home which was lovely but decided to make the move to a new home, which is stunning. Jenna recently purchased an "80's vintage" cottage and she is transforming it room by room, in a very tight timeline they have already made remarkable changes that you have to see, it sure makes me long for a cottage to DIY makeover myself. 

You can see her makeovers of her previous home her current home and her cottage continue to tune in while she shares the journey of transforming both her home and cottage. 

Here are some pics of her work for you to drool over

Enjoy! and then head on over to OAK POINT COTTAGE and see what Jenna has been up to, make sure to say hi and tell her I sent you. 

 It's so gorgeous right?

Honestly I could switch houses in a heart beat....

Check out Jenna's new blog OAK POINT COTTAGE I just love that name also it's perfect.