When I spotted this red lantern in one of my favorite interior design shops it was love at first sight! I knew that it would make the perfect accent piece for my bedroom at the lake cottage. It was love at first sight until I turned over the price tag. Talk about sticker shock, $1600. That is not a typo. Sixteen hundred dollars! There was no way I would pay $1600 for my short lived new love. Even though the entire light was about 28 inches tall, it was still over priced. Make that grossly over priced.I finished my browsing and mosied on out. I then decided to visit the other stores nearby. Stationary store. Skip that. Liquor store. Absolutely skip that. Tuesday Morning. Good browsing but no purchases today. Import store somewhat like a no-name Pier One. Great browsing. Then what to my wondering eyes should appear but the almost identical same lantern with no light inside!!! Price tag:$59. Oh yes. Then, 20% off!!!! OH YES. I’ll take it. I was ecstatic! I know where to get light fixtures. I hustled on down to the Habitat Resale store and picked one up for $5. I had to remove the glass part of my habitat fixture but that simply involved turning a few screws. I took my handy dandy little power drill and drilled a hole in the very tip top of my red lantern for the wiring and hanging hook to go through. I opened the little door and inserted my habitat light and pulled the wire through the hole.
I purchased the little thing at the ceiling (I think it’s called a canopy) from Lowe’s for a couple of bucks.
I just saved myself $1640!! Cha-ching! I made this light for less than the taxes on the original one. When I visited that store one year later, the red lantern was still there. I could not work up the nerve to take a photo.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I LOVE it when a plan comes together!I’ll be linking to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and to the DIY showoff.
7 comments:
Love the latern, I almost fell off the couch when you said $1600 that's like a mortgage payment here in NH hahaha.
Love it! So great that you were able to recreate the look you loved for less.
Pat if us crafty little bloggers see it we can make it! I love that being thrifty is so cool now. great lantern! Thank you for visiting.
Carol
Great find, Pat, and what a beauty with enormous savings. I cannot believe they would sell something like that for $1600. Who buys it at that price?....Christine
WOW! Congratulations! You must be a good person and the good Lord rewarded you because what a coincidence that you found one that was almost exactly the same! And that is one beautiful lantern you got there. I LOVE the red (my favorite color). Again, it's beautiful and great job!
Best regards,
Gloria
Lucky you! I love when you find exactly what you love at a fantastic price!! It looks wonderful :)
Wendy
Great Lamp. I would have had sticker shock too. Thanks for checking out my blog. I was stalking yours yesterday from The DIY Showoff but didn't leave a comment. I love your hurricanes too. I keep meaning to check our local dollar stores.
Janet @ Cul-de-sac Chic
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