{GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED}
The winner is: #262: Chelsea Duncan!
Our Lowe’s challenge this month was to spruce up an outdoor area and give it more curb appeal. I knew instantly what I would do and that is, change out these pitiful light fixtures. Lowes has some really nice ones for not a lot of money.
I picked out these two beauties and they were $40 each. Not bad at all for adding that curb appeal.
This pretty little black lantern will go over the front door.
I got out the ladder and started taking down the old fixture. If you have been following my blog for awhile, you know that I am not afraid to tackle light fixtures and changed out every light fixture in my old house myself. It’s not hard once you get the hang of it. I’ll show you more on that below.
The old one came down. YAY!
And the new one went up. Look how cute it looks with my glass front door!
It’s very simple and elegant with seeded glass.
Here’s are simple instructions on DIYing your own light fixtures. Someone asked me this and YES, turn OFF the power to your lightswitch by turning off the breaker. I will confess, that I sometimes just make sure the switch is in the OFF position on the wall and that stops the power from coming through too, but that is not the proper way to do it. Do as I say, not as I do. Be safe!
Here’s the back porch fixture. I thought I’d show you how easy it is to connect these. Black wire to black wire and white one to white. Wrap the copper ground wire around the little screw that is marked Ground. Screw the plate in and line up the bolts. 
The base of the fixture has holes that the screws slide through and then the cap nut goes on top.
Much better, don’t you think?
Beautiful and simple Craftsman style fixture and now the porch will look SO much better. I can hardly wait to get on this porch to enjoy it all!
And Lowes is giving away to ONE of my readers a $100 giftcard to help you out with a project of your own! What will you spend your giftcard on if you win?
Do you have an outdoor project you’d like to do soon? Tell me in the comments and I’ll choose a winner in a few days!
Note: I received a Lowes giftcard to complete my outdoor project.
My fiancé and I are getting married next weekend and bought our first house in February. We started to paint our deck because the wood had been left untreated for quite some time but still has potential for life! We finished about half of the deck, but unfortunately ran out of paint (definitely thought we bought enough to do the whole thing….apparently not) and since we are having to spend money on the wedding we have not been able to purchase more paint to finish. So needless to say, if I won this gift card it would definitely go towards finish painting out deck so I’m not embarrassed to have people over to hang out at our new home this summer 🙂
I would love a new coat of paint for the front porch. It is pretty dated and a fresh summer paint job could go a long way in adding much needed curb appeal!
Love Lowe’s, we are a premanent fixture in there these days with all our rennovations. I have veg plants sitting waiting to go into the garden so i could use that lovely giveaway gift card on some dirt for the veggies.
I would sneak and buy the light fixture that my daughter really wants for her bedroom. My hubby is swearing that he is getting a ceiling fan. Lowe’s has this gourgeous light fixture for $98. If it was sitting here, there’d be no way he’d go buy that ugly fan.
We are hoping to extend our patio!
A Lowes gift card would go right to the purchase of new pre-hung doors for our renovation. It all started with taking out the ancient rugs and putting in flooring. Then we realized – painting had to be completed. Then we realized, all of the doors and moldings had seen better days (did they EVER??) and so, the renovations began. Ahh, the joys of homeownership!!
I would replace my outdated chandelier in the dining room…needs help!
The new fixtures look great!
We need to change the doors that go from inside the garage to inside the house. They let in a lot of air. Thank you for this opportunity to win.
We just bought our first home a few weeks ago, and as semi-newlyweds (2 years is still “new”, right?) and will be making the transition from Buckhead apartment living to the Alpharetta suburbs in a couple weeks. The house needs a little work to give it more character, but we still love most of it. The unfortunate part is it looks a whole lot like a house just a few doors down 🙁 I know a giftcard from Lowes will help us upgrade our front door light fixture just like you did! And perhaps change our brass door entry set to one in a satin nickel finish with more modern lines. A few gardenia bushes along the pathway with a few solar path lights would be great, too!
I love the fixtures you picked out, The one over the front door goes perfectly with the door. Thanks for the chance to win the gift card. I would use it for two outdoor urns, That I have wanted for a long time for that little curb appeal.
Paint and shelves for my laundry area.
Hi Rhoda, love your new light fixtures. I think my favorite is the one over the back door. Your place is coming along nicely. I love it and even with all the work you got a great deal on it. Please enter me in the Lowe’s giveaway. If I win I would put the money with the other money I am saving to buy the new front door I am wanting. The one I have been eyeing is similar to yours, only in red. Wish me luck.
Flowers! Flowers! Flowers!! Today is our average last frost date here in Northern Indiana. While it has been unseasonbly warm, I have been patiently waiting to plant annuals outside. It isn’t easy to wait, but it’s even harder to have one last cold snap wipe out my baskets. $100 of flowers would start things off just wonderfully!!
Paint for my kitchen and dining room. Or one of the many many projects I would love to tackle in this old 1963 split level ranch.
Love the blog and congrats on the new house. Your parents remind me so much of my parents and my husbands parents. They are such a blessing to us.
Your new light fixtures are very nice, Rhoda!
I would spend my Lowe’s money on a new light fixture for the guest bath. The old one is hopelessly outdated. Thanks for the opportunity to win!
I need new light fixtures as well. We just bought a new(different) house and the 20 yo builder fixtures are still up and the previous owners painted them black. They were brass and there are 4 of them. I’m not sure your Lowes gift card would work at a lowes in Canada but it sure would be nice to get them changed out. They made such a difference at your place
Would be love a nice light fixture for my front porch!
I would change out the light fixtures on my front porch.
Oh that would be nice to put towards the pergola we are building!!
My outdoor lighting is nearly as ugly as yours. Mine do have a glass cover but they are UGLY. My guess is that they are original to the house, from the 70’s. I’d love new fixtures as well as to add more lighting than currently exists.