Crossing the Little Updates Off the List
Emmett and I have been making small, but effective cosmetic electrical updates to our home– including adding a doorbell to our front entry and swapping out the light switch plates and outlets room-by-room. It’s funny we’ve lived here a year and a half, but hadn’t paid attention or updated these little items. It feels good to finally cross those pesky items off the list! Do you guys ever procrastinate the small stuff, or is that just us? Click through to see what we’ve been updating. We started in the living room!
I partnered with Legrand to share some items from their gorgeous adorne collection, which is perfectly minimal and pretty much fits any style or aesthetic- traditional, eclectic, contemporary, etc.
I hate to admit this, because I’m not one to do this often… if ever- but I used to always photoshop the light switch out of the image when showing our front door. It bothered me so bad because it was original to the house and looked grimey and yellowish. It just looked gross… like a chain smoker had lived here or something. Ha!
But really- it was icky and I’m so happy we replaced it with a new one that matches our wall color really well. Now I don’t feel ashamed to show it when sharing photos or videos of this part of our home.
Legrand’s adorne switches and wall plates are nice and sleek with clean lines, not to mention they come in 32 finishes, including cast metals, natural woods, leather, and an array of hues… like the blue that matches our wall color.
It’s funny because we spent so much time hiding the light fixture’s cord (watch that video here), yet I was still cringing when looking at the light switch connected to our giant wall sconce. It’s much better now!
Since we’ve started the updates in the living room, it only made sense to trade out every light switch- as well as the outlets. I’m so much happier with their aesthetic. It’s weird how a little plug-in can make a BIG difference. I didn’t realize how badly they needed changed until we did it. It was sort of a light bulb moment to start crossing the “tiny” things off the list because they actually matter from a visual perspective. For a detail oriented person, I sure do know how to procrastinate.
I think I’m most excited about the doorbell. It was about time we addressed that situation because oddly enough, a lot of people come to our door. Here’s how it usually goes down: someone knocks (using our beautiful brass door knocker), but it makes a loud, intense noise and the dogs go absolutely BONKERS. It’s ten kinds of chaotic and usually something ends up broken or the wall gets scuffed amongst the disarray, not to mention my embarrassment when I open the door 10 minutes later after putting the dogs up looking disheveled.
We’ve been so swamped with big renovation projects we simply ignored the lack of doorbell after removing the broken 1950’s doorbell inherited with the house. I’m happy to say, our new option does just what we need it to do. Check out the before and after….
Here’s what it looks like with the doorbell…
Our new adorne wireless doorbell blends in nicely with our mailbox and allows us to see whomever is at the door- and it also has an audible function, allowing verbal communication through an intercom.
We keep the little monitor nicely tucked away on our kitchen countertop, but it’s really convenient to actually see WHO is out there. We get a lot of solicitors and viewing who is at the door prior to answering is something I’m enjoying. Working from home has it’s challenges and that is certainly one of them. I don’t have time to answer the door and chat with salespeople during the day, so the monitor allows me to screen them since we don’t have a peephole. Sometimes I’ll even remember to take the monitor off of the countertop and into my office to sit on my desk so I don’t have to be interrupted (I know that’s lazy, but I’m more productive when I’m focused).
Either way, I don’t have to do the awkward dance of hiding from solicitors or quieting the dogs because they don’t mind the audible doorbell tone. I asked our UPS man if he could pose for me, but he was in a hurry. Haha! Really though…. so I made Emmett stand in for him so you guys could get a visual of how the monitor works and looks.
From an installation perspective, Emmett was also really impressed with the adorne collection. There was no need to rewire, break or cut dry wall, or swap our existing electrical boxes. It probably took him 10-15 minutes to update the entire living room.
All of these finishing touches have me excited to cross more easy, aesthetic items off the to-do list. It’s really been a breath of fresh air focusing on smaller details as opposed to big renovations with deadlines. It almost feels like a nice, yet productive vacation. Let me know if you have any questions in the comment section below! I’m always happy to help.
*This post is sponsored by Legrand. All content, ideas, and words are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that allow us to create unique content while featuring products we actually use & enjoy!Â