Our Outdoor Sconces + Creating What You Love Verses Settling

We wanted new sconces on our back deck to reflect the updated vibe. Our main accent color is blue, so I really wanted navy blue or indigo lanterns in a specific style I had in mind. Not easy! There isn't much available and the ones I did find were either not the right shade of blue, not the exact style I had in mind, and/or way out of our price range, especially for something we weren't 100% keen on.

SO, as we have said before and will say again, if you can't find what you're looking for, don't settle! You can find a way to make it happen (most times). All we needed was some spray paint! We found just the style lights we wanted at Home Depot and grabbed a can of glossy, navy blue spray paint. We are SO happy with the results.

You can see on the box what they look like before painting:

We used rust-oleum gloss protective enamel in "navy". Dan gave them 3 coats. Be sure to cover/protect any parts you don't want painted.

Here's the lanterns that were here before:

We love how they pop off the wall (they would blend in too much in the brushed nickel), make a statement and tie in with our other blue decor pieces. 

If you take away anything from this post, we would love it to be that you CAN personalize and make your home how you envision it to be with a little thoughtfulness and creativity. I've noticed that when we settle for pieces we don't have our full heart in, we regret it and end up swapping it sooner rather than later (or ideally, never). It's sometimes worth the wait or finding a creative solution.

What is something you have settled for in your home and later regretted? Have you gone out of your way to personalize something if you couldn't find what you're looking for? Let us know in the comments!