Lighting it Up

Lighting, textiles and rugs top my favorite components in a home. Any and all of them can completely re-route the direction that your home is headed in. They take it from anyone's house, to your house. There are so many amazing options out there in all of these categories, and even better, a lot of big box stores are making knock offs of higher end versions, so you can take advantage of some great price points too.

When I talked about changing out our light switch plates, I mentioned repetition and flow throughout a home. It's something I'm hoping to achieve but it means always thinking four steps ahead. Because every light fixture in our home is outdated, they all need to be replaced. That is actually awesome (because I get to shop for light fixtures!), but it also  means ensuring that I work towards flow and repetition with my choices and that I keep them all within a reasonable budget (little splurge here, economical choice there...).

       Our house is currently adorned with what I assume were
 big box store lighting fixtures,
and I'm guessing most are original to the 1987 construction.

There's not a lot of rhyme or reason to them.
Who's game for a tour?

Living room sconce
(you might remember that we previously had two of 
these bad boys in our master bedroom)

Dining room sconce
(complete with cobweb, thank you very much)

Dining room chandelier

Kitchen pendants

THAT ceiling fan

Sconce above our stairs

Mudroom flushmount
(this one reminds me of a jellyfish)

 

Hallway flushmount

Hallway sconce

Careful, you may now be suffering from post traumatic unfortunate light syndrome. No flow. No repetition. Everything looks very unplanned and disconnected. There are SO MANY amazing fixtures out there on the market, it's a shame to not take advantage of them and add some real glow (pun totally intended) to your own house. The challenge is choosing ones that you will love day in and day out, serve their purpose effectively, compliment one another and are proportional to the space.  Here's what I've come up with:

1. These swing arm wall sconces are already up on our behemoth planked wall. I love them, and I feel great about the $100.00 price point (they were recently on sale for $80.00 which is a steal for these!) that I was able to snag each for. We're really  happy with their look, and the light they put off.

2. I had been hunting for just the right schoolhouse flushmount for a few hallway spots that we have. I already had my eyes on these, but when I spotted them over at The Nester's place, sprayed black, I was sold!  The mount will be getting sprayed black, to coincide will all of our other light fixtures and they will live on our mudroom ceiling, and downstairs hallway ceiling. Wait for it... they are under $20.00 a pop.

3. Oh, ceiling fans (sigh). You rarely see a nice looking one. Ours greets you when you step through the front door and currently the greeting is bad. But, I found this option, and I love it (I mean, as much as one can love a ceiling fan....which generally isn't very much). It has nice clean lines, features a schoolhouse light which will compliment our flushmounts, and the black and maple finish will tie into our other fixtures and wood features throughout the house. My goodness I can't wait to have that thing spinning overhead. It's on the pricier side (you know I'm going to keep my eyes out for a sale) and you can definitely buy fans for much cheaper, but I figure I'm saving on some of my other lighting choices, and this warrants a bit of splurge. This thing is currently at the top of my must-purchase list, so hopefully we'll have it in our hands in early March!

4. After wavering between lanterns or these,  I finally pulled the trigger and purchased two  for over our long farm dining table. I like them for their clean lines, and how visually open the space will remain with them hanging overhead. These were on sale for 20% off, and the shipping fee wasn't terrible, so I went for it in a moment of madness. I figured I got the table and chairs for such a steal, I was allowed a bit of a spend on the lighting. The ability to rationalize my friends...it's how I'm able to sleep at night.

5. I love barn style lights, and I HAD to have one somewhere.  This one will be planted above our stairs, front and center when you enter the house, with a galvanized cage for some added character. It's from Barn Light Electric, a store I had been stalking for some time. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't outrageous. It has already arrived, now I just need to get it up on the wall.

6. I'm still on the look out for three wall sconces. I thought I had the perfect contender, but it just wasn't right. So my hunt continues. I plan to keep them on the affordable end of the spectrum,  so stay tuned for developments.

I'm also keeping my eyes open for some great table lamps to add some ambient lighting.   I think those will be a great place to incorporate  color and other textures into the space, but I need to ensure they aren't too precious, due to inquiring little hands. Do you have light fixtures in your home that you love to hate?