Maybe Matilda: Let there be light.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Let there be light.

(Sometimes I wonder if my attempts at creative/humorous titles just ensure that everyone skips right past my posts in their respective readers? Probably so. Not gonna cut it out, though.)

We’re painting, we’re flooring, we’re renovating high and low. And the light fixtures in this new house of ours (our first home! eeeeeeee!) are driving me up the wall. They are awful. See for yourself . . . we’ll start out strong with the kitchen ‘chandelier’. (By the way, these photos were all taken pre-renovation, before we even had the house under contract, so we’ve already made quite a bit of progress on the hideous outdated beast that it was. As long as you consider ‘progress’ to be a construction zone disaster area, then yes, we are making progress.) Anyway. The kitchen ‘chandelier’:

kitchenlightcollage

Don’t tell me, I already know. You love it. Be that as it may, a teensy, awkwardly dangling, bright gold chandelier with exposed twirly bulbs is not quite what I have in mind for this space.

The light fixture in the family room isn’t much better:

familyroomlightcollage

A dark, dated wood and gold ceiling fan. At least it coordinates with the dark, dated fireplace. Excellent planning on the builder’s part, bravo sir!  The bedrooms also feature ceiling fan fixtures, most with (you guessed it) exposed twirly bulbs and black (black!) fan blades. Yikes.

But this little number is the crème de la crème, my personal favorite, the one that I’m sure you’ll email me about, begging to purchase from me so you can install it in your own home:

dininglightcollage

You’re drooling, aren’t you? Burning up with jealousy that I am the proud owner of such a glorious piece of 90s relic lighting. The gold, the glass panels, the elegant roses etched into the glass. A classy piece, this one. This is the view from the front door that you’re seeing. That light fixture is hanging over the dining area, directly in view of anyone standing in the doorway. This feeling in my chest when I consider that anyone entering my home will be greeted by this glorious light fixture . . . is it pride? Wait . . . no, I think it’s shame. Shame tinged with horror. It doesn’t feel good, friends. Does not feel good at all.

I’ve been searching for new lighting options, and here are some of the ideas I have in mind (and am hoping to win from Barn Light Electric by blogging about).

I would love this barn pendant for the kitchen area, to replace the dinky awkward gold chandelier—picture it against my soon-to-be-painted-white-with-brushed-nickel-knobs kitchen cabinets and new (not blue) countertops and soothing silvery-gray kitchen walls . . . aaaaah, that feels better already:

To replace that dark, ugly fan in the family room, I think this ceiling light would be neat:

I’ve really been puzzled about what to replace the gold-and-rose-etched-glass abomination with (if you have ideas, feel free to share—I’m going for sort of an updated modern cottage-y look, if that’s a look that means anything to anyone). I think this 3-light warehouse pendant would look neat:

I’m sure it’s supposed to go over a kitchen island, but I think it would be really awesome where the glass beast is now.

For bedrooms, I really like the look of old-fashioned schoolhouse-ish lights:

Oh, Barn Light Electric, please give me free lights. I will love you forever.

 

TO ENTER: Please follow our provided rules to enter:

  1. Look around online at Barn Light Electric and pick lights you’d love to own
  2. Feature your lighting picks on your personal blog, and link to the lights if you can!
  3. Copy/Paste these rules at the bottom of your blog article
  4. Once your personal post is up, you must email your blog link to: marketing@barnlightelectric.com to be qualified to win – the contest ends July 2nd, 2012
  5. Don’t have a blog? Find out how you can enter by visiting our website or read these Official Rules

12 comments :

  1. you don't know me, or my style (or lack of style perhaps...) but i figured i'd chime in on this one. (:

    that piece you chose to replace the 'glass beast' is similar to what my parents have over their kitchen table and it's great. i like that it lights up the whole table (they have a long table).

    also, just my two cents on replacing all the fan fixtures... i have a fan in my bedroom and think that sometimes i would die without it. or at least suffer a long miserable sweaty night. mine isn't dark brown or black... and the bulbs aren't exposed, so you have me beat there... but having the fan is wonderful. in my opinion. (:

    that's all. (:

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  2. That last light...the lovely 90's one? We had not one, but two of those babies in my last apartment! Ahhhh memories...or shame...what you said. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. I just kept starring at the pendant light you like thinking "that totally looks like the clamp lights we used to hang in the barn to deliver babies." (sheep babies, not people babies obviously) So how did I read this whole post (twice) before I "got it"? The place is called BARN light electric! wow, go me :/
    I'm sure it'll be hard to part with that awesome rose light, but I do really like the 3 light pendant. Can't wait to see what you pick!

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  4. Rachel! I can't wait to see your home after all of the renovations!!!Good luck in the contest!

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  5. haha! every house we move into (renting) the first thing we do is switch out dated ceiling fans and ugly brass chandeliers! They are awful aren't they?! Actually the house we're in now, one of the ceiling fans has mallard ducks on it lol, it's staying, we'll be out of here in a year or two ;)

    I do love your house, must be so exciting to make it your "own."
    We are hoping to buy next spring, or the year after, depending on the market and how we're doing.. I can't wait though!

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    Replies
    1. Mallard duck ceiling fan?! That puts my rose-etched chandelier to shame! Better keep that one when you move :-)

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  6. My parents have that exact 90s chandelier hanging above their staircase. :)

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  7. Fingers crossed for you!

    But if not, brass is totally back, right? ????

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  8. Will you hate me forever if I enter the contest too? It's on my list of posts to write. Because, dude, we have a florescent lighting fixture in our kitchen. Let me repeat that, florescent lighting fixture in our kitchen. I swear the buzzing sound is going to give me ear cancer. But seriously, if I don't win, I want you to be the winner. OR we could do halfsies and split the winnings.

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  9. I like playing hide and seek to see where the goob pops up in the backgrounds of all your pictures.

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  10. We just got rid of our 90's relics and don't need any lighting at this time, just wanted to say HI and good luck finding just the right lighting! We held on to ours for way to long ; )!

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  11. Come on....anyone would love to have that last one!

    *And Liz told me she ran into you....nice to have you around these-here-parts now ;)

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Thanks for commenting!

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