Wednesday Wishy-Washy: Dining Room Light Fixture.
Hey, you — trusted reader and someone who’d probably be my friend if you lived down the street and were generous with your wine stash.
Actually, we are friends. Because you look at my vacation pictures and listen to me whine and I, in turn, hopefully offer some form of witty entertainment or valuable wisdom — at the very least on what not to do — which I’m pretty sure makes us friends.
So, friend. I have a predicament. And I need your sage advice.
If you were me, and you moved into a house with this chandelier, you’d probably want to replace it, right?
I mean, it’s not as bad as the Fandelier of 2007, but still.
It inspires replacement.
Maybe with something like this?
Only then, maybe you saw this picture (from this post over on Hooked on Houses), and you thought Holy crap, that’s the same chandelier I took down from my dining room!
Except with an aged brass finish and set against the backdrop of a much cooler room.
Would you then second-guess your decision of replacing said chandelier? Would you, perhaps, hang the new lantern fixture over the island in your kitchen, right here:
And possibly paint and re-hang that old, spidery chandelier back over the dining room table in the hopes that your drab, 1950’s ranch might somehow start to resemble a super sophisticated carriage house in New York City, even if only in your mind?
These are the things that keep me up at night.
Comments
I say it doesn’t hurt to get a can of spray paint and try and see what it would look like. I sprayed an old bronze lamp with the some of the metalic spray paint that made it looked aged and much better. If you don’t like it you’re only out like $4.
Yeah… but it’s also going to be a PITA to spray paint (I’m super lazy) and if the look doesn’t work in my room, I don’t want to waste the time. On the other hand, $4 for a light fixture that looks good in the space? Intriguing point…
I say… ewwww. Put it on the street for pickin’ and don’t look back.
But… but… WHAT IF IT MAKES MY DINING ROOM LOOK LIKE A NYC CARRIAGE HOUSE, Rebecca??!
I personally like some brass (layering metals w/ wood, generally) and see a lot more of it in home style magazines lately. My vote would be to finish the rest of the room and figure out the vibe in there. If you can make it work – awesome. If it just never quite fits, then at least you had a functional light while the rest of the decorating was going on.
That being said, I have a similar on in my foyer, so I suppose I am biased (though I swear it is completely appropriate for the 1920s home)
You’re absolutely right that brass is making a comeback! I’m kind of hoping it will save me from having to replace our doorknobs in this house. ;)
But what if you look at the picture of the NYC carriage house and imagine the lantern in place of the chandelier? I think it would look WAAYYY better. My vote is don’t put lipstick on a pig. And I love that industrial cart/island in your kitchen!
Haha, solid point! And thank you — the cart was a sale splurge from World Market.
first of all crakcing up at Fandelier. second of all i think part of what is making candle-chandel work in that room is not necessarily the chandelier itself, but rather that its suspended from so high up by that chain, which in my opinion is what makes it interesting. unfortuantely for those of us resigned to live in houses with ceilings of average heights, you might want to get one that is more visually interesting for you. What if you put the foyer pendant light in the dining room and the candle chandeliier in the kitchen? the candle chandelier in the kitchen would be kinda unexpected but maybe neat in that its a more casual room but you have a more gussied up fixture in there? idk. a cheeky contrast? who knows. good luck though. (ps i love world market for lights, if you havent looked there already http://www.worldmarket.com/category/home-decorating/lighting/pendants-chandeliers.do )
You are absolutely right about the fact that it works, for one, because it’s mounted so high in the inspiration room. I did think about putting it in the kitchen just for fun, so now that you mentioned it too, maybe I’ll at least have Justin hold it up there for me. ;) World market has some great ones!!
I’m so not the one to consult on this sort of thing. But I like this NYC idea…
Sooo… I should just buy the carriage house? ;)
Well, I think it needs to be a lot lower…and I agree with the other reader who suggested tackling it with some antique spray paint…what the hell?
Definitely lower. I should’ve noted that we only had it raised because we were going to be refinishing the floors and Justin didn’t want to keep hitting his head on it. :)
I like it and would keep it, but would spray paint it for sure. White, probably, but in that room a glossy cobalt would probably look pretty awesome too.
Ooh I like the colbalt idea… I was also thinking of using rub-‘n-buff to kind of give it a more worn metallic look than spray paint. I used it on a fixutre in our old house and it worked pretty well.
Oooh I like the cobalt idea. I was also thinking of using rub-‘n-buff instead of spray paint to give it a more old world metallic look. And the more I think about it, I think I might try hanging it over the island instead of the table.
I agree with Shelly. The very high ceilings and very long chain give a very uninspiring & boring style a new face lift. The colbalt blue sounds like it has real possibilities. I personally hate that chandelier style and think ‘Home Depot $30 builder’s light’ every time I see it.
Ha! Dang it. I guess I need that loft.
[…] in our old master bedroom, the light fixture has been sitting around here for 8-9 months (though I’m not convinced it will stay in the dining room, hence the extra wire), and the gold tray was a clearance Target find from a couple of years […]