lighting | Beneath My Heart

Welcome back!

I hope you are enjoying this series!

Let’s recap the first two steps in creating “Old House” character and charm in your newer home…

Step 1: Add wood ceilings.

Step 2: Replace your builder’s grade doors with paneled doors.

And now to the next step!

Step 3:

Replace your builder’s grade

light fixtures with ones that

possess more character and

charm!

For instance, look at this beautiful kitchen! First of all, notice those fabulous wood ceilings. Okay, now look at the lights! I call those “school house” lights, although I am sure they have another name. They add so much charm to that kitchen, don’t ya think?!

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But let’s be honest.

Unfortunately, many of us have these on our ceilings…

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The dreaded “boob” light!

(Yep, look at it. You know I’m right.) Smile

Raise your hand if you have a “boob” light or two in your house. Come on, don’t be ashamed. Own it!

I have some of these lights in my home, but slowly and surely, I am going to change them out.

Now really, there is nothing horribly wrong with these lights, but they certainly do not possess much charm and character.

So I would like to declare 2012, “The Year of De-Boobing!”

Will you join me?

Now don’t go getting’ a screw driver today and start taking all your “boobs” down. Your husband will come home and think you’ve lost your mind, and he will not like me much either! He may want to keep the “boobs.” (I am so sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.)

Take your time de-boobing. Look around for the right light fixture to take its place before you start removing them.

Maybe you could score a cute light at a ReStore shop or thrift store.

I got this ugly brass light at my Habitat store for $3.00!

I cut the curly-que thingys off and spray painted it black for our previous laundry room.

It added sooo much character to our laundry room! (And so did that bead board ceiling!) Smile

So much more character than a “boob” light would have.

And it was only $3.00!!

Whenever you see a brass light at Goodwill or a yard sale, and you like the shape of it, REMEMBER it can be painted!!!

My friend, Melissa, from 320 Sycamore had this very dated light in her entry way.

She scored a $5.00 brass light off of Craigslist and painted it black. Here it is…

Doesn’t it look so much better than what she originally had?! And it looks an awful-lot like this one from Pottery Barn, doesn’t it?

But Melissa’s was only 5 bucks! BIG difference! You can check her post out HERE.

Lanterns are very “in” right now, and I am so glad. I think they are beautiful, especially in a kitchen.

They make a beautiful statement above a kitchen island or dining table.

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Chandeliers are also reminiscent of the past and add a wealth of charm to a room.

These can get very expensive. I’ve been looking for an old one for a while now, but they have been out of my price range.

But I’m gonna keep on looking!

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Pottery Barn has some beautiful chandeliers to choose from.

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Look at the charm this old chandelier brings to the room…

Although chandeliers look great over a dining table, why not change out the “boob” light over your bed for a chandelier?

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Or maybe over your bathtub?…

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Unfortunately, I am not an expert in light fixtures that were used in older homes, but there are many companies out there that sell light fixtures from all different time periods and decorating styles. Just google, “antique lighting” and see what comes up.

Here are a few more pictures I found online of some of my favorite types of light fixtures.

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So there you have it!

I want you to take a tour around your home today and see how much de-boobing you are going to need to do. Then start thinking about what type of light fixture would look better in the “boob’s” place.

Don’t go out and start buying a bunch of expensive light fixtures. Wait until they go on sale, or maybe you will find one at a thrift store that you can paint.

Be creative!

I would have to say that besides painting a room, changing the light fixtures can make the next biggest difference in the feel of a room.

Do you have some light fixtures in your home in need of some updating?

See ya tomorrow for the next step in adding “old house” character and charm to your home!

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I cannot write this post without first thanking you for the over 200 amazing comments on yesterday’s post.

I read every single one! I read them to my husband. I forwarded some to my sister. My dad and I were talking about them today. (He read every single one too.) Honestly, if you need encouragement, you may want to go read them too. They were amazing!

Your comments were heart-felt, loving, humbling, praise worthy, gracious, kind, heart-breaking, joyous, compassionate, empathetic, encouraging, and I could go on and on.

I cried as I read the comments too.

I wish I could write every single one of you back. I really, sincerely do. But I just don’t know if time will allow it. Please know that if I could, I would hug each of you. I would invite you to meet me at Panera, and we would talk for hours over soup and salad about life and blogs and everything in between! Wouldn’t that be the best thing ever?!

That post was hard for me to write. I cried as I wrote it. And it took me almost two hours to write.

But I am so glad I did.

God is using YOU and this blog to continue to grow beauty in my broken places.

I praise HIM!

Now let’s talk “kitchen”, want to? Smile

Many of you asked about the lighting in my kitchen.

Truth be told, there’s not much of it.

We have installed recess lighting above the shelves, but that is all the light we have in that room right now.

I do not want to hang lights in the middle of the room or above the table right now, because I am not sure how I want the room to look yet.

We may be creating a new space for the table, and I may or may not be putting an island in the center of the kitchen. Until I make those decisions, I do not want to install anymore lighting.

But I do want a light for above the kitchen sink. Doesn’t the window look bare without my Christmas wreath?

I took the wreath down to try and figure out what type of light I want to put there.

Of course, I could always put in a light above the sink like the one below. I call those “school house” lights, and they are very characteristic of older homes. (I like that island too, don’t you?)

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Here are some more “school house” lights…

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I also thought about putting a mini chandelier above the sink to give the kitchen a little “bling.” Isn’t this one gorgeous?…

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Here is the look of a lantern above the sink. I like it too!

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These are probably my favorite. I would only want one over my sink, but oh my goodness! Aren’t they gorgeous?! I would love to wash dishes under those beauties!!

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And I love these mercury glass pendant lights! I found this picture on a site where it is just a list of emails talking about a subject, so I couldn’t find a source. Someone called this pendant light an Argento pendant light. I googled it, and these babies are hundreds of dollars!