light me up, baby

Last Thursday was a great day. Mom Hawk came over and continued work on the basement. She pulled down the remaining panels, cleared the debris, and finished painting the ceiling. We hauled out what we could until Ace woke from his first nap, and then he and I went shopping.

Shopping you say? Oh yes, shopping.

I never go shopping. We haven't made a major home purchase in about a year and with a son to look after, the budget is just more, well, parent-like. I haven't even gone to any of my favorite fun stores like World Market, Crate & Barrel, Pier One, or Marshall's because if we have the funds I'm out buying itty-bitty clothes for itty-bitty body or we're handling medical bills. I'm quite content with this, but it sure builds up a good desire for some creative spending in a gal.

With the electrician on site today and in the coming weeks, and with a few new light fixtures we simply have to purchase to cover the new holes in the basement, Mom Hawk suggested we find what we want now so that he can install them all at once. Pressure. I am not the best shopper when I need to make a big decision. A time-crunch with a creative adrenaline rush, sure. But real purchases we'll have to live with for years? Not so much.

Regardless, I enjoy doing this sort of thing on my own, so Ace and I saddled up and snagged some time at Menards & Home Depot. Hawk had a work bowling party that afternoon (how fun is that?!) so it was easy to text photos and opinions back and forth. 

The best part? RAce had fun and Hawk and I agreed on the look and size we wanted. I focused on the outdoor lighting and kept my eyes pealed for good kitchen lanterns. Here's what sonny boy and I found during the first part of the day:

These were all at Menard's. I actually enjoyed myself here. There was a pretty big selection, and I felt we could afford any of the pieces. The Menard's guide said that all the pieces were metal, not plastic. My goal in this at the beginning was to limit spending here. We don't plan to live in this house much beyond 10 years unless we add a major renovation (affectionately called the bay trifecta by locals: master bedroom, additional full bath, over a new family room; sometimes this also includes a kitchen renovation). Everything here ranged between $18-58.

Here was a quick snapshot of some choices for the kitchen. Of these three I liked the outside two, the left the best:

Then we hit up a Home Depot across the street and found these:

I picked up a few from Menard's and a few from HD. Love this modern age of return-if-unused!

Big trouble spot: I didn't want to choose lighting, especially in one day, that Hawk and I didn't really like. We don't have the sort of expense budget to waste on items we settle for, you know? We're doing fine, financially, but it's because we value our dollar and want to see it come back to us in quality.

Then, I got a call from Mom Hawk suggesting we at least take a look at a local shop, City Lights. I love walking through their showroom because it is arranged well and feels classy and clean. So for this second venture, Hawk met up with Ace and I after work. 

This. Was. Brilliant.

We arrived and discovered that the showroom is offering 50% off retail price, with free shipping (it's almost all by-order-only).

We had a blast. We quickly found some options for the exterior lights within the same budget as M & HD. We spent a good 45 minutes searching through indoor lighting in the hopes of finding great kitchen lanterns until our guide confirmed that we can use outdoor lighting on the inside!

Eureka! We ran back to the outdoor lighting section, set Ace free on the ground, and spent another hour reexamining our decisions both outdoor and in. Does this come in a ceiling mount? What length might it hang? What is the difference between oil rubbed bronze and black? How will this age? And so forth.

We're almost firm in our decisions. We need to make them final this week in order to receive the discount, so as soon as we're on board, I'll let you know! I'm really excited.

Hope you had a lovely weekend! 

icj,
~j

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how do I light thee? let me count the ways

We all know the quandary one faces when choosing proper lighting. (But who knew that "quandary" had that second A? I sure didn't.) You have all these questions to consider, such as:

1. How do I want it attached to my house? Table, floor, wall, or ceiling?

2. What kind of bulb do I want? Natural? Flourescent? Pink?

3. Should it shine toward the ceiling or the floor?

Right now, our lighting is pretty solid in that we don't need to replace anything. Nothing is truly an eyesore...except in our kitchen.

It looks a lot like a mosquito machine, or anything from the 80's. So in its place, we'd like to put something like one of these...

zgallerie

We like the industrial look of this first light. Clean, sharp, stylish.

potterybarn

I, of course, love this second light. It's pretty! And I think it could be really fun in the kitchen. So far, this is my favorite choice. It wouldn't shine directly down and hurt our eyes, and it would add a funky element to the room.

potterybarn

This is the look we started with, though technically it is too big for the space. Hawk would hit his head immediately and repeatedly. We like that it shines upward and that it has faux candles for an older-world look. Only downside besides size? Difficult to clean. We think it would be hard to dust, and who doesn't get those little bugs in their lights from time to time. With this light, they'd have a cylindrical cemetery for everyone to see.

potterybarn

We love that this lamp is rustic. It makes me think of a summer camp or someones northwoods cottage. Only downside: shines straight down. Could be harsh at night.

restorationhardware

This is another great possibility...aside from price. We like that it isn't perfectly clear glass, so the light is diffused instead of shining at someone. The silver is bright, clean and fresh.

restorationhardware

I'd prefer a pendant light, but if we had to go with something wall mounted, we would likely choose this light. It's more three-dimensional and arts and crafts-like.

corbettlighting

This light would be so much fun! But highly unlikely. But a girl can dream, right?

target

And this last one is my new favorite. It just shouts fun, style, uniqueness, and a soft glow. Now if I could only convince my sleek and stylish husband...

What would you choose?

icj,

~j

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it's all in the way you look at it

Well, no, it's not.


Since we purchased this home, we've learned a great deal about lighting. More than any other material, paint changes from light to light. And we're not just talking daylight to nightlight. We mean that paints can practically jump colors from location to location.


Mom Hawk paints a lot. A lot. Her house, her friends' houses, and now her family's houses. So she knows a heck of a lot about looking into the light. When we were trying to decide which color white to choose for our ceilings and trim, we thought it would be a cinch. She had some extra trim paint from her house, so she brought it over and began to paint one corner of the ceiling. When Jen returned, WOW. It looked yellow. Not white, yellow. And yet in her home, it pops a bright white!


Our favorite youngsters, Sherry and John, were the first non-family members to give us an idea of how important it is to see paint chips throughout the day, at the angle you'll paint them. So if you're painting on the ceiling, you have to tape it to the ceiling:

younghouselove

So one Friday afternoon, Mom Hawk and I (jen) grabbed up all the white paint chips (a.k.a. color stack) from the paint stores and ran around the house in different lights trying to figure it out. We chose a very happy, clean, muted, eggshell sort of white: Alabaster from Sherwin Williams. We also took her advice and grabbed the semi-gloss version (also what YHL discovered after a few tries).


Remember a few weeks back we mentioned how the green room was transforming here? And how I matched the wall? 

Remember how we complained about this light?

Yuck yuck yuck!

And it made our green room look like this?

Drumroll, please....look what a distortion it causes compared to natural light!

That natural light shot has not been adjusted in any way other than to add our tag. Here's another angle:

And the natural reveal!

Crazy, isn't it? I find that with that nasty light, we rarely enter the Green Room. But in the daytime (when we're home during the day) we keep ducking in to take a look because it's so light and inviting.

And it isn't just about taking a photo during the day vs. night. It's really just a bad light! So to eliminate any further issues when we change it out, we plan to purchase a few, test them, test different light bulbs in them, and only then make a real decision.

Thank you for being patient with our lack of posting this week! We're back in full swing.

icj,

~j

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