Let there be light!

When it came to light fixtures, we (very ambitiously) decided that we wanted to replace everything. We budgeted $100 per room, figuring that some lights would be over budget and some would be under, and it would all sort of even out.

Funny how that line of thinking never really works out…

The wrong light fixtures can really funk up your space, and what we didn’t want was a bunch of modern stainless steel that would look out of place with the more rustic elements we had planned for our downstairs (upstairs was kind of a free-for-all at this point). We also didn’t want to go “full farmhouse” with the more industrial chicken mesh or reclaimed wood fixtures.

We settled on aged bronze pendants with mason jars or blown glass — elements that hinted at the farmhouse trend, but didn’t totally commit. (Farmhouse Lite, if you will).

As far as Big Box Stores go, Lowe’s was an absolute treasure trove.

What budget?

The first fixture we changed out was in our breakfast nook:

We replaced it with this allen + roth glass bell pendant.

We love the look (and the little vienna sausage-shaped filament bulbs that came with it!), but after checking (and re-checking) everything during installation, we couldn’t get it to hang evenly.

Up next was our dining room:

Someday, my kids will probably look at our farmhouse light fixtures with the same disdain that I have for this guy. “Who ever thought this was cool?!” they’ll ask. (I’m still working on a response that’s a bit more effective than “it was 2016, we had a lot on our minds back then!”)

We picked the allen + roth Vallymeade fixture:

This guy was an absolute beast to hang. Basically, the light chords (or “tentacles” as I insisted on referring to them throughout installation) are interconnected behind the panel.

Changing the length results in a giant loop of chord that you’ll have to wedge in that thin panel that pressed against your ceiling. And the only thing holding it in place? Those two tiny little ball-shaped screws.

All that aside, this was our absolute favorite light fixture. We opted for alternating the lengths of the chords (“tentacles”) for a more… folksy (?) appearance, and I really liked the way it turned out.

For our entry way, we really threw caution (and our budget) to the wind and splurged on the equinox globe chandelier by Progress.

We had originally hired a handyman to hang him, but his ladder was too short, so this awesome guy is currently grounded.