let there be light

The first light fixture we wanted to update in the house was over the dining table. We were in love with the light we had in our old place so it was sad to part with it, especially since we scored it for half price! As a Hubbardton Forge, we never would have bought it without the discount.

In the new place, I was determined to find a light similar to it. We have a thing for drum shades so that's what I was after. First, I brought home a large white drum shade pendant from Crate&Barrel only to be told that the shiny metal hardware doesn't match the brushed nickel of the other fixtures in the house which was a no-no. Returned it. Second, I picked up yet another drum shade pendant, again from Crate&Barrel. This one was a textured, plaid type pattern of greys, tans and browns, with brushed nickel hardware this time around. Cory wired and hung it up, but when we flipped the switch on, it instantly bothered me. The pattern of the shade changed so much when it was lit up and quite honestly, I thought it was ugly. If I was going to make it a point to keep the light off because I liked it that way better, what's the point of having a light, right? So, back to the store that one went too. We also weren't fond of the loose cord that followed the wire that hung it up to the ceiling. Talk about chintzola.

By this point, frustration had set in. We just wanted a light! My third attempt was found at West Elm. A large, light grey, felt drum pendant, on sale for about $50. But they didn't have the conversion kit in stock. Go figure. I bought the shade anyway and put my name down for a phone call when the conversion kit was back in stock. After some thought, we realized this wasn't the right light for the space either. Instead of returning this one, I have another idea for it's new home.

After all the light fixture failures, it was unanimous.. we would pay the extra money and get what we knew we'd love. A light that we knew would look nice (not chintzy). As the focal point of the entire main level between the living room and kitchen, it was important to have something that we love... the Hubbardton Forge light, like the one we had in our old place. Plus, we got to pick all the colors including what hardware we wanted.

We patiently waited for weeks and finally got this beauty:

Isn't it pretty!

We instantly loved everything about it, except the shades seemed crooked. We came to the conclusion, that yes, they are warped (the curse of the dining room light!!). Plus, the diffuser is rounded, not flat. Our first light like this most definitely had a flat diffuser and on the Hubbardton Forge website, it's certainly not rounded either. There was no way we were going to be satisfied with warped shades for the price we paid.

I'm just now realizing I spelled diffuser, "defuser" in this photo (what was I thinking??)! And, I am not going through the trouble of fixing it...

The wide angle lens really warps this photo!

After a phone call to Muska Lighting, they were extremely understanding and said they'd call the manufacture and have them send new shades ASAP, no questions asked. Unfortunately, the manufacture insists that this light is suppose to have a rounded diffuser and always has, so they aren't able to send us anything different. We hope we are able to have some frosted glass cut on our own so we have the flat option down the road as well.

Image from website (note: no rounded diffuser!)

Overall, we absolutely love it and couldn't be happier with our choice to get this fixture! The outside grey shade suits the space perfectly and the inside white shade keeps is clean and modern looking. We also love that we chose the black hardware which has a nice contrast against the grey shade and matches our black curtain rod in the living room, as well as the black hardware on our cupboards.

Next up, we (well, I) hope to get rid of the giant "boob" light above the sink (you can see it int he left photo above), and replace it with another recessed can light. I am dying to swap out the island pendant lights for something a lot more fun that suits our style too. There are also, at the very least, eight more boob lights around the house that will need replacing!

More house postings to come as there are a group of men outside, as I type, painting our house! So excited to see what it looks like and crossing my fingers that we like it! We are also hoping to have our fireplace project complete this week which will make a huge difference in the look of the living room. Before&After photos to come once that is done!