even though we declared our kitchen area job done over a month ago, there are still bit dangling tasks hanging over our heads. Some, rather literally. See that shadeless stick of a pendant hanging down from the ceiling in the fireplace area?
That old pendant has been damaged permanently (despite me taking care of it when already) to ensure that half of the space has been cloaked in darkness for months. Well, or least in comparison to the rest of the space which has been light as well as bright considering that our bit illumination upgrade during the kitchen area reno.
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Our momentary illumination option has been this floor lamp tucked in the corner. however it as well has woes of its own. one of the switches broke, so leaning over behind the chair as well as unplugging it/plugging it in is now the only method to turn it off or on. Not the end of the world, however not the nicest thing on the ol’ back when you’re doing it several times a day. We were over it after a few weeks as well as it has been the routine for a few months now.
We even grew to phone call it the bend & snap (Legally Blonde, anyone?) – as well as although it makes the “exercise” mildly much more entertaining, we were always keeping our eyes peeled for the best replacement for the damaged ceiling pendant. as well as it took a while to discover it.
The struggle that we were having was discovering something that doesn’t contend with the other pendants in the room. We desired something quite flush (since I’m a tall man as well as I didn’t want anything that felt as well close to my head in such an open area), however nothing boob-light-ish. Oddly sufficient a ton of flush install lights in our cost variety were what Sherry affectionately phone calls boob lights. any type of illumination market peeps listening? There’s a hole in the market for great clean-lined as well as simple, not-curvy flush mounted fixtures that don’t expense an arm as well as a leg. sure there are a few crisp drum shade-ish options, however not the exact same insanely large range that there are for their buxom counterparts (frosted boob lights, marbled boob lights, ORBed boob lights, etc).
Finally, at our recent trip to Ikea, we came across Aläng. Let’s just phone call him Alan for short. No wait, let’s do Alän considering that I just discovered exactly how to type that umlaut as well as I’m feeling pleased of myself (ALT+U then whatever letter you want under it, fyi).
Anyways, Alän came in two sizes as well as we got the larger 18″ version for $40. Gotta like Ikea costs (many 18″ drum shades alone are around $40 without the light itself). however like a lot of Ikea pieces, he needed assembly – providing me flashbacks to assembling Max in our bedroom.
It wasn’t that bad, though. very first I had to pop each of the three light sockets into the central fixture. Easy. though it produced a bit of a jumble of wires that made me raise an eyebrow.
But it appears like Ikea was one step of ahead of me, having already put clips as well as channels to wrangle the cords. My eyebrow returned to its default position.
You can see exactly how the wires are held against the sides of the central fixture in the photo below. though I really took this photo to show off exactly how area Invader-y this thing was starting to look when I added the spokes that would ultimately hold the shade in place.
With the light as set up as it might be without really attaching it to the ceiling, I flipped off the power to the whole home (since neither our fusebox nor my memory is labelled well sufficient to be sure what breaker controls what) as well as began eliminating the old light.
With old light out, Alän might begin taking his pläce. Here’s he is all wired up as well as prepared to be set flush against the ceiling.
The system that secures the central fixture to the ceiling is kinda just a glorified zip tie, which was a bit odd to me – I’m utilized to screws as well as bolts for these things. however it was simple as well as seemed to work great, so I shouldn’t complain.
Then came turning the power back on to make sure my wiring was successful (it was). Oh as well as these incandescent bulbs were the only bulbs that we had three of at the time – however we’ve considering that replaced them with… wait on it… LEDs! as well as we like them so far. We’ll have to provide you a full report down the road as to exactly how they last as well as exactly how we like them over time. however they provide off a truly good bright glow as well as we like that they must last an amazingly long time as well as save us loot in the long run.
But back to hanging the shade. You may be wondering exactly how it’s secured. Well, those bit spokey dudes are MAGNETIC. yup they’re tiny, extremely very strong magnets. like the Altoids of magnets.
This, like the zip tie, they had me skeptical at very first – however as soon as I felt the shade snap firmly into location with quite unusual force I was all smiles. It was simple as well as quick to do as well as I’m quite sure I don’t have to concern about it falling on my head anytime soon (but if I did, the shade is quite darn light anyways).
This is one of those can’t-capture-the-true-beauty products that we own, however in person everybody who walks in comments on it. This photo is the closest thing to showing the quite subtle woven detail as well as the soft glow that it provides off. Update: great deals of people are asking if it provides off a great deal of light, it’s not a radiant beacon that blinds you or anything however it must certainly be bright sufficient for a respectable sized space or hallway. It only takes three twenty watt bulbs, however if you utilize CFLs or LEDs, they provide off much more light at lower wattages.
Of program that remarkable subtle structure is lost in additionally away pics (but oddly enough, not in person – perhaps since these pics are much smaller than life sized?), however here’s Alän from additionally away. Ta-DÄH!
I don’t understand why I stood semi to majorly off-center to take the shot above as well as the shot below, however in person it’s centered precisely between the two beams as well as it lines up with the mirror if you stand in the ideal spot. Düh.
But sufficient with the celebratory umlauts. In short: Sherry as well as I are thrilled with it. It’s quite much precisely what we were looking for. Something that doesn’t fight for interest with the other pendants. Something that we’re not going to bump our heads my head into. as well as something that’s not extremely boob-like. plus it assists define that area over by the fireplace as well as feels much more in proportion keeping that area than a single can light (or a directional light aimed at the fireplace) that we might have installed instead (we weighed both of those choices as well as made a decision a good clean-lined shade truly assisted add to the “casual living zone” feeling of that side of the room).
Heck, from the kitchen area side of the space when he’s off, you barely even understand he’s there.
Though when the light switches are flipped on, we certainly appreciate his existence considering that it indicates the space is (finally!) evenly lit as well as we no longer have to bend over to plug in that darn floor light in the corner. In truth that light has considering that been banned from the room. We just don’t requirement it anymore (huzzah! no much more bending as well as snapping!) as well as now that corner with the chair looks much more balanced.
It’s difficult to tell in these large space shots considering that it just gets kinda blown out as well as the detail is lost since they’re little photos (as opposed to really standing in the space with it, where things are all life-sized), however in person the structure is such a good detail that makes the light look special – however not so special that it’s combating with the much more special over-sized globe pendants over the peninsula (don’t tell Alän I stated that). It’s a delicate balance. desire we might catch this man much better for you, since the pictures right here truly don’t do him justice. You’ll all just have to find over for tea as well as scones or something.
So that’s one thing off of our lingering kitchen area to-do list. Although Sherry as well as I have been speaking about spray painting our stools at the peninsula (we wished to online with them as-is for a while before making any type of rash decisions) as well as we’re still not sure which method we’ll go. We’re hunting for a much more long-term rug for the living area of the kitchen area (the zone in front of the fireplace), so we’ll wait to get that pinned down before making any type of final stool decisions. You understand in situation we discover an remarkable rug with some tone that we desired on the chairs that would then be overkill if it was in both places. however we pledge we’ll keep you posted! For now we’re just trying to delight in having a nice, well-lit area for our nightly dance celebrations with Ms. Clara. have you people installed any type of lights lately? Or had any type of problems discovering the ideal flush mounted fixture? Are you currently debating painting metal stools or some other accessory in your house?
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