Thursday, June 23, 2011

Let There Be Lights!

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The Electrician was here today and installed our new pendants in the kitchen, pot lights in the ceiling, and a new fixture in the dining room. We are in major update mode around here.

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This new fixture replaced the old brass one we had in the dining room.  Brass went seriously out of date about 2 weeks after we moved in to this house. :)  Here is what the old fixture looked like. 

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I tried to tone down the brass with the black shades but in the end it all looked tired and dated.

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 This one looks so much better.  Next task will be painting over the red walls and getting some new window treatments.

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Another thing we had the Electrician take care of was to remove the light fixture in the breakfast area.  That fixture has been a pain since the beginning.

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The light was never centered over the table and my tall husband was always hitting his head on it.   When the house was built the Electrician at the time lined the fixture up with the center of the French door.  Well, the table has never been center to that door.  We never would have been able to get in and out the door to the deck if that was the case. 

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Anyway, long story short…we had it removed and 3 recessed ceiling lights installed.  LOVE IT!    It’s now so much more open and brighter and the room looks bigger.

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And here are the pendants.  We ordered them from Lighting Universe.Com and the lights arrived less than a week after I ordered them!  Great prices and selection too. 

At one point I had a pot rack hanging here but decided it was time to take that down a few years ago.  Pendant lights are what we decided to go with and we are really happy with the look and the extra lighting they provide.  Dimmer switch too! 

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See how more open the breakfast area looks now?

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So the home improvement craze around here continues.  Last weekend we spread 15 yards of much in the yard. Looks so much better.  We keep checking things off the list.  The new granite counter tops are on the list but way at the bottom….these kids in college are keeping that one low on the list.  But in the meantime, there’s plenty of other smaller dollar amount improvements to keep us busy.  :)

14 comments:

Suburban prep said...

You have a beautifully decorated home.

Anonymous said...

Makes me miss our home in Maryland that we remodeled as well as our Arizona home. Hopefully we can do this kitchen here in Virginia one day. It's so dark and dreary.. Yours all looks fabulous!

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style said...

Love your new light fixtures especially those wonderful pendants. I would love to have either one pendant over my sink in place of the recessed light or in place of the pot rack like you did. Love that look.

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

What do builders think when they add hanging lights? I don't think I've heard anyone say yet that a light was hung center of where a table would sit in a room. It looks much better with that kitchen fixture gone and I love your new dining room fixture. Is that corian you have now on your countertop? It looks similar to the corian I have. Believe me I know what you mean about projects and college.

From Beyond My Kitchen Window said...

Any little improvement at my house keeps me smiling for days. Your kitchen is lovely. I know what you mean about college. We have three in at the moment. Can you say Poor Farm? LOL

Susan said...

It's really beautiful. Love those pendants!!

Ocean Breezes and Country Sneezes said...

Wow, everything looks beautiful! I can't wait to see what color you choose for the dining room. I just love the fixture you selected!

RNSANE said...

What a beautiful kitchen. It is so light and airy. I'd be wanting to cook all the time or to hold coffee klatches in my breakfast nook!

RNSANE said...
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Manu said...

I love your hoime!! beautiful kitchen!! Have a nice week end!

The enchanted home said...

Love the new lights......big improvment agreed. Beautiful addition to an already beautiful home!

CosmoGirl Carla said...

Hi Lisa! Looks great! I really like pendant lights over counters like that. Love the style you choose. And the new light over your dining room table is perfect.

Oh, I know what you mean about centering the light thing. Our light over our kitchen table is exactly the same. When the house was built, the electrician centered with the slider - duh! Why would we center the table and make it difficult to get in and out. So we have the light "swagged". Not the best solution, but it works.

Amazing how little updates like that really make a huge impact!

Jo said...

You're looking much brighter :) Love the new additions to your home. Isn't it amazing what a difference lightening can make to a room.

Jo

Ti said...

The changes are lovely. We have the same problem with the lights in our home. We bought the house 3 years ago but we've been dealing with the stupid, uncentered light fixture and my husband hits his head on it all the time. My son does too! I don't know why we don't switch it out. Such an easy thing to get done, really.