Hundreds–nay, thousands–of lighting sins are committed everyday all around the world. There are boob lights, too-plentiful potlights, green glowing fluourescent lights, tragic ceiling fans… several of which we have in our own house.
And then there’s this. The original chandelier in our dining room.
At first glance, it may not seem overly offensive. However, let me enumerate its sins:
- The finish was brushed, which is my least favourite metal finish ever.
- Only one out of its three bulbs was working (okay, this is more our fault than the light fixture’s).
- Its design (is this 1990s?) was not at all a fit for our country setting.
You all know I’ve been trying to make this house look a little more farmy. So I’ve been casually on the hunt for a new light fixture.
As usual, it had to fall below my $100 threshold (applies to both light fixtures and chairs–yes, I’m that cheap), and it had to be a bit farmy.
I struck gold (or rather black) at Rona one evening. The chandelier was light and open. It was large enough to work in the vaulted ceiling in our good size dining room. It was slightly industrial, slightly rustic.
And it was on sale. Serious sale. As in it was the last one in the store and it had to be sold. As in it was finally in my price range. Merry Christmas to me!
The staff member in the lighting department took it out of the display–and took out the expensive Edison bulbs it had been styled with. I bought cheap chandelier bulbs and carted everything home.
After finally installing it, I could not be happier. It’s a perfect fit for our dining room and our country setting.
No more lighting penance for me.
What’s the biggest lighting sin in your opinion? Are you committing any lighting sins at your house? What’s the best deal you’ve ever found on a light fixture?
Home on 129 Acres 
It looks great! I love it.
Thanks, Stacy.
Great choice!
Boob-lights are definitely my least favorite. They didn’t bother me as much until I heard the term a few years back, and now I can’t look at one without thinking about it! hahaha!
Yes, they’re definitely at the top of the list!
I actually like your old light – but not in the space it was in (definitely doesn’t suit your style)! I do like your new light too – it’s much more farmy/industrial and a way better size!
Stay tuned, Meghan. It may yet be redeemed!
Congrats, it looks like the last thing you needed for the room to get the look you wanted.
My best lighting deal ever was buying my mom a very heavy forged brass 12 light chandelier for $75. Then we looked into a really fancy lighting store and found a nearly identical one but with only 9 lights for $900. She’s lucky because she went all Williamsburg Colonial and the best mahogany and brass is all free… until everyone gets rid of it and it comes back in style.
That’s a great score! Great timing definitely helps.
Hi Julia..I have followed your blog for some time now and have enjoyed your story along the way. I got a big kick out of this one as your light fixture you replaced is the same as the one in our dining room. And just this morning I was thinking I wanted to replace it with a more modern one…our home was built in 1990. So you have inspired me to find just the right fixture for our dining room as you have. I love it.
Thanks for reading, Donna. Glad you were inspired and not insulted by my comments about the chandelier!
Love this! The scale of the chandelier works so much better. Great find!
Patience paid off in this case.
That is gorgeous!! It looks perfect in your dining room. My current lighting sin is a bedside lamp that’s a ceramic jug with a broken handle, ugly shade and a short circuit which causes it to blink off randomly.
I’d say that light sounds like a pretty serious sin. I’m not sure what penance is required for that… perhaps an exorcism is in order.