Already we are halfway through the One Room Challenge 8 week process! This week I’ll share with you about lighting and the chandelier installation.
If you remember from the first blog of ORC, it showed the old light fixture; typical for most apartments, ugly, and boring. I hated it! Even though we are in a rental, thankfully our landlord allowed us to change the light as long as it’s changed back when we move out. Who knows, maybe the landlord will love it so much he’ll decide it can stay!
After removal of the old fixture we discovered a large hole bigger than the new chandelier canopy. I suspect that might explain why our landlord chose that ugly light fixture since it had a wide diameter and was flush to the ceiling, to hide the hole. We made a last minute decision to slightly modify the design plan to add a ceiling medallion to cover it up. We are renters, so I wasn’t going to go to the time and expense of covering up that hole myself. And after consideration, the ceiling medallion actually really works well with the architecture and feel of our unit since it was built in the 1920’s. We went with a simple design, nothing ornate.
With chandeliers and pendants lights, placement and centering is crucial. Unfortunatley the location of the fixture isn’t centered in our dining room to hang over the table. The addition of a hook to offset the chain and make sure it was centered solved that problem. To be honest, I’m not entirely happy with how it looks, but it was a necessary compromise. Again, if we were owners and not renters, I would fix that and actually create a new hole for the fixture, reroute the wiring, and patch the old. But, we do the best we can!
After installing the new chandelier I spent a couple of hours to install the brass rods in the right positions to give the sputnik look I was going for. The rods were of two different lengths, so it did take a bit of time to ensure it was all symetrical and balanced. I did have a lot of fun doing it! This is what designers do for fun when stuck at home!
So, finally done with the lighting in this room and I’m in love! The brassy gold tones set against the midnight blue of the walls and the new window treatments works fabulously and gives the room the mid-century modern glam look I’m going for.
One thing I learned about this chandelier - it has 12 lights and can be exceptionally bright. Good thing that we already have a dimmer so we can control how bright we want our dining room lighting to be depends on our mood. It’s something to think about for your own lighting decisions; the functional aspect and making sure it will be bright enough or not too bright for your needs.
I have used this sputnik chandelier for a few of my e-design clients before. I’ve always loved this style of chandelier and thrilled we made it work in our own home.
Up next week is the art gallery wall. Can’t wait! Stay tuned to our progress!
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