Mudroom light

One of my favourite things is having new lighting installed. It's like putting sprinkles on a cake (or maybe a candle, since it gives off light...oooo relevancy!). It is also something that throws me for a bender since I'm horrible at committing to light fixtures. They need to make me happy every time I see them, but they also need to be practical (I'm looking at you, dust). And no, I'm still not decided on the entry light either, which is like slow torture.

Look up, waaaay up.

I'm really satisfied with this light, even though Trevor has a few beefs with it (pokey bit of metal, slight paint blip in the power-coated finish on the inside). I'll pass it off as character since I'm not in the mood to nitpick with it and have to return it.

I'll also fess up and let you see that the white desk chair in there is mine as well. I had to move my office inside the mudroom so that the planks on the living room ceiling could go in. So far it's the nicest place I've had my my desk in a year and a half.

The mudroom light

Well, there was one light I was able to make a decision on (and Trevor managed to like it as well -- miracle!): it's the Barn Light Flush Mount Warehouse Pendant. I've liked it for a while, and that right there passes my test.*

It's going to be in black, even though most of the fixtures I've got in the works are oil-rubbed bronze. Living dangerously here. (Plus it comes in every colour under the sun other than oil-rubbed bronze.)

* It's the 3-day test. After I see something I like, if I still like it after 3 days, we're onto something.

Stairwell lighting

Just in case any super-spies had noticed the odd ankle-height loops going up the stairs, I can explain: we're going to get all crazy up in here and have lights shining down on every other stair tread.

They're little LED mini lights that are hardwired in to switches, and will look groovy-doovy when it gets dark around here.

Options for the entryway light

So I'm officially peeved at the selection of lights there are for semi-flush and flush fixtures. Either that, or I'm just not looking in the right places.

I've managed to short list a few from the hundreds (probably verging on thousands by now) of lights that I've looked at. The fixture needs to have a bit of a farmhouse feel to it...or something that could fit in with that sort of vibe. Maybe I should hold back on making up my mind until there's new spring stock available, so I don't end up settling on something now.*

*That common sense may be waived if an über sale suddenly breaks out.

Cottonwood Flush Mount Ceiling Light - Barn Light Electric
Pros: Nice detail with the screws on the side / Cons: Looks a bit 'humpy' with that glass bit hanging down

Rutherford Flushmount - Restoration Hardware
Pros: Has etched and clear glass / Cons: Looks too cylindrical (like a popcorn bucket)

Spokane Flush Mount Light - Barn Light Electric
Pros: Cool metal tabs on the top sides / Cons: Trevor thinks it looks like some sort of porthole

Now with more countertop

 
We had our countertops installed right before Christmas (not without a few screw-up's, one of the pieces that fit around the sink was cut wrong). It was quite a treat to have a level surface to work on after 2 weeks of balancing everything on the cabinet tops.

We went with soapstone because we wanted something a little different -- so different that all of the installers mentioned 'oh you'reeeee the soapstone people'.  Caesarstone was on the list of finalists, but we couldn't get past the super shiny bling finish of it. (It does come in a honed finish, but with that it only comes with a 2 year warranty, and has horror stories of permanent staining.) Soapstone seemed to fit the bill as it won't stain, but it will scratch and chip here and there. You can buff out the scratches with mineral oil (also used for constipation, as we found it in the pharmacy section!) and it looks good as new. We won't talk about the pair of pliers that Trevor dropped onto the counter at ceiling height working on a light overhead...that one was a bit more than a scratch.  But we'll all chalk it up to character, right?

Speaking of overhead, here are the Harmon pendants that we bought on sale at Restoration Hardware. They took forever to arrive, but well worth the wait.

I'm not posting any super-styled up photos yet...we're still in the middle of things, and it might give the impression that we have nothing else to do but decorate around here (far from it). Eventually the kitchen will be getting a tiled backsplash and trim moulding, but we're attempting to do things in some sort of order (mudroom, then onto finishing ceilings, then finishing wood floors, then trim).

Oh boob lights, how I hate thee...

In our next house, boob lights will be banished.  

I didn't have a choice with these; they came with the house when Trevor bought it brand new 11 years ago (damn builder's special cheap-o multipacks!).  The shape and, er, excited 'bosom-ly-ness' of these, combined with the polished brass finish makes me glad they're on the ceiling, and not something in my regular line of sight.  Although, now I have gone out of my way to point them out and photograph them, so I'll be thinking of them more than usual.  

Way to go me.