Category: ‘L’ for Lighting

An Alternative Version of My Daughter’s Room Makeover

Eleanor and I had initially thought we would paint her room blue. She chose dark blue when she was five, and five years later still liked it but was ready to lighten up a little. Maybe something like Farrow & Ball’s Light Blue or even De Nimes? Then she decided on purple and the color scheme completely changed.

But do you want to see what could have been?

I mean, I do love it. A lot.

It’s funny though, the wall color drives the color scheme but we only had to make a few changes to some fabric choices to make it work. And the purple/pink design we ended up with fits Eleanor’s personality perfectly.

Do you have a preference between the two?

The sconce color even worked well, and it might have been the choice I was most worried about. I chose a pair of POP Wall Sconces from Blueprint Lighting in Rubbed Sage before we changed the palette. I think I would have chosen Vineyard from their custom colors had I not already ordered the other color, but E and I both still liked the green when it arrived!

Blueprint Lighting was a One Room Challenge sponsor and provided the sconces. We liked some of the more retro styles like Campana or Ludo, but the vertical element of those POP Wall Sconces grounds the curves of the headboard (a lucky FB Marketplace find) so nicely.

Eleanor has continued to make changes here and there. It’s her space to personalize as she sees fit, and oh, she does! String lights have been draped from the picture rail over to each sconce. Toys get moved around. Signs have been pinned to the fabric of the headboard like it was a giant bulletin board. They’re small glimpses of changes to come as she heads into her teenage years and I love it.

February 28, 2020
Pink and White Mushroom Lamps

Yes, I’ve shared several mushroom lamps before, but I feel it is my duty to let you know that a few new contenders have entered the arena. And they’re real cute.

The white and silver lamp from Target is $50, and the white and pink lamps from CB2 each go for $179. They also have a floor lamp version for $249.

If I didn’t already have similarly shaped lamps in our guest room, I would buy a pair of these immediately. (Pink ones. Would definitely choose the pink.)

January 11, 2018
Walter von Nessen (and Inspired) Mushroom Lamps
I used a pair of mushroom lamps recently in our guest room. I like the 60s/70s style they bring to the space, taking it a little more mod than the rest of the house.

They were inspired by the Walter von Nessen NT1037 mushroom table lamp, which featured solid brass construction and a choice of finishes (brass, chrome, nickel, enamel paint, and a plastic dome). Besides the obvious differences in finishes and silhouette, the Nessen lamps were also a larger in scale at 27″ tall and 16″ in diameter. You can still find vintage originals via 1st Dibs or Chairish.

There are several lamps drawing inspiration from those original mushroom lamps on the market right now though, in addition to the pair I picked up. Here’s how they compare.
- Threshold Metal Table Lamp, Target — $42.99
  The base column is much thicker than the others, and it’s made of a base metal with a brassy gold finish on the outside. 20″ tall, 13.5″ in diameter. Also available with a light bulb for a few dollars more.
- Tiered Shade Table Lamp, West Elm — $149
  The tiers pull inspiration from Art Deco fixtures and the column is very slender. Also made of a base metal with a faux antique brass finish. 20″ tall, 17″ in diameter.
- Sidnie Lamp, Schoolhouse Electric — $449
  Made of natural brass with a painted steel base, and designed with thoughtful details like a cloth-covered cord and more finished interior with rotary switch. 19.5″ tall, 12″ in diameter. Also available in white or royal blue for $299.
Real talk, the Target lamps are fine, but the thicker base and connection between the base and shade are not my favorite. They’re also lightweight and easily tipped over, but the price was right and they were for a guest room that mostly hosts the kids’ occasional sleepovers. If I were buying them for a different spot where we’d see and use them all the time, I would have invested in the far lovelier version from Schoolhouse Electric. I even prefer their styling over the Nessen originals.

Which is your favorite? And if the answer is different (as it was in my case), which would you buy?
May 22, 2017
Shapely Glass Pendant Light Fixtures
Five years ago, I hung a cabinet knob as a pendant over the dining table in our dollhouse. Then when we moved into this house three years ago, waiting for us was a very similar pendant in the dining room! The coincidence made me happy.

The length has always bothered me because it was hung too high, but there were other lights in our home that bothered me more. As I’ve slowly replaced fixtures over the years, I still think about this one in the dining room. Should I find a longer downrod, then rewire and lower it? Replace it with a chandelier and move it to another room? I don’t think I have a good spot for it anywhere else though. If we were able to remodel and expand the kitchen, I would love the pendant over a breakfast nook, but who knows if or when that will happen.

Still, I do love it, short length and all. In case you’re looking for something similar, I pulled together my favorite shapely glass pendants, some more modern and some with the same character as ours. I love milk and opal glass, but there are a few clear ones in the mix too.
1. Rotunda Small Ringed Pendant, E. F. Chapman, Circa Lighting
  11.75″ diameter, $1155
2. Baldwin Pendant, Rejuvenation
  schoolhouse shade w/ 14″ diameter (6″ fitter), $275
3. Alcazar Pendant, Anthropologie
  12.5″ diameter, $398
4. Suspension Light, Peter Behren, 1st Dibs
  9.5″ diameter, $2500
5. Casablanca Pendant Lamp, Anthropologie
  8.5″ diameter, $298
6. Gale Large Pendant, Thomas O’Brien, Circa Lighting
  15.5″ diameter, $840
7. Precision Large Pendant, Kelly Wearstler, Circa Lighting
  17″ diameter, $1470
8. Modern Schoolhouse Pendant, Michael S Smith, Homeclick
  20″ diameter, $1155
9. Hudson Valley Dutchess Pendant, Lamps Plus
  12″ diameter, $299
10. Xavier Large Pendant, Ralph Lauren, Circa Lighting
  20″ diameter, $1540
11. Parisian Architectural Milk Glass Brasserie Pendant, Restoration Hardware
  9″, 12″, 15″, or 18″ diameter, $239-$369
12. Hudson Valley Washington Pendant, Lamps Plus
  20″ diameter, $700
13. Vintage Art Deco Chain Pendant w/ Tiered Skyscraper Shade c.1935, Rejuvenation
  11″ diameter, $765
November 30, 2016
Pleated Lamp Shades

I ordered a few different styles and brands of black chandelier shades for our new sconces.

We can talk a bit more about those once they’ve been installed. (Soon!) As far as the shades go though, I ordered a bunch to gauge quality (Royal Designs ftw), and among the options were black pleated shades. I loved them! Brandon hated them! Friends gently suggested that they looked dated, and Brandon said they belonged in a hotel. Since nobody liked the dated hotel look (except me — I forever and always love granny details), I went with sleek paper shades. They look fine. They look great, actually. But I’m still longing for a pleated shade.

There’s a whole lot to love about this room designed by Miles Redd, but that pink pleated shade is particularly lovely.

More pink pleats from Miles Redd.

And Summer Thornton delivers too.

I noticed when I was browsing table lamps for this post that I passed right by the one below on the left, but instantly gravitated toward the one on the right. It’s a smidge more traditional than I would typically go for, but oh, the difference a shade can make.

Yep. I’ve got to get some pleats in my home. I’ll leave you with a couple of vignettes from a room designed by Hamish Bowles to further make the case for granny details.

September 26, 2016
Analysis Paralysis

Have I adequately conveyed the amount of over-thinking I do for everything around here? Are you familiar with analysis paralysis?

“The state of over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome. A decision can be treated as over-complicated, with too many detailed options, so that a choice is never made, rather than try something and change if a major problem arises. A person might be seeking the optimal or “perfect” solution upfront, and fear making any decision which could lead to erroneous results, while on the way to a better solution.”

Yep.

I think my favorite category of home decor is lighting. I’m looking for sconces right now and I can find plenty in the $250-350 range that I like, which is doable if you save up. But times three for the third floor, and then three more for the second floor? Now you’re looking at $1500-2100. You’d better damn well love those lights. Meanwhile, there are open junction boxes in the hallway outside our bedrooms, and the sconces on the third floor look like this.

Bad patch jobs, complete with joint compound on the fixtures themselves. I’ve gotten really good at ignoring the problem until now, but it is starting to drive me batty. Hence the renewed sconce search!

A bunch of my favorites have already been pinned to my lighting board, and there are more that I’ve been eyeing as I think about what would work for the house. But then I went ahead and put some sconces in my cart and instead of letting them sit there while I spent four more days looking at every option from every source, I actually bought them. Boom. Done.

They are not my absolute favorite. They aren’t really brass (“water-based finish is painted in antique brass or bronze”), and the second floor hallway needs a mix of single and double sconces, so these aren’t an option for that space. I’ve gone ahead and ordered three for the top floor though where I needed something classic, not too big, with traditional details. On sale for $62 a pop, plus another $10 or so for each shade.

They won’t be the stars of the space, but I got three for less than one of the others I had been considering. They won’t be perfect, but they will be so much better than what we have now. That’s one more thing checked off of the house’s long to-do list! They should get here by the end of the week.

August 24, 2016