New category time! This post didn’t exactly fit into Awesome Find, and it didn’t exactly fit into Inspiration, either, so it was time to get creative. On the Prowl is for things that we are looking for but may not have necessarily purchased or that would show viable (and non-viable) options to fit the bill.
Onto the post. Lately, I’ve been taking a cold, hard look at our lighting. We’ve already purchased a new chandelier for the dining room from IKEA (see the wrought iron chandelier in the sidebar) but haven’t put it up yet. We’d like to find something for the living room as well (we’re digging the Tiffany style pendant in the sidebar, since it matches our table lamp). But what to do about the bedrooms? Our living/dining/kitchen area has tall, pitched ceilings, but the rest of the house has low ceilings. As in, barely the 7.5 foot requirement. How do you replace light fixtures in those rooms so they are stylish but not boob lights? (You know, the lights that are round and come standard in a house, and have a bolt that looks like a nipple. Sorry, it’s true.)
The room we were specifically looking for when we did this search was the nursery. At first we wanted to go with something like this from IKEA:
but the hanging height was 25″ without the cord or mounting piece! No thank you, because that would even come down too far for my head at 5’6″. We loved the natural woven feel and that it could work for both sexes. Sigh. Back to the search.
We looked at several other lighting options that brought in a natural feel, but all of them seemed too big for the space or like the would limit the area of light, so we thought, “Aha! Ceiling fans!” It is true that we will have to keep the baby’s door completely closed every night because of the cats, and a ceiling fan would be a great investment to keep the air circulating and help prevent SIDS.
We narrowed our search down to two brands: Hunter and Hampton Bay. Hunter fans are amazing, albeit a bit pricey for us budget makeoverists, but they don’t move, they don’t squeak, they don’t shake… Awesome. Hampton Bay, while not widely known, is the “off-brand” made by Hunter in the same factories. You can only find it at Home Depot, and it’s much less pricey than Hunter. Every Hampton Bay my family has owned has been just as good as a Hunter, for years and years to come. One Hampton Bay has been hanging in my grandmother’s kitchen for 15 years after part of a DIY renovation and STILL doesn’t shake/squeak.
We finally decided on Hampton Bay’s Hawkins in Tarnished Bronze Finish. Assembled, it is only 14″ high, which leaves about 6’3″ for us to walk under (minus the pulls). That’s pretty comfortable for me and the hubby. And it’s only $70, which as far as ceiling fans go is really inexpensive, considering it will last for years. Here’s a picture of the beauty:
From this experience, we’ve learned that when we buy a house of our own, it must have at least 8′ ceilings, preferably 9′ to accommodate all the crazy fixtures I’ll want to install. What do you think? Have you had any lighting issues lately? Having a hard time finding the perfect fit for your room?
Two Blue Pillars 