Thirtsty Thursday: Lighting

Happy Thirsty Thursday!

 Enjoy our summer lemonade as you peruse our lighting advice!

Recipe 

I was recently enlisted to help a new homeowner pick out lighting.  Our goal was to go from "Beauty & The Beast" esq gold fixtures that were to small for the space to a clean, transitional look. The house is your typical colonial and later we'll be undertaking larger projects to bring it up to date a tad, such as installing wide plank oak floors with just the right amount of texture.

With a 90-day return policy, there's nothing not to love about Ballard Designs for lighting. Just make sure you don't install your fixture if you

are unsure about it because some companies won't take an pre-installed return, especially if you've cut the chain.

We chose this guy is for the entry. I'm seeing this style pop up a lot lately.

This was the choice for the dining room:

QUICK TRICK: To figure out the size fixture you need for your dining room add the length and width of your room together and that will give you the number for the ideal width for your room. Ideally, you want to hang the chandelier 32" above your table.  So a 12"x14" dining room calls for a 24"W chandelier.

We also used Crate & Barrel for kitchen pendents that I am obsessed with! I conceded on the two fixtures over the dining table - a great trend right now - in order for them to go with these two pendants in the kitchen. 

The kitchen has very dark espresso cabinets that are contrasted by white marble countertops and bronze hardware. 

The kitchen dining table received this drum light: 

I always say… decorating is like throwing a themed party. You wouldn't buy a sombrero when you're throwing a garden party so don't buy a modern fixture when your taste is traditional. 

Don't buy a crystal chandelier when you don't want your home to feel too formal. Vice versa, don't buy a clean-lined, iron fixture if your home is filled with gold accents and grand embellishment. What always helps me is the simple task of inputing the images for the lights I like into a word document so I can see them on one page. Then you can easily see that they all work together as a unit. I input different options and save each as a separate document. 

Happy Lighting!