lighting · Chatfield Court

Kristi / Monday,May 1, 2017

New Kitchen Ceiling Light

Finally!!! After 4 fails, I think I found myself a new kitchen ceiling light.

I know…it’s not earth shattering news and it won’t change the world, but it was the last project that we had to finish in the kitchen in order to call it done. This is where we started. We adopted this fluorescent beauty when we bought the house last year. Neither one of us liked it and I don’t think we ever actually turned it on.

The original plan was to change it out when we did the remodel on the kitchen but…

The hubs actually started it by suggesting we take it down. I just couldn’t stand to disappoint him so I reluctantly agreed.

Ok, maybe I did a little happy dance when he left the room. 😉

After we took the offending light down, I cleaned the ceiling, fixed the holes and touched it up. Not perfect but pretty darn close.

I thought that fixing the ceiling would be the hard part but finding the “perfect” kitchen ceiling light fixture turned out to be much tougher.

A few weeks ago I talked about my search for a new kitchen ceiling light here, and I even shared some of the favorites I found.

I ended up ordering and returning a total of 4 light fixtures before I found “the one”. The first light I bought was way too big and the 3 after that were way too small.

The one we went with is from Restoration Hardware. I ended up spending more than I wanted, but it was the right look and size.

The goal was to have the kitchen ceiling light “go with” the dining room light.

The issue I was having was that we needed a fixture that was big enough for the space but it could only be 12″ tall. It seemed that everything I really liked was more than 12″ tall and all of the flush mounts were way too small.

The one thing I was certain about was that I wanted a light that you could almost see through. The focus of the space, in my eyes, is the window and not the light fixture.

With the kitchen light up, new appliances, paint on the walls, the island redo and the window painted black, this space is done. Like I said, we plan to remodel the kitchen at some point, so these changes will hold us over until it’s time to do it.

I do have one more little addition to share before we can move on to the next space (the living room). It’s already done and hanging up. I’m making a video to show you how I created it and, as soon as I’ve finished, I’ll share it.

Thanks so much for stopping in. I hope you have a great week!

Check out the other projects we’ve done in the kitchen.

Open Shelving in the Kitchen

Painted Black Window Frames

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Kristi / Friday,April 7, 2017

Farmhouse Kitchen Lighting Ideas

If you’ve been following along the last several weeks, then you know I’ve been working on my combination kitchen and dining area. I recently finished the dining area and shared it, here, but the kitchen still isn’t done. We didn’t do a lot of work in here besides adding the reclaimed wood shelves and painting the walls, but the kitchen lighting definitely needed to be addressed.

We have 3 can lights and one ceiling light in this space. The can lights are fine but the ugly florescent ceiling light definitely need an upgrade. This was a project we were going to tackle during the kitchen remodel, but the dislike of the light was too great. It had to go. We weren’t sure what we would find underneath but, once it was down, there was no way it was going back up.

I cleaned the ceiling where the old light was and, after checking all of the wiring, we filled in the holes and patched them up. It’s hard to patch a ceiling, especially this big of an area, but it looks so much better than it did. I’m probably the only person who would notice that it’s been patched so I’m trying to release my perfectionist tendencies and let it go.

Oooommmmm…deep breath…

So, the ceiling is fixed and ready for a new, more modern light. Trouble is, I can’t find anything that I like in the perfect size (that’s in the budget). Our ceilings are pretty low so we need a flush mount that is no more than 12 inches high. Not ideal but you can’t change the ceiling height (yes…I have put some thought into doing that 😉 ). 3 light fixtures have been ordered, delivered and returned over the past several weeks…all failures.

I’ve looked at tons of light fixtures so I thought I’d share some that I considered.

Farmhouse Flush Mount Kitchen Lighting Ideas

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ONE – Galen 3-Light Semi Flush Mount $102.99
TWO – Chittening 3-Light Semi Flush Mount $107.91
THREE – Andante 1-Light Semi-Flush Mount $40.87
FOUR – Norfolk Semi-Flush Mount $80

FIVE – Evergreen 3-Light Flush Mount $120
SIX – Sargeant 4-Light Semi Flush Mount $249
SEVEN – Belgrave Falls 1-Light semi Flush Mount $96.99
EIGHT – Arthur 3-Light Flush Mount $118

I’m waiting on my fourth light fixture to be delivered. Let’s hope it’s “the one” so I can move show you the ceiling without a gaping hole in it. 😉 Fingers crossed.

What do you think about flush mount kitchen lighting? Do you have a favorite out of the 8 fixtures I shared?

As always, thanks for stopping in. Happy weekend!

In case you missed it, here is the finished dining area that is part of the unfinished kitchen.

Our Small Dining Area is Done and Ready for Guests

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Kristi / Monday,October 17, 2016

Easy and Inexpensive Lamp Makeover

Hello and happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend. Our Mediterranean cruise is ending today and we’ll be flying back home this afternoon, which means it’s back to business tomorrow. Boo! I love to travel but the first few days back home are always the worst. No pity party for me though because we are so lucky that we were able to take this trip of a lifetime and I can’t wait to share it with you.

Let’s get right back into DIY mode with an easy and inexpensive lamp makeover I did on my green lamp. We used it in the blue guest room in our house in Illinois and I loved how it looked with the turquoise painted walls, but I was ready for a change.

I bought the lamp at HomeGoods a few years ago and picked it out because of the color, but it just didn’t fit into the style that I was going for in the guest bedroom in the new house.

I was going for a lighter look in this room with blues and whites and I wanted the lamp to be an accessory, not the center of attention. I considered buying a new one but ceramic lamps are pricey and I really liked the shape, so I decided to give it a little makeover.

I thought about going white but I wanted it to be a little different so I went for an aged mercury glass look, with a gold tone. I’ve done it the mercury glass look before, when I made a mason jar lamp for my new kitchen in our Illinois house, so I knew that I loved the look. What I didn’t know, though, was how well I would be able to cover the shiny green surface of the lamp.

There was only one way to find out…I just had to go for it.

Supplies

lamp
Rustoleum Mirror Effect spray paint
Rustoleum Gold Metallic spray paint
Rustoleum Dark Copper Metallic spray paint
water and vinegar solution in spray bottle (1 part water to 1 part vinegar)
damp towel (to blot water/vinegar solution)
painter’s tape

With the lamp cleaned up with a damp towel and the cord and socket all taped up with painter’s tape, I started my lamp makeover by spraying a light coat of Rustoleum gold metallic spray paint on the lamp. The paint dried very quickly so, after a few minutes, I added 2 more light coats until the green disappeared.

Next, I tried out the Rustoleum Mirror Effect spray paint and the water and vinegar solution. First, I lightly spritzed some of the water and vinegar solution on the lamp, you want it to bead up and not run down the lamp.

Then I sprayed a light coat of the Mirror Effect spray paint right over the water and vinegar solution. I let the paint set up for about 30 seconds and used the damp paper towel to dab off the water drops.

Once I dabbed all of water off, I lightly (very lightly) sprayed a little bit of the Rustoleum Dark Copper Metallic spray paint, just to add a hint of color and texture. See how the water and vinegar solution gives it the aged look?

After it was dry, I added a burlap shade and put it back in the room. I’ve been adding a lot of gold touches around the house and I wanted to have some in this room, so that’s why I went with the gold metallic paint. I could add more Mirror Effect spray if I wanted more of a silver look, but I really love the aged gold tone.

So I guess I would call this look “aged mercury glass with a gold tone”.

Sometimes you never know with these kinds of experiments, but I love how it turned out. I think it adds a bit of warmth to this corner of the room.

Have you ever changed the look of a lamp using paint?

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you have a great week, my friends!

Speaking of paint…I painted a couple of mason jars with chalk paint and made little planters out of them for my kitchen window.

Chalk Paint Mason Jar Planters

One of my favorite projects was the mason jar lamp that I made for my newly remodeled kitchen.

Mason Jar Lamp

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Kristi / Friday,February 19, 2016

Kitchen Recessed Lighting

It’s an exciting day at Chatfield Court. We’re only one project away from finishing the kitchen renovation…woohoo! Lately, I’ve been feeling like it would never be done but we finally got our act together and tackled the last of the big jobs, the recessed lighting.

We’ve been living without proper lighting in the kitchen for over a year so finally having it all in, and working, is a huge deal. There was only one, lonely hanging light in this space when we started the renovation and it always seemed dark, especially with the dark wood cabinets.

When we put the plank ceiling up (you can read about that here), I thought about covering the light hole and only using recessed lighting but, at the last minute, we decided to keep it.

If you’ve been following along on our renovation journey, then you know that I tried several lights here before I found a winner.

Nope…

No quite right…

The winner!!!

With the ceiling done, the pendant light up and everything else nearing completion, it was time to think about the recessed lighting, the project that the hubs has been dreading most. It wasn’t the messy install he was dreading but the trip up in the attic to make all the connections. It had to be done though and, since he’s the electrical genius of the family, this was all him.

The one very important step we took when we planked the ceiling was to document where all the beams were so that, when it came time to install the lights, we would know where we could put them. This really saved us a lot of aggravation.

Another thing we did, before we cut one hole in the ceiling, was to put copied pictures of the lights up on the ceiling to see where we wanted the final placement. Strange? Maybe, but it was a huge help.

Don’t they look real? The hubs wanted to keep these but we needed real light and, well…paper lights don’t actually light up (believe it or not).

We installed 5 LED lights, 4 in the stove/sink area and 1 by the back door.

Do you see that beautiful cabinet door? We needed to have 3 custom-made and they just arrived. Guess who will be priming and painting this weekend?

The hubs also installed a dimmer switch for the recessed lights, the pendant light has a separate switch on another wall. He wasn’t thrilled about chiseling the wall but you know what they say? “Happy wife…” . We are both loving the dimmer though.

Three more cabinet doors to paint and install and we are done! The big reveal is almost here. Can you tell I’m excited?

Some of our other kitchen renovation projects…

New Kitchen Sink

DIY Granite Kitchen Countertop Installation

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Kristi / Monday,November 23, 2015

New Kitchen Light

Believe it or not I haven’t posted anything on a kitchen light or lighting throughout this whole remodel process. I know that you must be dying to know all the juicy details (wink,wink), so today’s the day I share it all. It’s really not that exciting, but it does involve some 5 different lights and one frustrated husband.

We’ll start with light #1, a vintage barn light. I really wanted one and scoured Etsy and Ebay for several weeks looking for a deal, they can be pricey and I was trying to not blow the bank. I finally found a winner and, several days later it arrived…all dented and chipped. I contacted the seller, sent her pictures and she immediately refunded my money but I was left without the “new” light I had hoped for. With no other light prospects and nothing to lose, I decided to try to fix it enough to make it presentable so I hammered the dent as best as I could, sanded the chips and painted the outside a navy blue.

I didn’t have a lot of hope but light #1 went up and…I immediately knew that it wasn’t going to make the cut. Apparently the steel pipe was bent and, once the light was hung it was very noticeable. A dented, crooked light wasn’t exactly the look I was going for, so the search was on for light #2.

Light #2 was found on one of our trips to our favorite ReStore. It looked like it had never been used before, and it was only $5, so we brought it home hoping it would be “the one”.

This one was better but there was still something that wasn’t quite right, so the hunt continued. I found the next 2 ~~failures~~ fixtures online and felt confident that one of them would be a winner, but nope, neither one was the right fit. Actually, one was way too big for the space and the hubs hated the other. Lights #3 and #4 were promptly returned.

The chrome ReStore light hung for several months as I searched for the right light and, just as I was about to give up, I found light #5, online and on sale at West Elm. I think I’ve finally found “the one”, and the hubs couldn’t be happier.

I love the brushed brass of the hardware and the milky glass globe. We will also be adding recessed lights around the room, which is our next project, so this won’t be our only source of light.

So, making a decision on a kitchen light…who knew it would be this difficult?

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Kristi / Monday,August 17, 2015

DIY Mason Jar Lamp

Creating a DIY mason jar lamp for the kitchen.

As you may, or may not know, we are in the middle of a kitchen reno. One of my big dilemmas has been lighting. Not only have I been struggling to find a ceiling light fixture for the center of the room, but I’ve also been trying to find the perfect little lamp for the counter.

I searched high and low for the perfect small lamp but couldn’t find what I wanted. One trip to the thrift store gave me my answer. I found this large 1/2 gallon mason jar for $1.99, and I knew it would make the perfect mason jar lamp.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the jar when I started this project. It would be cool to fill it up with something pretty, or I could paint it…but, because I had so much fun turning an old window into a mirror a while back, I decided to use Rust-Oleum Mirror Effect Spray again to turn it into a mercury glass mason jar.

First I worked on creating the mercury glass look by giving the jar a thorough wash and dry. Then I sprayed the first coat of mirror effect spray. I immediately followed that with a light spritzing of a mixture of 1 part vinegar to 1 part water all over the outside of the jar (you want the water to bead up and not run down the sides). I set the jar on cardboard to dry a few minutes and then took a wet but well wrung out paper towel and lightly blotted the beaded water up.

This is where you get the antique, mercury glass look. It happens because the water mixture prevents the spray from adhering to the glass. I had to spray, spritz and blot 3 times before I was satisfied with the coverage. It’s a really quick process but you need to be sure the jar is dry before adding more coats.

After I was sure the jar was completely dry, I sprayed a coat of clear enamel to protect the finish.

With my jar finished, it was time to add my lamp kit. I’ve posted the steps to working with a lamp kit before so, to keep this post from going too long, I won’t go through the step by step again.

We used a regular mason jar lid, with two lid inserts for extra stability, and quickly wired it all up. I thought about drilling a hole in the jar to bring the cord through but I didn’t want to do that. Instead we drilled a second hole in the lid, added a rubber grommet and brought the wire back out (as shown in the picture above).

That’s it, 5 minutes and the lamp was ready for a shade. I was going to make a burlap shade but I found a really inexpensive one at World Market. Not only did I get a discount (yay!), but I also saved myself some time. I did add some black ribbon that I had in my stash to style it up a bit. I’m not sure if it will stay, but I liked it better than the plain burlap.