#172- Removing the Track Lighting (& #154 Curtains)

Things are moving pretty fast and furious over here at The Lodge, and I have to admit sometimes we get so many projects done, that I forget to tell you about them.  So when I was sharing  about how they removed the big, scary, fire stick lights from our new Master Bedroom, I remembered that I forgot to share with you the first set of track lights that we removed from the house, downstairs in the Family Room. 

The Built Ins as seen before our recent built-in remodel.

The way these lights block the built ins and distract from the architecture of the house has always bugged me, and eventually I couldn't take it any more, they had to go. 

Action shot of the Hubs climbing a step stool. Riveting.

Removal was as easy as shutting off the power to the fixture, unscrewing the the half dozen wall anchors that connected this to the ceiling, and untwisting the electrical cords.  Sayonara!

We replaced it with this large, drum pendant, and we're super happy with the result.  We were looking everywhere for a flush mount drum pendant, but in the end settled on this one from Lowes (I'm not going to lie to you, it's because it was only $89 and every flush mount drum pendant I found was $400+.)  

 

Oh yeah, did I mention that we got new curtains too?  We found these deep turquoise panels at Ikea (again, great price), and I love how they bring color into the room.  I plan to DIY a large ottoman that hopefully has this color in a bold, modern pattern.  But that's a project for another day, here's another look at those panels.

 Oh yeah, and we got this fun hanging drum pendant lamp from Target and hung up a little art too.  (Also from Target, clearances for just $7.  Bouyah!)  I've got to get better about telling you guys about these things when they happen.  Forgive me, there's a lot going on around here.

And on the other side of the room, over by the cat door, we hung the Lil' Buddy version of the same ceiling light.

The placement of this light is really awkward, but I'm too exhausted to think about moving that right now.  Maybe some day when I have a little free time, and Ryder is 20.

So that's how we brought our Family Room a little closer to the 21st Century in under an hour.  I'm not bragging, because if you didn't notice we still have a strange dining room style hutch in our Family Room, not to mention a cat door, but we are getting a little closer each day.  Now if we could just live up to our name of One Project at a Time instead of doing a half a dozen projects at once.  I can't help myself, there's just so much to do!  

How about you all?  Am I the only one that hates track lighting?  I thought it was a pretty dated choice, but once Bath Crashers installed 13 feet of it in our new Master Bathroom, I realized that it may just be me.  Does anyone out there love it?  If so, I'm all ears, as we have about 3 more tracks to remove in The Lodge, but I can always be convinced otherwise.