#141- Bathroom Lighting

Now that we're done with all that tile & paint, let's talk lighting.  First- remember when I replaced the old exhaust fan with a new one?

And left you hanging with this?

 Well, here's how the new guy turned out.

 Not too shabby eh?  I know it's not anything fancy, but I worked really hard for that fan, So I'm going to go ahead and give myself a "Hell Yeah."  Don't try and stop me.

But let's get to the more exciting side of the room.  Remember this guy?

 

 Oh dear Lord that's bad. This is the part where I convinced the Hubs that instead of doing a standard 3 light vanity, it would be important to this room to add some character.  Nothing in the room really says "Rustic Modern" right now, which is the goal of the house, so we wanted to add something with texture and charm to counteract all that shiny-shiny tile.

I quickly fell in love with this guy from the Barn Light Warehouse. 

 It took about 10 days to arrive, and you would have thought it was a year I was so excited to get this baby in the room.  Unfortunately when it arrived we were more "Womp-whaaaaaaa" than "Woo-hoo."  The biggest problem was the arch of the light above the connection box was too big, and wouldn't fit in our space.  To use it, we would have had to cut a hole lower in the drywall, move the connection box in the wall and re-patch and drywall.  After you saw this, you know the last thing I want to do in a very long time is sand drywall again.

If that were the only problem, maybe we would have gone for it, but in reality we weren't really happy with the finish.  While I was expecting a rustic look with the galvanized finish we chose, in my humble opinion the finish didn't really look rustic, it just sort of looked cheap.  The metal looked really thin to me, not the sturdy and old world like we were hoping.  So after 10 days of waiting, we ended up empty handed and sent the light back.  Word of warning: some of the lights at Barn Light Warehouse are not refundable, even though that isn't listed any where on the purchase page or your invoice, so if you're going to order make sure to read their refund policy page in full.  The good people there were, in the end, nice enough to refund us minus a 10% restocking fee, but it got a little hairy there for a bit. 

So next up we found this option at Home Depot online only.  The arm was shorter, and the finish was a little more polished looking in brushed nickle. 

 

But alas, it wasn't meant to be for us.  Two days after I ordered I received an email that my order could not be completed and that the item was not in stock.  

At about this point I started to give up on my rustic light hopes and the family piled in the car in search of a more traditional option.  We came back with that, a traditional but cool looking 2 light fixture from Martha Stewart's line, and yet another outdoor, barn looking fixture.  I just could not be deterred.  

Don't you love how the Hubs humors me and poses for these photos?  Back off ladies, he's mine. 

Oh yeah, did I mention that the vanity is in?  Well, sort of, the plumbing isn't done yet in this photo, so more details on that to come.  While this light was okay, if just wasn't working for me.  No character.  No interest.  Boo.

And then there was this guy.  Not quite right, but not enough wrong....

Work it baby.

Nothing that a little spray paint couldn't fix.

What do you think?  I love how it has a more non-traditional look, but also has a glass dome on the bottom so that the bulb isn't completely exposed.  Best of both worlds baby.  It's just icing on the cake that this guy was only $29 at Menards, which is $50 cheaper than our Martha Stewart option, which you guessed it, means $50 more for accessories.  We're on the last lap now, and I can't wait to show you the whole meat and potatoes.  (Who says that?  Sorry.)

In the mean time, let's talk lighting.  Has anyone gone out on a limb for a non-traditional looking fixture?  Or purchased a light that turned a room from "yeah... I guess" to "that's it baby!"  We feel that way about the pendant light over our kitchen table.  Lighting can make a huge difference in the feel of a final project.