/kitchen lighting

Project: Kitchen Refresh | Lighting Option #4

Well friends, I think I’ve found the winner. My delightful sponsor Lamps Plus truly has endless options from which to choose, but I love Option #4 for all sorts of reasons, and I’d love it if you could weigh in!

{image via Decor Pad}

Made out of mouth-blown mercury glass, this Jamie Young St. Charles pendant has a classic, even slightly vintage charm but with a clean and modern edge. Rather perfect for the mix of modern and vintage that I’m after in my kitchen, and it’s trĂ©s reasonable making it even more appealing!

I do love the warm, vintage brass of Option #2 – it is sexy and chic, but I don’t want to break the bank restyling the kitchen to make it look right at home with all of my existing white metal. Option #1 is definitely sophisticated, but a bit too pricey for this little refresh project. And Option #3 is modern and graphic and to-the-point which I love. So what do you think? 1, 2, 3 or 4?

Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

xo
s.

By |February 7th, 2013|2 Comments

Project: Kitchen Refresh | Lighting Option #2

Thanks so much for your feedback last week on Lighting Option #1 for my little kitchen refresh project! I’ve decided I want to nail down the lighting first before I move on to any of the other details. I really think the lighting will have a lot to say about the final direction of all of the rest of these little updates and help set the direction for the details.

OK, so I’m guessing you’ve all picked up on the  memo that brass continues to be HOTTER THAN HOT in design this year. There’s something sexy and glamorous about the use of it, even in the humblest of spaces. Just take this charming butler’s pantry below:

{image via Pinterest}
I’m totally in  L O V E  with the sophistication of the brass fittings and light fixture added to the mix of finishes in this clean and elegant kitchen below:
{image via Pinterest}

Fierce + fabulous, isn’t it? I could move into that kitchen tomorrow.

So my heart stopped momentarily when I came across this simple and modern pendant at Lamps Plus. I’m so in love with its warm and vintage antiqued brass patina that I want to bite it like its made of maple candy.

Seriously sexy, right? This fixture is totally a modern classic. Love at first sight. I would choose to pair it with accessories like this whimsical hand from Black Rooster Decor:

And this pair of Swedish 1930’s Bjork vases from 1st Dibs for a regular rotation of fresh flowers:

My dilemmas are two-fold.

ONE: I don’t want to change my cabinetry hardware. I like it a lot, and while I do believe it is possible to mix white and yellow metals successfully, I have a definite white-metal-dominance in my kitchen right now {for example, check out my Emeco counter stools below}.

TWO: I only have 8 foot ceilings. One of the things I  l-o-v-e  about this particular pendant is its long and lanky elegance. Unlike many pendants where the downrods make up most of the length, the shaft of this fixture is itself quite long. I don’t want to have a stubby little bit of downrod emphasizing my less-than-extravagantly-high ceilings. I worry that my ceilings and these pendants would each fail to do each other justice.

The thing is, I’m utterly smitten with this fixture! What do you think? Too many changes required? Too long for my rather pedestrian-height ceilings? Too much contrast with my cabinetry hardware, counter stools and statement of a stainless steel apron-front sink?

Can’t wait for your feedback!

xo
s.

By |January 24th, 2013|0 Comments

Project: Kitchen Refresh | Lighting Option #1

OK, so I’ve started sourcing for my little Kitchen Refresh project and have the first lighting option for us to mull over together today. It is truly classic – a bit formal, sophisticated and more than a little bit glamorous in a refined and restrained sort of way.

I found the Cole Polished Nickel + Glass Rod Pendant at LampsPlus for less than I could find it anywhere else. A good place to start. I even found an image of it installed in a creamy kitchen so you could get an idea of how it might look!

{source}

I love the jewelry-like quality of the chain links and the warmth of the polished nickel. It really does feel like the kind of light fixture that cries out for a pair topiaries flanking the sink, doesn’t it? Perhaps also an “upgraded” tea + coffee service to something like this dashing duo:

{spheres tea pot}

{tintin coffee pot}

And maybe a canister or two like this one from One King’s Lane?

 
I’m thinking this fixture might point things in a direction that is a bit formal for me. I love the sophistication but am wavering on scale and price point {my kitchen is not as large nor as glamorous as the one above}, so I’m going to follow up with another option next week. I must admit that I’m already dreaming up other applications for this Cole Pendant if I don’t choose it for the kitchen. It is a whole lot of pretty in one little pendant… Decisions, decisions.

xo
s.

By |January 16th, 2013|1 Comment