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A New Light for the Hall

When we were picking out light fixtures for the house we forgot to include a light for the hall, so we opted for a cheap white light that was just laying around. It had been removed from either one of the bedrooms or the living room. For the past year and a half it served it purpose, but on our trip to Europe this year we stumbled across a Moroccan light at “Garten Tag” (Garden Day) in Steffi’s grandma’s town in Germany. We were really indecisive about buying it at first because we would have to haul it with us across Europe and back to Atlanta, but in the end the light won.

Getting it back wasn’t as bad as expected since the lady at the market took a lot of care wrapping it in bubble wrap. What proved to be more of a problem was finding a canopy to hang it from. If you go to Lowe’s or Home Depot the canopies they sell are attached to the lights, so you have to buy the whole light to get one little piece! Grr!

After looking at a number of lamp stores a sales rep finally pointed us in the right direction. If you are local to Atlanta we went to Lamp Arts on Howell Mill Road by the water reservoirs. They had just what we needed, and they sell parts for lamps and chandeliers. Apparently this is not very common. Who would have guessed?

We got back home and were all set to hang the light. We started working at around five – hoping to get it done before the sun set. Since we were replacing the light we had to cut the breaker and were worried about not being able to see what we were doing.

We did all the wiring, attached the chain, and took down the old light. Everything was going smoothly, and then we realized the rod that fastened the canopy to the ceiling was too long. When we screwed it in it was hitting the back of the metal box that houses the electrical wires. Doh! Off to Lowe’s we went to buy a deeper one.

We bought one that was 1.5 inches deep (the original one was about 1 inch deep), and we got back and screwed it in. Up went the light a second time, and bam – we had the same problem. After scratching our heads for a few minutes I realized the actual hole in the ceiling needed to be deeper. Since we have drywall over our old plaster (not our doing!) I was able to knock out the plaster and put the boxer deeper in the ceiling.

Five hours after we started it finally worked! (We ate dinner in between there, so it didn’t really take the full five hours.)

The close-up detail of the light.

Hallway Moroccan light

Here’s how it looked before. Borrrring!

Hallway light

Much better. Now we just need to paint the walls.

Hallway Moroccan light

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So Much Light

Ray had been back again to nearly finish the lights. This time he hooked everything to the fuse box, so the installed lights actually work! This was quite a change for us – no more construction flood lights?! It sheds a whole new light (haha) on our house. It made it feel quite different. I had to exclaim “oh my God” every 10 minutes because I was so excited to be in our house with lights on!

Our cool kitchen lights. Our contractor had been worried that the 50 watt lights that we had picked would not be sufficient to light everything up. We had struggled a lot because we felt like the recessed lighting design was just overall lacking and these were the only lights that we actually liked (they have a silver trim). 50 watt bulbs times 10 in the main kitchen and 2 in the Butler’s pantry proved to be plenty of light!

Kitchen recessed lights

Ray hooked up our dishwasher so the electrical inspection can pass. For us it of course means one step closer to making things feel like home.

Dishwasher installation

Me standing in the bath, getting the dust pan ready to do some cleaning.

Bathroom cleaning

Our project for the night (with lights on, yay!) was to clean the fireplace in the middle bedroom. It was covered in dirt and dust and we managed to get it cleaned up a little bit. Unfortunately we found dried drips of what looks like floor refinishing liquid on the beautiful tiles and suspect that they are new. Not quite sure how we can clean that off…

Bedroom fire place

Meanwhile back at the loft we have started packing. Ack, crazy!!

Moving

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Lights and Bathroom

I’m starting to fall a little behind again, so I’m going to make a couple of entries.

I got so caught up with the ugliness of what’s behind the range vent hood that I completely forgot to document the actual hood! So here it is.

Stove vent hood

Ray was back this Saturday to install the lights. He also found that kitchen light that had gone missing during drywalling.

Recessed lights

Our beautiful, precious Rejuvenation light. Since it was our little gem we were breathing down Ray’s neck the entire time he was installing out baby, haha.

Dining room light

A fan/light combo we found at Lowe’s that I’m really happy with. We installed the same light in all 3 bedrooms. Also note the old steam pipe that has yet to be removed in the background.

Bedroom light

Special concrete sheetrock was installed on the bathroom floor and around the tub.

Bathroom Durock floor

Our custom shower shelf.

Bathroom Durock shower

We continued working on the bathroom door until it got dark.

Paint stripping door

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