A Light in the Attic

I'm so excited about this post, I can barely contain myself. I literally squealed when my husband flipped the breaker back on and gorgeous light filled the entry. But it wasn't that smooth a path to get to the end result.

I've hated my entry light since we moved here in 2009. But I haven't been able to decide what to put there.

Until my husband found this chandelier in the attic.

 

I was so excited. Words cannot express. My husband thought I was crazy. But I went to town spray painting, and I went to Home Depot for little lamp shades.

On entering the lighting section, I met a lady who worked the area. I explained what I was looking for, and she said, "I only have a few returned from an online order, we don't carry them in stock. She climbed a ladder and pulled one perfect, tiny, neutral shade. "I'll take them if you have five," I said.

She scanned the shade while still perched on her ladder, and said, "do you need extra, in case you kill a fly on one and it breaks?" No.It's a vaulted ceiling, we couldn't reach a fly there if we wanted to.

Then she said, "we'll, they are $5.38 each, but if you take them all, I'll give them to you for $3.38 each."
Hmmm. What if I DO want a replacement?
"How many are there?" I asked, thinking if it were 7, it would be cheaper.

"13."

Um, no. That's like $26 for what I need, and $47 for what you are trying to unload. Who needs 8 replacement lamp shades?? Game over, crazy light lady.

So then we started to plan the logistics for hanging the new light. The chain and wire were WAY too long. I found a video to show how easy it is to bend the chain links apart and shorten the length. Isn't the internet great?

Except, it does not work like it does in the video.

Forty minutes and a lot of frustration later, we had shortened it for our space and were ready to hang. Till my husand says, "which cord is positive?"

No idea. I've spray painted the cord so any indicators are covered. And we really can't risk burning our house down or something. So I commence scraping paint off the wires with my fingernails and googling how to tell which wire is positive. Another forty minutes later, we are on the ladder, putting the light in place.

And, can I tell you, this light is the BOMB?!!

It's so pretty! And perfect! And a total of $40 with lamp shades and the extra paint I had to buy because I ran out. Similar fixtures I've seen have ranged from $150-200!!

The afters:

And together, before and after: