To make room for our DIY-ed clothespin light, first we had to give the current fixture the ol’ heave-ho:
Well, not literally. Since there’s actually something kinda charmingly retro about that puppy, we wanted to give him a new life somewhere else in the house instead of sealing his fate (aka: donating him to the Habitat For Humanity ReStore). That’s where this hallway that leads to the guest room, hall bath, playroom, and nursery comes in:
Clearly our hallway screams “nothing to see here folks, move along” for the time being, so there’s certainly a lot to be improved upon. But our attention kept going to this 18″ wide (I’ll pause while you digest just how wide that is) behemoth of a swirly ceiling-fan-ish glass shade. This picture does not do justice to its sheer size and resemblance to a giant serving dish for a twenty pound turkey or five million brownies in a pyramid. Be careful not to stare too long, you might fall under its hypnotic spell…
Are you getting sleepy? Well, if you aren’t – apparently I was. Because moments after turning off the power, taking that honking twice-as-large-as-the-soon-to-be-installed-light down, and readying myself to install the smaller and more streamlined retro laundry fixture in its place… this happened:
No sooner did the loud shatter stop ringing in my ears did I hear this from the other room: “John, PLEASE tell me was the old light.”
Sadly I couldn’t. As I raised the metal base of the laundry light towards its new home in the hall ceiling, I failed to notice the glass cover had accidentally come with it – barely hanging on by one screw. Call it working too fast. Call it butterfingers. Call it errant flashbacks from cleaning up after someone who pooped in the bath that morning (hint: it wasn’t me, Sherry, or Burger). Whatever my excuse, this current all-my-fault situation…
… was giving me crazy deja vu to this previous all-my-fault situation…
The lesson here? Don’t let me near anything fragile in a hallway. Ever.
The other lesson? Bless Home Depot for selling similar glass bulb covers for seven dollars. A quick trip out to the store followed by some much-more-careful light fixture installation left us with this (don’t mind the ugly attic pull-string in the background- we’ll have to upgrade that):
It’s not quite the same as the original (which had subtle frosting on all sides, whereas this has a more distinct white band and a translucent base) but we don’t really mind the slight difference. Sherry’s considering the whole spray-frost option down the line if she changes her mind, but we’re happy to live with it as-is for now. And at least finding something similar spared us from having to reinstall the old light again. Which is basically the DIY version of the walk of shame.
We’ll be the first to admit that the new fixture hardly qualifies as a “room transformation,” but maybe we’ll do something fun with it down the line – like paint the base a fun color, or add stripes a la this $75 version from Schoolhouse Electric:
We learned from our other hallway (where we hung a ton of frames) that this type of small space can actually be a fun spot to do something semi-dramatic. So we’ve talked about DIYing some wainscoting or some other architectural detail (and maybe even using a bold-ish color above the rail). The only challenge will be working around all the other wall acne. Like this oh-so-attractive doorbell for example:
Maybe when it comes time, we’ll shop for a new doorbell at this place…
Random side note: when I briefly studied improv comedy at the Upright Citizen Brigade Theatre in New York, that girl was in my class. Clearly we followed similar paths in life.
Oh look, now I’m all sidetracked. Where was I? Oh yeah, apparently I break stuff. You?
Haha! Last time I was in NYC I took my mother and teenaged niece to UCB…we had a blast! Although we were a little out of place in the young hipster crowd.
I think that light fixture would look totally cool with painted stripes.
And I think I speak for all commenters when I say how relieved we are to know that the bathtime faux pas wasn’t committed by you, Sherry, or Burger. WHEW!
I love random posts like this. Thanks John.
Oooh, poor light fixture. But I’d love to see some wainscoting in there!!
I’ll admit I prefer the more DIY-intensive posts. But this was a great read nonetheless. You’ve got a gift, John. You should be, like, a writer or something.
So you save butterflies but you kill a DOG? :)
Julie
ilikebeerandbabies.com
Haha, I know right? So insensitive.
xo,
s
Oh god. Wall acne. My newest favorite phrase. AWESOME. Actually, I really like that old fixture with all it’s swirly goodness.
I really like the swirly light cover. Maybe it just doesn’t work for the space, but I think its pretty cool. Will you try to find another place for it in your house?
I am an expert at breaking dishes and glasses!
We’re planning to donate that to the ReStore so it can live on in a bigger house. It’s just so huge that it feels like a giant dinner platter on the ceiling!
xo,
s
I can’t believe you studied at UCB, you are officially “cool” in my book now ;) Going and seeing Amy Poehler was a highlight of my recent (first) trip to NYC!
Aww John don’t beat yourself up! But my problem doesn’t seem to be breaking things as much as it seems to be not taking enough risks in DIY’ing
My brother used to do improv with the UCB! He’s probably about the same age as you- wonder if you knew him. Named Nelson Walters…
p.s. love the new light fixture!
It’s not ringing any bells. But I wasn’t in that many classes and don’t remember many people’s names. If they pop up on SNL I tend to recognize them though- haha.
-John
“Ringing any bells”- nice one!
Nice. Accidental doorbell joke.
-John
Aww that is SO SAD! I LOVED that old light! I wish I could find one of those for my house. There was one just like that in the kitchen of the last place I lived and I LOVED it.
RIP cool retro light. :(
At least you found one that is similar at Home Depot so you didn’t have to trash the whole deal….
I don’t break “stuff”, I break ME. Dropped a 50 pound mirror on my thigh that gave me this lovely shiner.
http://tellerallaboutit.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/meet-my-nemesis-sir-isaac-newton/
haha! love the wall acne, too! ;-)
Ouch! That’s a big ol’ bruise!
xo,
s
Oooooh – I love the idea of wainscoting for a hallway! I’ve been thinking about something similar for our house but have wondered whether or not it would look right in a ranch because there’s no wood border around the hallway opening; it just leads right into the family room. I realize that you’re in the brainstorming stage of this, but what are your thoughts? Thanks! (Hopefully that all made sense.)
Hmm, I think if we had that situation we’d try to add trim around the doorway so it would go with the wainscoting look. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
We have the opposite in our house- wainscoting in the living room but then they added floor to ceiling trim to stop it before hitting the hallway. It doesn’t look off or anything if that helps!
I was having an awful morning, but reading this lets me know that it’s okay for things to break.
I have to admit, though, that I do like the new fixture better.
Can I say that I was less excited about the broken light fixture, but really appreciated the SNL comic relief? Just what I needed during the middle of the day!
I love the inspiration light with the stripes!
Looking forward to seeing what you do with the doorbell, our new house (less than a month!) has a hideous and similar brass and plasticy mesh situation. I am still trying to decide between spray paint or buying a new one.
Oh John. POOR YOU! You need to stay away from the breakable stuff.
On another note, I assume you do, but do you use Automator? Because if you don’t, it will save you life. Especially cropping all those photos I imagine you two do.
We use “bulk actions” in Photoshop to help crop/size stuff. Never tried Automator though, so maybe we should give it a spin. Taking and uploading pics still takes us some serious time!
xo,
s
I haven’t used it to crop photos. But I use it to rename files, and I’ve added a “service” to my contextual menu (the menu when you two-finger-click on a file) so if I have a bunch of photos highlighted and I open my contextual menu, the service pops open and I can sequentially change the name of the photos so whatever I want! I’m assuming you could do that when cropping. As long as the photos are always going to the same size (and even if they’re not since you can change the settings once it opens!). And you could have 1 for vertical, and 1 for horizontal.
Very smart! That’s kind of like the actions we’ve set up in Photoshop!
xo,
s
Not really a loss. That light is not comparable to the vintage one you were going to replace. One very similar is selling for $68 at http://www.rubylane.com/item/494613-lite70-bg3307/Huge-Vintage-Art-Deco-Ceiling. The light was probably moved to the hall from one of the bedroom.
Haha, that’s too funny! It’s so giant it just didn’t work with all the other ceiling stuff going on (whole house fan register, pull down attic access, nearby doorbell, etc). We’re donating it to the ReStore though (so it can live on)!
xo,
s
My first thought re the big swirly one is “art deco.”
I was so worried when I saw the post that something bad had happened to your clothespin lampshade! I’m sorry about the drama, but y’all fixed it all up with style.
Oh no! Speaking of ceramic animals, did you see the IMM Living store on Joss and Main today? Plenty of ceramic animals (including a unicorn vase, guess where the flower stem goes?). Thought of you guys.
Haha, sounds fun! Off to check it out!
xo,
s
I, too, love the idea of wainscoting in a hallway. I have this unbelievably tiny hallway in our house that connects a bathroom, bedroom and closet. Wainscoting would be a great there. Also, thanks for posting fun little things like this. It’s kind of like a “behind the scenes” look. :)
John and Sherry, I’ve been following your blog for awhile and just love all your ideas and insight! I’ve had a food blog for awhile, which is becoming a “home and garden” blog… because my fiance and I just bought our first house! It’s a disaster in there – no appliances, wood paneling, mauve carpeting. You know. I can’t wait to read your blog now that I can use some of your ideas. It’s becoming much more real! :)
Aw congrats on your first house! Good luck with everything. Just remember to have fun and try not to cry when stuff breaks (read: when your husband insists on repeatedly breaking things).
xo,
s
Doh! At least it was only a $7 mistake though! Hopefully you get something to clear up that wall acne soon too! :)
Okay, so my first thought was along the lines of “How the heck did he break the CONCRETE greyhound?!”
Glad to see that’s not the case :-p
Now that would have totally send me into a tailspin of sobbing and snorting and not being able to blog for days from the misery of it all.
xo,
s
Yea, and it wouldn’t have been a pretty cry either :(
Good thing it’s concrete!
Haha, totally would have been the ugly cry.
xo,
s
Ugh, we have one of those hideous doorbells too. I like the term “wall acne”.
Oh man, when I read the title I thought there was another ceramic animal casualty! But it was just a light. Easier to replace. Whew!
We recently tackled a hallway project as well. We painted the hallway (leading from the entry way to the living room) with chalkboard paint – rustoleum pea pod! Our kids love it and we have found that it sort of draws guests away from the front door and into the living room. Right now the kids just draw lots of pictures but soon it will be a great place for spelling words and reminder notes :)
That sounds really fun! I love that it’s functional for visitors too since it draws them in (instead of clustering at the door forever like my family).
xo,
s
Oh! I really like this idea. And you can make your own chalkboard paint in any colour you’d like for cheaper than buying it. Seen here: http://pinterest.com/pin/103276367/ (yes it’s pinterest :D) and a few other times on pinterest by just adding non-sanding grout!
Haha, I’ve totally pinned one of those tutorials and can’t wait to try it out!
xo,
s
I was also going to suggest chalkboard paint, it looks great and would be fun for Clara! I’m glad I scrolled through the comments first.
We have a few of the Schoolhouse fixtures in our house (not put in by us, but we do love them). The color doesn’t show through when you turn them on, but that’s fine with us. They add a cute pop. I think you could easily paint on some paint on your Home Depot one!
OK soooo I actually LOVE the light fixture from the laundry room. I have THREE of those in our house. Two in my kitchen and one in the bathroom. I am going to buy one for my laundry room too. THEY ARE SO RETRO and I love that. :-) The old one, looks very Victorian to me. I’m not a fan of that style, but many would love it, I’m sure. ;-) Walmart has the same light that John broke * I mean accidentally broke. :-D*. That is where we buy ours, CHEAP. Ha Ha the doorbell. I was looking at it thinking what in the world is THAT. Then it dawned on me, probably the doorbell. LOL
P.S. I thought the string was a pull string for the light, was very envious. Another retro feature. :-)
I stumbled upon your blog about a week ago and I am officially addicted. Is there a support group? My husband and I close on our very first house in a week, and what semed like a small list of “to do’s” has now grown by gargantuan proportions…thanks to you guys. But now at least I’ll have insperation and instructions on how to do it all. Thanks!
Aw thanks Skeeter! Good luck with your new house!
xo,
s
Skeeter, have you read “The Help”?? Because you officially have the best name ever.
Not that it matters at this juncture, but Schoolhouse Electric sells all of their bases and shades separately. So for what is pictured in your screenshot, the price is actually $137. Always bums me out a little when I realize how much those buggers actually are. Still a good deal and worth it for some rooms, just not as cheap as I first thought when I saw them.
Woah- I never knew that!
xo,
s
Bummer about the light breaking but at least you were able to find a replacement!
What a bummer! I have about 5 of those exact light fixtures just lying around the house that I’ve been replacing as I finish each room in my house! I see them at Lowe’s all the time and can’t believe they’re still around!
I’ve been contemplating wainscoting in our laundry room. Thinking of doing board and batten, Ana style (http://ana-white.com/2011/07/diy-board-and-batten-ana-style). About the light fixture, I noticed that some people in the comments said that they liked the old one. I’m with you :)
I love that bathroom with the pink above it on Ana’s blog!
xo,
s
I have that EXACT fixture in my mudroom/laundry room. What’s wierd is that it’s about 1 foot away from the other light fixture.. I don’t know why.
Oddly placed light fixtures are one of the great mysteries of the world, I think!
xo,
s
I guess I sorta kinda like the swirly one too! You’re going to make some shopper at the Restore very happy!
Wow this is the day for the best videos ever! My husband and I are netflixing The Office and actually watched that episode the other night and the Doorbells & More? HILARIOUS! :)
I can’t wait to see what you do with the pull string for the attic door. Those things are so unsightly but so necessary. I’m eager to see your ideas! :)
Oh guys, you just never fail to disappoint with your posts! Lessons learned:
1. John’s writing is really hilarious (we knew that)
2. We are all guilty of saying “what’s broken?!” way more times than first saying “are you okay?!”
3. Home Depot has retro-type fixtures for $7 (the Schoolhouse Electric one is beautiful, but will probably never be in the budget for me!)
Thanks for making me snort my way through (an otherwise) pretty boring Tuesday! :)
Oh, good times. I was just thinking that S, like me, hears the crash and says “What did you do?!” instead of checking to see if the husband is in one piece.
It can’t be helped.. years of broken objects and a still-intact husband have taught me that he’ll be okay. Glad you live to write another day, J!
Haha, I’m such a mean wife! I was terrified we’d never find a replacement cover, but it was easy. And a replacement hubby would have been a lot harder to find.
xo,
s
crazy! i just learned about schoolhouse electric and was admiring that same fixture just yesterday. one of my coworkers is remodeling her kitchen and putting a few shades from their artist line in it.
loved the snl video. Thanks for the laughs, so sorry you broke your light, but I like the one you bought better and it would look really cool if you could figure out how to diy the stripes onto the shade.
I am curious what you do with the attic pull-string! I have the same one outside of my bedroom and have been thinking of ways to make it look better.
what will your new doorbell say?
“Ding dong, someone inside is probably painting, hammering, sanding, or breaking something. Enter with caution, yo.”
xo,
s
our ugly doorbell is covered by a just-as-ugly large, black wood platter. glued on REALLY well. we’ll be in the market for a new doorbell soon too.
Idea for the attic pull down… I saw this done when we were house hunting. Put a fairly large eye-hook in the door to the attic, where the cord is currrently located. Then get a 1″ dowel rod that’s about 3″ long and put a hook in the end. To open the pull down, hook the eye with the hook on the pole and pull. Store the pole with the hook on it in a closet and only bring it out when you need it.
Instead of getting knocked in the head by the cord every time you go down the hall, there’s just that eye-hook in the ceiling. We copied this idea for my mom. She loves it.
Dowel should be 3 feet long, not 3 inches :)
That’s so smart!!!
xo,
s
That is SUCH a good idea! When I read the post I was thinking “oh now I have to wait and see what John and Sherry do about their attic string and ugly doorbell so that I can copy their ideas” but now I can take care of one of those problems right away by copying Michelle instead! John and Sherry, I’m still waiting to see how you handle that doorbell. :o)
My father in law made us a new wood box for our doorbell to match our cabinets
when we renovated our kitchen. The old one was really tacky pine with a gold eagle on it. I had forgotten all about it until you mentioned yours.
George, my ceramic pug, recently suffered a similar fate. His head is still attached but he has a hairline fracture around the whole thing. Luckily, he is still available at UO and the “breaker” is buying me a new one. I have a much small cuter white dog and when I heard “uh oh” my heart sunk because I can’t find it anywhere online (I wanted a matching pair). Why do cute ceramics have to be so fragile?
Oh no! Not George. It’s a cruel world.
xo,
s
OH, now I want that school house electric light!
http://www.amandadovewells.com/?p=1028
Ohmygosh, I thought I was the only one with that particular monstrosity of a doorbell. It hangs in our hallway over (yes over) our bedroom door. It’s AWFUL and I haven’t figured out how to hide it yet so I’m anxiously awaiting to see what you guys do!
We found brushed nickel chimes and a sleek white cover at Lowes on clearance for $8 awhile back. Went ahead and swapped the parts out and are MUCH happier. :)
Ooh that’s a nice solution!
xo,
s
If youo still have the lg swirly light you can make a great bird bath with it I did a tutorial on one here – http://jos2ndact.blogspot.com/2010/07/lampshade-birdbath.html
No way! Off to check it out.
xo,
s