Young House Love

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Choosing The Right Lamp Shade Pendant

I kinda want to jump on The Voice bandwagon. Not in the sense that I want my shot at getting Adam Levine to turn his chair for me – at which point I would look him dead in the eye and say “keep your hands off my woman, Levine!” (it never hurts to lay clear boundaries with a guy like him). I want to jump on the bandwagon in the sense that The Choice (spinny chairs meets dating), The Taste (cooking) and The Face (modeling) have.

Only my spin-off would be called The Shade and it would be a competition to find “the next great light for Clara’s big girl room.” And no one would watch it.

Curtains 10 After Full Room

We knew we wanted to swap out the wood-tastic ceiling fan for something more Clara-friendly (we’ve used a table fan in her room for nearly three years and have never needed an overhead fan). We came to the idea of doing a shade pendant after realizing that it would give us lots of options (texture, color, etc) while not hanging too low (a chandelier would probably get in the way) but still illuminating the room nicely.

First we debated choosing one of ours, but since most of those are pretty patterned (and we already have lots of pattern going on in Clara’s room) we decided to check out a few other favorite sources, like craigslist and a local shop where we’ve found a bunch of other lights we love on a budget (aka The Decorating Outlet here in Richmond). Craigslist had nada, but our local Decorating Outlet had a lot. Not only did we find one shade that we liked there, we found four options – all within the $35-40 range.

ClaraLight 1 Four Shades

Here was the line up of what we found:

  1. Team Navy: A solid deep blue (to tie in with her curtains) with no pattern at all
  2. Team Purple Damask: A very subtle pattern in a purple tone that works nicely between the blues and reds in the room
  3. Team Neutral: A natural burlap-ish shade that could bring a nice organic texture into the space
  4. Team Chevron: Think of him as the contestant who’s not afraid to take risks – this one has a trendy, bold pattern in a navy and white color scheme

The Decorating Outlet gives you one business day to make returns, so we rushed home for the audition portion of our show. This meant I just held up each shade over the existing fan light (which isn’t as bright as a hanging pendant would be, but helps us imagine how each one would look). Let’s check them out in reverse order…

ClaraLight 4Four Chevron

Team Chevron was pretty cool on its own, but our fears that bringing one more bold pattern into the room were confirmed. It probably could’ve worked, but it made us fearful of other patterns and prints that we might have to nix down the line (remember we still have big plans for the blank span of wall between those two windows, and we don’t want the shade to compete). So then it was on to Team Neutral…

ClaraLight 3Three Burlap

This one probably could have worked too, but in person it felt too, well, neutral. So without much hesitation, we invited Team Purple to the stage.

ClaraLight 2Two Purple

This picture isn’t the best representation of it because it actually looked quite nice with the lights off. But when the light came on, the purple tone and damask pattern got kind of lost and it actually looked a lot like Team Neutral. Too bad. I really wanted to like it.

And then there was one remaining contestant…

ClaraLight 1One Blue

Even though Team Navy felt like the “safest” of the picks, it was our instinct all along. And although it looks a little dark, remember that our light kit will put off a lot more wattage than the old fan light does in this picture. Knowing our future plans for adding in other art and accents to the wall between the windows, we just felt that a shade without pattern was the right way to go. And even though it doesn’t looks especially exciting in the picture above, in person it was a pretty obvious winner. So we were both convinced within a matter of minutes that it was the choice – er, the voice – er, the shade.

With the auditions over, we moved on to the battle round (i.e. where I wrestle with the heavy fan to remove it from the ceiling). Luckily I emerged victorious.

ClaraLight 5 John Removing Fan

The added bonus to picking the navy shade is that it was also the cheapest of the bunch – just $34. And to further save on the cost of this project, The Decorating Outlet sells their “damaged” pendant hardware (for hanging the shade) at half price. The only “damage” to the one we bought is that the light kit had already been cut (so it wouldn’t work in a room with a high ceiling) but since it was still longer than we’d need for Clara’s room (we actually snipped it a bit shorter) we were more than happy to snatch it up for $25.

ClaraLight 6 Pendant Fixture

And since The Voice always loses me during the live rounds anyways, let’s skip our show ahead to the finale. Now’s where you picture The Voice theme song: “This is The Shade!”

ClaraLight 7 After 1

For a total of $60 (the light kit came with the canopy too) we’re really happy with our two-light pendant. I personally love that the dark navy color helps balance out all the pink in the room so it feels calming and not too Crazy-Pink-Palace. Plus, it subtly complements the other blue items in the room nicely without demanding too much attention. In other words, it’s more like Adam or Blake in jeans and a t-shirt (Cee-Lo it most definitely is not).

Of course all that really matters is that Clara likes it, so let’s get to her reaction to our winner, which was: “Is that mine? Can I touch it? Is that mine for my big girl room? I think it’s shiny and pretty like a pebble.”

ClaraLight 8 After 2

We ended up putting two 75-watt CFL bulbs in there, which also means that (despite the dark shade) the room is still plenty bright. So Clara will have no problem hosting late night tea parties or stuffed animal sleepovers. Whew. So whaddya think? Does my concept for The Shade have legs? No? Didn’t think so. I guess it and The Choice (which I think already got cancelled) will just be forgotten together…

Psst- Sherry’s having some fun with East Coast Creative by volunteering as one of their bloggy helpers (that’s a technical term by the way). So if you’re a blogger and would like to get paired up with $herdog for their little Creating With The Stars competition, you can enter your best project here for a chance to be one of their 12 final contestants.

Comments

  1. Tina C says

    I love this look & want to do this but I don’t want to see the bulb’s and I’ve looked all over for a diffuser shade (also for my regular table lamps) and I can not find one. I was wondering if you or one of your friends :) knew where I could find one online for a reasonable price.

    The ones on Amazon are apparently cardboard… I still want the light to come through – I just want it to be diffused. I also looked on Ikea’s site and couldn’t find anything. So any help would be great! tia!

    Reply

  2. sue says

    one of the best things i learnt at my design internship was that not everything in a room can be the star! & this shade is the perfect example… i always used to make the mistake of choosing pieces that stand-out on their own… but too many in one room means nothing stands out… this was the perfect choice and i love that your little girl compared it to a shiny pebble… clara rocks (pun intended) :)

    Reply

  4. Jeremy says

    Sherry,
    Not related to this post at all, but my wife got her parenting magazine last night and was reading it on the couch. She interrupts my watching of the State of the Union Address (yes I am that big of a geek) to tell me, “Hey, is this the same person you had sign your book?” Yup, sure enough, there was Sherry giving away all her tips as usual. The real question becomes can I now convince my wife to embrace some of the suggestions and let me spend some of our DIY money and improve the house. That’s right; Sherry being in the parenting magazine has now given her street cred in our house!

    Reply

  5. Megan C. says

    I love the way this room is turning out. Great shade choice! The only aspect I’m not in love with are the curtains. I think they read sort of bland and old lady-ish. Maybe a solid color would work best? Or something with a bolder brighter pattern?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We love the curtains! Like lots! So they’re definitely staying. Maybe when the room comes together more they’ll make more sense to you? It’s still only around 50% done. Or maybe you’ll never like them, haha! That’s definitely a possibility since a lot of home decor is personal preference, but that’s all part of the fun! We love that everyone would decorate their kids room differently :)

      xo
      s

  7. Krystal says

    Can I just say how happy I am that you didn’t unwrap each shade when you tried them? Having worked in customer service and returns for three years, it is my number one pet peeve when people buy five or six things to try in their home and open all five or six things (this most commonly happens with curtains). We aren’t allowed to put anything that has been opened back on the shelf, so they always end up in the garbage. Not recycling, not donating, the GARBAGE. It hurts my heart every time I have to put perfectly good merchandise in the trash because of an irresponsible customer.

    Reply

    • Krystal says

      It’s not that we can’t wrap them back up or tape the open packaging, it’s that textiles (curtains, lamp shades, bedding) can’t be put back on the shelf after it’s been opened because we don’t know what kind of environment it is returning from. There are liabilities with bed bugs, bacteria, etc. We can’t guarantee it’s returning to us clean, so in the trash it goes. And after talking to many of my friends who work the same kind of jobs at different stores (Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Menards, Lowe’s, etc.) it’s a pretty universal policy.

  8. Heather Beals says

    Definitely a good choice, as I was scrolling down that’s the one I picked in my head too haha! I’m having so much fun watching her bedroom evolve, I’m getting ready to redo my almost 2 year old twins rooms. Right now it’s just twin mattresses on the floor because they climb everything. It’s so embarrasing, I can’t wait to get some actual furniture into their room once they calm down!

    Reply

  16. Jill says

    Love it! Good job guys! We have the same issue in our spare bedroom and I have been contemplating removing the fan and doing a shade for some time. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Jill

    Reply

  17. Vanessa Gasca says

    This is my favorite choice, it balances out her curtains with the rest of the room. You guys are once again working your magic in this room!

    Reply

  18. carrie says

    If this has been brought up already, I apologize, but are you two planning on a night stand/cool Petersik-original bookshelf between the head of the day bed and the wall (front of house) or will the bed be flush in that corner? Thanks!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’ve centered the bed on that wall, which we think will make sense once the room comes together more (still lots to add, both to the walls, and with smaller furnishings, etc). Can’t wait to get there!

      xo
      s

  20. mary says

    So funny that just yesterday I commented about designers buying 5x more than they needed and just returning the “losers” and then today you posted about doing just that!

    I know your busy wall treatment will be terrific but I don’t think I could’ve passed up using a Burger shade or the metal strap one from your own collection in there. I’d justify it by it being a kid’s room, so there’s no such thing as too busy!

    You seriously don’t have a Burger shade in your house? If so, please tell me that’s a stock silhouette and not actually his. LOL

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, we have two shades and a pendant from our collection in our house, so we drew the line at three (still have to hang/install two of them, ack! better get on that!). I’m sure we’ll end up with a Burger shade someday too though… just trying to pace ourselves :)

      xo
      s

  21. K. Moore says

    Love this! I have a question for you all! If you did want to put a diffuser on the bottom and not use fabric as you did in a previous post but use acrylic how would you do it? I have found a great arc floor lamp and want to buy it but am worried about making my own diffuser and how it would sit in the drum shade!
    Thanks!! :-P

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hmm, I’m not sure I could do it with acrylic since I would need a shade with a little metal knob on the bottom to hold acrylic in and this light kit didn’t have that. Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

  23. Rachel says

    I’ve already entered the CWTS contest. So excited! I’m embarrassing myself with how much I am a $herdog fan girl. Oh goodness, I would just DIE of happiness if I got paired up with her! Check out my project (I’m number 163 on the linky list!)

    Reply

  24. Allyson Smith says

    Clara’s comments always make me smile! I love that she said it’s shiny and pretty like a pebble :) Not exactly shiny, but she’s right, it does kind of resemble a pebble! I’m having a little girl in August, and I’m going to be sure and write down all the funny things she says. Clara will love looking back at your blog some day!

    Reply

  25. Kacey says

    Best part about choosing the safest is that you can always decorate the inside of the shade with gold/pink/patterned later if you want whereas the chevron or damask would be harder to update.

    Reply

  27. Cara says

    I literally laughed out loud in my office at John’s demand to Levine.

    “it never hurts to lay clear boundaries with a guy like him”. Ahh that was great. LOL

    Love how the room has come together! <3

    Reply

  28. Bonnie says

    Love it! However, do you guys have high ceilings? I’m 100% certain that we (or at least my 6’2 husband) would be banging our heads on that shade all the time. Or maybe it doesn’t hang as low as it seems?

    Also, design-wise, what’s your take on ceiling fans? Seems like lots of folks don’t like them. I like having one for circulating the air but it’s been hard to find one that’s not super traditional, yet not over-the-top funky.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      John’s super tall and he doesn’t bang his! We have 8′ ceilings but since we didn’t drop the shade a lot (the bottom is 18″ from the ceiling), there’s a ton of clearance for him (and other tall guys) to walk under it. It’s 6’6″ from the ground.

      xo
      s

  30. Sarah says

    I just wanted to say I am loving this room. I think the layered patterns is genius and something I would not have thought of. My little bean has pink walls and I kinda regret it but don’t really want to go repainting right now, so I think layering in some dark colors like navy or other darker patterns is really inspiring me. Thanks!

    Reply

  31. Jenna says

    Looks cool. I think you need some hits of navy closer to the ground now though… You have it on the ceiling, the curtains, the frames on the wall – you need something lower to ground and balance things out.

    Reply

  32. Sara says

    Clara’s a lucky girl! I would have loved a pink and red room. And, navy and gray are the perfect accents. Thanks for sharing another inspiring space.

    Reply

  33. cassandra says

    lowes has an awesome whimsical crystal Chandelier (but im sure you could find one anywhere) that would go amazing in there. pick up the pinks and colors from the other items in the room, and SUPER [big] GIRLY.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We love the idea of a chandelier but most of them hang too low for this room (they work over tables for the most part in our house since the ceilings are only 8′ tall and John’s 6′ so he bumps into things that hang low).

      xo
      s

  37. Kitty says

    The blue of the shade really brings out the pops of blue in the rest of the room.

    I have these kind of shades in half of our rooms; I’m currently considering swapping the one in our bedroom for one with lots of beads and the one in the bathroom for a fitting that casts a better shadow, it’s pretty dark in our shower at the moment.

    In one of our guest bedrooms we have a higher ceiling where the light is and then about a 2 1/2 foot drop and dormer window. I have struggled to find any shade for it that will work without making half the room dark, do you guys have any ideas for me? :)

    Reply

  39. Lara says

    Abso-stinkin-lutely – navy all the way. The other option that came to mind is the ikea white puffball pendant you have in your bedroom, which would be textural if not colorful.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yeah that would be fun but with our ceilings it would hang down way too low (the only way we get away with it in our bedroom is because we don’t walk under it – it hangs at the foot of the bed).

      xo
      s

  40. Ashlee says

    I love the navy, and the room! It’s so perfect for a little (big) girl!

    I was hoping to see the Burger shade make an appearance. But it probably would have been a little much. I’m so excited to get into our new house so I can find a place to put one of my very own!

    Reply

  41. anne says

    Sorry if I’ve missed that, but will the day bed be Clara’s big girl bed or do you plan on getting another one? And is that the final bedding? It just doesn’t look very comfortable—a bit too stiff. And are you painting the dresser or leaving it like this? I know the room is only 50% done, but while I love the other rooms in your house, as well as the carpet, curtains, and wall of flash cards in this one, it lacks a bit of comfort and fun factor, and feels more like a tween’s room.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yup, we have mentioned that the dresser will either be refinished or painted so that’s still on the agenda! As for the bedding, we still need to get a sheet set for it (that’s just an old brown fitted sheet we’ve had for 5 years) and we’ll add a mattress pad to cush it up as well! The daybed will be her big girl bed since many friends of ours have done that and say it’s great (not too high off the ground, easy for them to make their bed themselves, etc). As for the fun-factor, we have tons of projects and updates still on the agenda, so this room is only half-baked. Can’t wait to see it all come together!

      xo
      s

  42. Emily says

    I think you made an excellent choice on the navy shade. It definitely complements all the other colors you have in there while balancing it out as well. Clara’s big girl room is really starting to come together!

    Reply

  43. Holly says

    Love the navy, didn’t think I would. How about adding some pom-pom trim to the bottom to “fun it up” without adding competing patterns? Might even make some interesting shadows… Plus pom-pom trim is the cutest!

    Reply

    • Carol says

      I was thinking the same thing. An earlier commenter mentioned bringing in a little more navy lower in the room, and a simple band of color trim – ribbon, ric-rac, pom-poms, etc… in an accent color, or white, or a neutral could work to do the same thing on the navy shade. I love having the flexibility to tweak as the room progresses and changes! Way to go!

    • Kim says

      omg I would die over pink pom poms on the navy shade. great idea especially because you could easily remove them/switch them out as the room evolves over the years. may just have to steal that idea for my house!

  44. Lilly says

    Love the show concept – I could watch for days! I have a black drum shade in my closet that I want to one day recover for a nursery. Super smart to hold the design options up to light to see how they would really look! Totally wouldn’t have thought of that.

    Reply

  45. LeAnna says

    Love the choice to go w/ navy…I’m even more excited to see what you guys do w/ the blank wall that you keep hinting at ;-)

    I know John is a tall guy (loved meeting you guys in Palo Alto…I made the worm crayons) but in these pics he looks ginormous! Like “oh yeah, i just barely raise my arm up & I’m holding the light to the ceiling” ginormous! Even though I know there is a fan lowering the light source, the illusion is that he’s jolly-green-giant tall! Who needs a step stool when you’ve got a hubby that tall :-) good thing my hubby doesn’t read these comments or he’d think I have husband-height-envy! Wait, Maybe I do….
    Also, in college I lived in a house w/ 10 other students that was painted bubble gum pink (the owner was eccentric). We all called it The Pink Palace. I think Clara would have loooooved living there…if she ends up going to college in Boulder, CO you’ll know what swayed her decision ;-)

    Reply

  47. Louise says

    I like the new room :) it reminds me of a temperature chart going from hot to cold (floor upwards)and i’m amazed i’m about to say this as a pink lover – but i love the fact that Clara’s big girl room isn’t all out girly! it’s fun & bright and will be easily adapted as she grows up, not looking baby-ish within a couple of years – can’t wait to see what you do with the wall space :)

    Reply

  50. Jeannette says

    “Is that mine? Can I touch it? Is that mine for my big girl room? I think it’s shiny and pretty like a pebble.”

    she really is the dearest heart. that’s all that matters.
    xxx

    Reply

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