So the holidays got me a little behind on my review project but Craig and I finally took some time to peruse their site. The website is pretty cool. It is easy to find whatever you are looking for and my favorite feature is the price range selection tool. You can narrow it down to the dollar, which I like much better than having to select a range from their options.
It was a tough decision because the websites have tons of stuff to choose from, but after a little perusing, I found this little beauty and all thoughts of toaster ovens left my brain (temporarily at least, I still think we will be buying one soon). It seemed to be just the right size for a hall, simple and a little modern but still, dare I say, cute. And it had great reviews which never hurts.
In a few days, my light arrived and all that was left was installation. Even though my education was in biological sciences, my first job had me dealing with a bit of wiring and electrical work although that was a few years ago and never house-related. But light fixtures are supposed to be a fairly easy project so I was semi-confident in my abilities. I find working on houses much more intimidating because unlike equipment that I can completely unplug from the wall, light fixtures and switches are still connected and make me nervous, even if I am positive I flipped the breaker off and checked it with a voltmeter. Call me chicken, but electricity is scary!
But once I started and didn't die, I loosened up a bit and it all went pretty smoothly. Here's the old light fixture. Nothing horrible but certainly dated.
I unscrew the globe, pulled it back and took a look at what I had. Luckily, the wires were color coded correctly. From what I hear, sometimes old houses will have all white or all black wires which complicates it a bit. But I didn't have to worry about that and just matched red to black and white to white, twisting them together and added a wire nut to keep them snug and safely covered while Craig tried to entertain Lucy and keep the hall illuminated with a dinky little flashlight because we had misplaced our good one. I think his part was more difficult.
I did have a bit of trouble getting it straight and flush but I think that is due to our ceiling and the fact that Lucy was wanting her mommy by then and it was making me feel rushed. So I tag-teamed Craig in. He finished, added a light bulb and turned the breaker back on while I crossed my fingers but no need to worry, we had success!
I had originally thought I would just use chrome or nickel spray paint to cover up the brass on the old one and keep the globe. I'm sure that would have worked but I'm glad we got a new one. It was an easy and inexpensive update - the whole project only took about an hour and a half and Lucy probably was responsible for a good 30 minutes of that. It was a two person job but only because there are a few times when you need an extra set of hands to keep things in place while you connect wires or set a screw. I see it every time I lay down on my bed to nurse Lucy and seeing it always makes me smile.
this is off topic, but I was wondering. I know you put a lot of thought and time into Lucy's room before you moved, did ya'll do the same (or will you once you get the time) motif, or will you change it now that you know you have a little girl? (not that owls are at all inappropriate!) Also, with you guys doing co-sleeping, did Lucy use her nursery at all for naps or play, or did you find it better to have her sleep in the same place all the time, and she just played in the living room?
ReplyDeleteI'm changing themes from owls to "vintage farm" but only by adding things. The tree and owl will be going up but so will some other things I have laying around and I've got a few craft ideas to help "girlify" it a bit. Its still going to be fairly gender neutral since if/when baby #2 comes along, it might be a he and he will have to end up there at first too. I'll be taking my time getting it set up since she is still sleeping with up so when she moves, it will be here "big girl" room. That makes me want to cry but hopefully it won't be for a while. I know co-sleeping isn't for everyone but we love it and as long as it works for all three of us, we don't feel the need to change.
ReplyDeleteAll Lucy's stuff (rocking chair, changing table/dresser and co-sleeper) were in her 1/3 of the master so we could keep the spare bedroom for visiting family without having to awaken them at 2am because we needed a spare onesie. I wanted to set up a cute nursery all by itself but knew it wouldn't have been used because yes, Lucy napped in our bed and played in the living room. The only time we even used the co-sleeper was at night for the 3-5 hrs she slept before one of us went to bed.