Just thought I’d share the view from my deck this morning when I paused for five seconds from all of the moving-related work to just enjoy the view.
Well, the administrative details involved in getting three small people ready to enter two new schools kept me busy for longer than I had hoped today, although we did accomplish a great deal. Now here I am, in the late afternoon, sitting at my computer and for the life of me, I can’t remember what I was going to post on today. If I hadn’t just moved, I would have written my ideas down. But I did just move, so my idea is floating around in what is becoming the vast chasm of my mind along with ideas on things like where to find the particular pencil grip that my son needs for school and where I put the kids’ lunch boxes when I packed them a few weeks ago.
Help.
So, this will be a little ditty about Jack and Diane, two American kids growing up in the heartland few sentences about a minor household irritant. Specifically, the light fixtures in my kitchen are driving me insane. See, this is where I’m at mentally in life right now.
Why are they driving me insane? Last week I mentioned that the previous occupants of this house failed to see that cleanliness is a virtue. That is the nicest, mildest way I can put it. More accurately, the level of filth in this house is one that clearly took serious effort and time to achieve. So, since the house is basically bordering on repellent, I’m cleaning like crazy and thus in the “What needs to be cleaned next?†mentality. Seriously, I wake up in the middle of the night and think about what I should clean next in the house.
So, what does this have to do with the light fixtures? Well, take a look at them.
My beef is with the tinted edges of the glass shades on the light fixtures. I know the tint is for effect, but every time I look up at one of them, for a second, they just look like they need a serious scrub down. Thus, every time, I start to reach for a chair and something to clean them with and then remember that it’s “effect†and not dirt. Then, I stand there dumbly for a few minutes trying to remember what I was going to do before I looked up at the lights. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say this has happened at least three dozen times since I’ve been here.
Since I’m not overly partial to the glass anyway, and have this secret fear that the urge to clean it will not dissipate with time, I’d like to replace the glass shades.
Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions, particularly about the type of glass to use? It’s been a long, long time since I’ve shopped for light fixtures or given them much thought, so, I don’t know. Maybe hexagonal-shaped peach-colored glass is all the rage now. I’d sure have no clue. I don’t have a good full kitchen shot yet, since most of my countertops are still covered with boxes, but here are a couple close-up shots of the countertops (granite) and the cabinets in case that helps. 
The appliances will all be stainless.
I’d be obliged if any of you have any thoughts based on this limited information, because we all know I certainly don’t have any coherent thoughts myself on much of anything at the moment.
I’m not much into fads, so I’d stick to a simple frosted shade for the fixture. The blades of the fan are so dark as it is that you really don’t want color. Plus, in the kitchen, color could affect how you see your food. Most big box hardware/home stores have the shaded available in the lighting department.
Good luck!
I tend to agree, because even the trendy things I really like in the moment seem to move into the annoying department after a relatively short time period. Plus, you are right, we do like clear, bright light when we are cooking. Good, I hope I can find some at one of the big box stores, because it’s one of those things I’d prefer not to turn into a big, long-term project, and I’m certainly spending a great deal of time in those stores right now with our large list of fix-its to do with this house. Thanks for the tips!
I’d do plain white frosted glass. No tints or colors, just plain white.
Good, because that’s really what I’ve been picturing in my mind. Nice, clean and crisp. Thanks for the input!
I’d like to cast my vote for frosted white shades, as well. Both Lowe’s & Home Depot sell them separate from the light fixtures. Also, we have similar cabinets, and dark granite counters. We put oil-rubbed bronze knobs/drawer pulls on the cabinetry, and it tied everything in quite nicely. We made the mistake of painting the walls a creamy beige, and now it’s way too much brown. I wish I had gone with a creamy yellow or something as I had originally intended.
I think that’s the direction we are headed with this, although right now it feels like it might be years before we get around to it. It’s funny you mention the knobs, because we don’t have any on ours, and we haven’t decided if we’re going to leave them that way or not. I like the look in some ways, but functionally, it’s kind of irritating sometimes, especially since some of the doors seem to open in the opposite side you’d think they’d open in, which is frustrating. Our walls are a light taupe, and will need to be repainted at some point, but I haven’t really decided how I feel about the current color yet.
We didn’t have any knobs on our cabinets either, but when we added more cabinetry on the ridiculously dubbed “eat-in kitchen” area, we added them. Hubby complained that I made him install pulls on the fake drawers, too. You know, for symmetry. 😉
Oh, you have to have the whole symmetry thing worked out correctly. Otherwise, it might distract you when you are cooking, like it’s unfinished business or something.
The lack of knobs and pulls is starting to bother me, especially since some drawers and cabinets seem to be difficult to open easily. On the other hand, I need another project right now about as much as I need a few more boxes to unpack.