Let There Be Light!

With just two weeks left until we can start moving into our new home, we have been busy with packing, and picking up more new furniture and light fixtures.  Because of all of the renovations that need to happen, we're on a pretty tight budget when it comes to furnishing the house.  We figure we'd rather put extra money into the finishings (like heated marble floors in the bathroom...ooohhh) and save some cash right now by finding as much second hand furniture and light fixtures as possible.

Now that garage sale season is in full swing, we've been out bright and early for the last few Saturday mornings, looking for any pieces that will work in our new rooms.  We know exactly how we want each of our rooms to look (check out my Pinterest boards for each room!) so we've been pretty picky when it comes to buying other people's junk.  Some of the pieces we've bought won't be forever pieces, but will hold us over until we can afford the ones we really want.

In the foyer, we are planning on hanging a large glass apothecary light fixture like the ones pictured below.

Photos courtesy of Pinterest

We'll hang matching ones in the upper landing and hallway to really make the space flow.  The only problem is that the one we want for the foyer comes with a $400 price tag, and we will need three more for the upstairs hall! That's not in the budget right now, so we picked up this brass beauty at a yard sale last weekend for $5.

Although it's not exactly what we want, it will work for a few years until we can actually afford the apothecary fixtures.  It's hard to tell in the pictures, but the glass panes are all bevelled, which will create some great reflections on the foyer walls.  A coat of black spray paint will really change the look of it!

In the living room, we've been looking online and in lighting stores for a fixture similar to the one below.

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

At 15' by 22', the living room is a massive space that will require a massive light fixture.  I haven't been able to find this exact fixture, but we did find a few that were similar.  Most of them were in the $600-$900 range, and a few were higher.  That won't work for us, so we found this fixture on Kijiji a few days ago for $90!

It's hard to tell in the picture, but this fixture is huge!  I'm going to spray it all black, and the glass needs a really good cleaning but when we're done with it, I think it will give us the same look at a far more reasonable price.

After the paperwork was signed for the sale of our current house, Jeremy and I looked at each other and both said that we shouldn't have sold the fixture in the library.

It's a knock-off of Restoration Hardware's Foucault Orb Chandelier, which sells for over $600 at RH.  We purchased this one at one of our favourite shops on Port Perry's main street a few years ago, for around $300, and we have loved it since we hung it up.  We didn't think we'd ever find one again, but last week we spotted this one on Kijiji.

Other than the finish, it's exactly the same as our current one!  With the ceilings in the new house being considerably higher, we need the longer chain that this one has.  With a coat of spray paint, it will look exactly the same as the one that we have loved so much in this house.  We figure we will hang it on the landing until we can afford the apothecary lights, then move it into one of the bedrooms.

And finally, we spotted this lamp at a garage sale last week and thought that it had some great bones.

We don't know where in the house it will go, but with a fresh coat of paint, it will look great on a desk or side table.  At $5, we couldn't leave it behind!

With the exception of the dining room, we now have new fixtures for the entire main floor of the house (the kitchen has a ceiling fan that we will paint...with no A/C, it will be needed in there!).  I'm feeling really good about what we have found so far, and it's all been within our budget.  I'm hoping to get them all painted this week, so stay tuned for before and after pictures!