ECLECTIC LIGHTING

I tend to see things I like - mostly junk I have to confess - purchase it and then haul it around with me for years.  Eventually, I either repurpose it and use it or I pass it on to someone else.  After all, one persons junk is another's treasure!

Dining room chandelier

Lighting seems to be one of these things.  I purchased my dining room chandelier over 20 years ago. After I moved to a new house here in Georgia I did not care for the basic builder's light fixture in the dining room, so I hauled out the brass chandelier, spent hours cleaning it up, had it rewired and hung it up.  I love it.  I probably paid under $40 for this piece years ago.  I now see similar fixtures in antique stores for $300-$400.  While the rewiring cost me around $35, I had electricians hang it while they were here doing other work.  I also had to purchased additional crystals for around $10.  So, I probably spent around $125 total for a chandelier I love.

When Christine from Front Porch Indiana decided to switch out a lighting fixture in her old house she offered it on her blog for whoever wanted it for the cost of shipping.  I grabbed it.  For under $16, I received a box with a brass rimmed light fixture with a zillion glass prisms most unattached.  I took a look at it, moved it to a plastic bin and stored it in my garage for at least two years.

Pretty much the way this light fixture arrived

A couple of weeks ago I was in a junk/decorating store in Cartersville, GA.  As I was leaving my eye was drawn to a lighting fixture laying on its side in a corner.  A ceramic porcelain fixture with a beautiful glass shade in perfect condition.  I dug it out and fell in love with it.  For $35 it came home with me.

Just could not resist

Where to start?  Original
owner must have been
a smoker

Detail 

Now, what to do with two old light fixtures?  I knew the porcelain fixture would work great in my quilting room.  I thought it would offer me better lighting when I wanted to sew at night.  The prism light would be pretty in my guest bedroom.

Reattaching the prisms was challenging!  I balanced
the fixture on a decorative piece I had.

Luckily, I have a great guy in my subdivision who is a jack of all trades.  Tom has done work for me before including installing all of my wood floors.  Tom was able to rewire both fixtures for me as the wiring in both was highly questionable.  I then needed to clean the fixtures before he could return to install them.

Detail work on fixture

The prism fixture was the most challenging.  The prisms not attached were soaked in a mixture of vinegar and water, rinsed and then dried in the sun.  The ones that were attached were carefully wiped clean with the same mixture.  I purchased a small jewelry making pliers to help in the process of attaching the prisms back onto the fixture securely.  The $3.99 investment made it much easier!

Porcelain fixture hanging in my
very messy quilting room

A few days later Tom stopped over and hung both fixtures.  The fixture in the quilting room is perfect. The light it projects makes it much easier to work/sew in the evening.

Yes, I need to touch up the paint where the
fixture meets the ceiling!  LOL

So much more light and isn't
the glass shade just beautiful?

While the prism fixture hangs a little wonky, it still looks great.  It makes my guest bedroom a little more "girly."

Looking good!  

So pretty

Both fixtures add a sense of the unexpected to each room.  After paying Tom approximately $120 for the rewiring and installing, my total investment for both fixtures is around $175.  They aren't "cookie cutter," fixtures seen in houses like mine.  The are unique and eclectic.  I love them!