Hanging Lanterns (inside because I am too lazy to get some electrical going)
Today's post is proudly brought to you by the laziest or most clever DIYer ever. Realistically it's a mix of both.
You know how my cavernous vaulted (and spackled, eww!) living room ceiling has been on my to-do list for some time? No, you don't? It's probably because I mentioned that I wanted to plank it about a thousand years ago and you forgot. Life and two other renovations have seemingly taken priority. So it is still in all it's stippled glory.
I had plans to eventually wire in a light over the living room area once we are up there and working on all the planking (similar to our kitchen/family room area) but the reality is that our roof beam orientation would make it hard and probably not a good idea without moving around a lot of insulation sheets and general annoying renovation work. Have I mentioned that my ceiling in the kitchen is like my favorite thing ever? But putting it up was not. Looking upwards while drilling/nailing/whatever equals a lot of things landing in your eyes and ears and hair and.... well you get it. It SUCKS! So if I can save myself one less thing to do while staring up at that ugly stipple I will.
So I rounded up some non-electrical lighting.
Also known as lanterns.
These ones came from HomeSense on clearance for $29.99, $23.99 and $11.99.
I liked the chrome finish with the rustic deal of the rope. The chrome matches our entry light perfectly as well which was a nice detail.
So momma rigged up the BIG latter and found those problematic roof beams to screw hooks into ( I will admit this was done through trial and error, as my stud finder also hates stipple as much as I do and refused to cooperate). Which meant a few tiny holes to fill after all was said and done.
Three lengths of lighting chain adjusted to just slightly different lengths and mounted to the handles was all this project required. I think it drops your line of sight down nicely from the overly boring ceiling to the actual seating area.
Ta da!!! Look mom, no broken bones!
This photo is kind of off because all the lanterns are directly over the coffee tables which means a particularly tall visitor doesn't have to worry about hitting his head. Although the lowest one is still 6 feet off the ground so even if they weren't exactly on top they are reasonably high enough.
I think I actually prefer how substantial these are over the option of just one fixture in here. Because it really is a sadly boring/high ceiling that used to dominate the room.
I'll show you a bit more of what things look like (and what else needs to be done) tomorrow!