New Dining Room Fixture – Allen + Roth Vallymede Multi-Light Pendant

We jumped head first into updating this old house as soon as we moved in – painting, taking down wallpaper, skim coating walls, electrical (not DIY because we value our lives), minor plumbing, you name it.  One of the things I’ve noticed that makes the biggest difference in an area is updating a light fixture.  New fixtures can be pretty expensive, so I usually find one I love and spend the next few months drooling over it while I save up.  Our most recent update was to the dining room.  Most of the lights in the house are your typical builder-grade lights:

We call them boob lights because we’ll never grow up.

But we had a special treat in the dining room: a very old, wobbly, poorly painted white and gold ceiling fan.

Yes, really.  Because who doesn’t love an eyesore that blows dusty air down on you while you’re eating?  We’ve lived in our house for just over two years now, and I’ve spent every.single.day. walking past this fan, growling at it.  BUT!  I’m really picky when it comes to light fixtures – especially for the price, it has to be something that I absolutely LOVE, so it takes me months to find the perfect thing.

Living in an old farmhouse, I wanted a light fixture that would reflect that style without being too “country”.  I’m in love with the Pottery Barn look; it is minimalist with a nice balance of modern and rustic.  My inspiration was this Mason jar fixture:

I didn’t want this exact one because aside from the astronomical price tag, I wasn’t sure I wanted to fully commit to the whole mason jar look.  I was afraid it might be a little dated in a few years.  After LOTS of browsing online, scouring stores, and reading reviews, I finally found the one:

It’s the Allen + Roth Vallymede Multi Pendant in Aged Bronze.  It has the same sort of look while also being a little modern, and oil-rubbed bronze looks great in older homes.  The instructions say that you can actually skip the clear glass shades that come with it and screw in your own actual mason jars if you prefer that look, but we stuck with the glass.  Plus, if you wait for a sale (we got 30% off at Lowes), it is a great price for a light fixture this large.

Once we bought it I pretty much cackled the entire way home, knowing that I was going to be able to smash with a hammer take down the ugly ceiling fan! [pro tip: turn off the power first.]

Let me warn you – if you are planning on hanging this beauty from a standard height ceiling, installation can be challenging and is definitely a two person job. It comes ready to hang from a very tall ceiling, so you have to get creative if you don’t plan on cutting and splicing wires.  We ended up using zip ties and our sweet Tetris skills to cram all of the wire in the canopy in a way that it could still be screwed to the ceiling without showing or putting pressure on itself.  Other than that, the rest of the installation was a breeze and took about an hour.

Much better.  The fixture itself is pretty sleek and looks more modern, so I went with these thread filament style Edison bulbs to balance it out.  They’re so, so pretty.  Be sure if you decide to go this route that you put these on a dimmer switch.  8 of these bulbs on full power at the same time can be overwhelming.  Set on a lower power with the dimmer, not only can you see the thread filament detail, but it lends a warm glow to the room.  I love it.

On to the next project!