On board with brass
One of the fun and surprising things about embracing this renovation is the design options are so different than what I am used to. In the suburbs, where we live right now, you are limited by traditional design and resale potential... for the most part. So choosing something wacky is off the table.
In a house like this, which will always be weird and wonderful and personal, the gates are down. As Kevin said, we can put a disco ball in the living room if we damn well want to! So the moments where we get wild and weird ideas, we call disco ball moments.
My disco ball moment was about BRASS. Totally off-limits in a house built in 2000 because it would look so 1990s. Dated. Ugly. Ugh.
But in this historic home? Brass is kind of... cool. Apropos. On trend? I don't know but I'm giving it a shot because it seems to be pretty great when done right.
The living room is an easy test case. Remember, shiny brass is already there! My idea is to warm it up with an aged brass (not as yellow-gold and shiny) with less metal and lots of glass. Add some Edison bulbs and black accents to match our modern farmhouse furniture. It's a low ceiling, so we're stuck with the impossible semi-flush mount, but I think with the clear glass it can work.
I found this brassy gorgeousness at Wayfair:
And 2 coordinating sconces for the boys' area, available with different names from Shades of Light and Wayfair:
Can't wait to see how they look in the space when it's put back together.
If you needed more rustic inspiration, I also fell in love with a couple of rustic wooden-and-black sconces from Shades of Light,
and a plug-in version originally sold at Magnolia Market, now available at Carolina Pine Country Store.
On the other hand, I still adore the black-ish Kichler Everly pendant we added in the kitchen in our current house. But in the new house the eat-in kitchen is quite small with a lower ceiling. Fortunately Kichler makes a smaller version of the same fixture that is identical. I don't know if the scale will still feel as impressive, but I love that it's an option so we'll give it a try. It's this one, the one you see everywhere?
That picture is from our current home, but it more famously appears in the Woodway reno on Fixer Upper and a million other designer homes. It's sold on Amazon in 2 sizes, lucky for me. The "Olde Bronze" is very dark, especially when seen overhead, so it counts as black in my book. Sold.
Next up? The echoing abyss of bathroom trends on Pinterest with white shiplap, subway tile, brass fixtures, concrete counters, woven rugs, and wow gorgeous. I happen to work for an analytics software company that loves machine learning, so I feel like I know how this works. It's a self-taught feedback loop of ideas. It keeps feeding me what I like. BUT I LIKE IT.
Here are a few brassy vanity light options I considered, plus the winner.
First a funky Vintage Librarian sconce I liked but it borders on nautical? See what I mean?
More traditional but not quite right with milky glass:
Since we're feeling funky, what about a sputnik? But I'm not sold on mid-century in this old house.
Love the shape but seeded glass is not my fave.
I admit I also like that I can sort of game the system by looking at similar pins to price shop. That fixture I love on Shades of Light? Similar pin from Wayfair is the exact same fixture, with free shipping. I feel like I am winning here.
For now I have ordered all the light fixtures for the living room and kitchen but I'm holding off on the bathroom until the renovation is a bit farther along. I know from watching lots of HGTV that things can change at the :35 minute mark. But it's exciting to have these ideas at the ready, and I love that we are trying new finishes, styles, and all sorts of new things with this old house.
In a house like this, which will always be weird and wonderful and personal, the gates are down. As Kevin said, we can put a disco ball in the living room if we damn well want to! So the moments where we get wild and weird ideas, we call disco ball moments.
My disco ball moment was about BRASS. Totally off-limits in a house built in 2000 because it would look so 1990s. Dated. Ugly. Ugh.
But in this historic home? Brass is kind of... cool. Apropos. On trend? I don't know but I'm giving it a shot because it seems to be pretty great when done right.
The living room is an easy test case. Remember, shiny brass is already there! My idea is to warm it up with an aged brass (not as yellow-gold and shiny) with less metal and lots of glass. Add some Edison bulbs and black accents to match our modern farmhouse furniture. It's a low ceiling, so we're stuck with the impossible semi-flush mount, but I think with the clear glass it can work.
I found this brassy gorgeousness at Wayfair:
Can't wait to see how they look in the space when it's put back together.
If you needed more rustic inspiration, I also fell in love with a couple of rustic wooden-and-black sconces from Shades of Light,
and a plug-in version originally sold at Magnolia Market, now available at Carolina Pine Country Store.
That picture is from our current home, but it more famously appears in the Woodway reno on Fixer Upper and a million other designer homes. It's sold on Amazon in 2 sizes, lucky for me. The "Olde Bronze" is very dark, especially when seen overhead, so it counts as black in my book. Sold.
Next up? The echoing abyss of bathroom trends on Pinterest with white shiplap, subway tile, brass fixtures, concrete counters, woven rugs, and wow gorgeous. I happen to work for an analytics software company that loves machine learning, so I feel like I know how this works. It's a self-taught feedback loop of ideas. It keeps feeding me what I like. BUT I LIKE IT.
Here are a few brassy vanity light options I considered, plus the winner.
First a funky Vintage Librarian sconce I liked but it borders on nautical? See what I mean?
More traditional but not quite right with milky glass:
Since we're feeling funky, what about a sputnik? But I'm not sold on mid-century in this old house.
Love the shape but seeded glass is not my fave.
The winner is the industrial triangle series I found from Shades of Light, and I think it's perfection for the master bath.
For now I have ordered all the light fixtures for the living room and kitchen but I'm holding off on the bathroom until the renovation is a bit farther along. I know from watching lots of HGTV that things can change at the :35 minute mark. But it's exciting to have these ideas at the ready, and I love that we are trying new finishes, styles, and all sorts of new things with this old house.
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