One of the hardest parts of making decisions when building or finishing out a house is knowing whether the choices you’ve made really will be the best ones. Will the scale be right? Will the color(s) be great together? We analyzed every last detail of our choices for the lake house at Carlton Landing to the nth degree. So I thought it might be helpful to chat about how some of those decisions panned out and see how we’re really using things.
You may remember the lighting “workbook” I did when we were in the planning stages. We were allotted space within the buildout for several fixtures including kitchen pendants, living room lighting of some kind, loft lights, bathroom vanity lights, etc. And I’m happy to say that I’m thrilled with every choice that we ended up making – and even the choices we’ve ended up not making. When it comes to lighting, I’m want form and function. A gorgeous fixture, but with an adequate amount of light put out because I am a light JUNKY. If it’s dim, I don’t want it. So there’s always the fear of “Did I make the right decision? Will we be stuck?!”
Initially I’d planned to do a pair of these Citrus table lamps in the living room, but I hesitated to pull the trigger on two. And I’m so glad that we didn’t – in the end with the final way we laid out the furniture, they would’ve felt in the way. I’m much happier with having one statement lamp by the back entry on a simple clean table (and I can’t wait to take my new Rita Ortloff painting down next weekend to put on the wall there! I DIE!)
But perhaps the best reason I’m happy we didn’t do table lamps (which totally goes against my grain – I ALWAYS want table lamps!) is because of the two mounted semi-flush pendants we chose for the living room. With the overall space of the living room/kitchen/dining area being relatively small and requiring a lot of shared use, it makes better use of the space to have those gorgeous pendants as our ambient light source. And they visually stay out of the way whereas table lamps would’ve been cluttering to the eye. They provide the perfect amount of soft light much in the same way the table lamp I chose does.
The other thing I appreciate about the pendants is that they don’t steal the show from the two faaaabulous Kichler pendants with the fresnel lenses. I squealed, clapped my hands and danced up and down when I finally saw them installed. They make my heart sing and they put out just the right amount of light for the kitchen.
The only thing we’ve held out on making a decision on is the two allotted spaces on either side of the upstairs loft that is open to the entryways below. Initially I thought we might do a couple of big casual chandeliers, but now that we’ve been in the house for a few months, we’re discovering that it might be best to put a couple of cool ceiling fans in either side to circulate the air downstairs better. So no decision has been made, and in this case, no decision was the best decision.
Ok moving on to the second floor. Upstairs in the hallway landing you’ll remember that I photoshopped a pair of these Quoizel pendants into the stairwell space. And once they were actually installed, they were identical to the mockup. Score! They strike the perfect casual, nautical tone and again, I’m pleased with the amount of light they put out.
Finally, in the master bedroom, I picked out a pair of these Robert Abbey Delta lamps in baby blue. These are also a great choice if you’re looking for a table lamp that comes in a ton of colors, much like the Color Plus collection from Lamps Plus (tip: google the colorway you’re interested in to see if you can find photos of the lamp in action as opposed to the company-provided one. I found the color in real life of the RA Delta lamp to be waaaay different than the one shown. Different in a BETTER way for sure, but different nonetheless.)
So there you have it –
Big thanks to the fabulous team at Lamps Plus for helping us with the lighting at Carlton Landing! If you need help with lighting, definitely check them out. Services offered include in-home lighting consultations, in-store workshops and installation from expert, licensed electricians. American Lighting Association certified designers are available to offer product recommendations and advice in all our stores, by phone or online at LampsPlus.com.
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