INSPIRATION: MICHELLE JAMES LIGHTS & HOME

Somehow I missed these lights by  Michelle James in the last issue of Est Magazine (which BTW I think is my favourite online mag), but came across them by random last week. Aren't they fabulous? I am a long way away from decorating our formal lounge (thanks to my "career break") but these are the first lights I have seen which I am really excited about for that room - vintage but very cool.

And her Brooklyn home is amazing. Love the restrained neutral palette and vintage vibe within the federation structure. Maybe she would like a house guest in a few weeks....?

LIGHT FITTINGS ARE UP

One of the projects that was finished in the mad rush before the holidays was having all the light fittings hung. It took the electrician two full days due to the level of fiddling around which goes along with vintage lights.

There are still a couple of tweaks to make but I am really pleased with how it all turned out.

This is the "hero" light which hangs in the front foyer.

And its smaller cousin at the back of the foyer.

The matching pair of schoolhouse lights from the Old Home, are in the family room and adjoining study.

I ended up finding this vintage Czech factory light at Duck Egg Blue in Balmain. My fantastic electrician spent a long time rigging it up and I love the way it looks. However the light it gives out is a little gloomy - reminding us all that we are lucky not to be working in turn-of-century Czech factories!

A medium sized vintage schoolhouse shade is baton-fixed in the sun-room.

This large vintage schoolhouse shade is in the master bedroom.

And there are four of these in the other bedrooms and upstairs foyer.

This little vintage shade is in the small hallway between the main bath and the guest bath.

Despite finding some fantastic ones, I ended up leaving the outdoor lights until another time - when I have saved up a little more.

I HAVE LOST COUNT OF LIGHTS

I have a spreadsheet. But that doesn't seem to be enough to help me make sense of the dozens of UPS boxes piled up in my office (to the amusement of my colleagues) and my home.

Since I last posted on lights, I think I have purchased another seven, but a few I had ordered turned up broken or were not quite right, so there have been a many machinations. I need to concentrate, unpack all the boxes and work out exactly what is what and where it will work.

Here's what I do know.

Living Room + Study: Tick. Vintage school house shades transported from Old Home.

Downstairs Halls: Tick. Three great vintage holophane fittings of various shapes.

Bedrooms: Tick. I finally found a set of three vintage school house shades (in the US), plus another similar larger one - so these cover off the four bedrooms. The photo below shows the (hopefully) finished product once I buy new fitters and rods for the school house shades.

Sunroom: Tick. Another vintage school house shade - just like above but a little smaller. This one will be baton fixed to the ceiling.

Bathrooms: Done. I think. The milkglass shade was way too big in the space and the "economical pair of milk-glass shades" (here) didn't work out - one broke in transit, but they were ugly anyway and way too big for scones. But at a great Etsy shop, LampGoods, I found a smaller vintage shade for the ceiling and a pair of small holophane shades which have been converted into sconces. The milkglass shade I had ear-marked for guest bathroom is just fine.

Upstairs Halls: In progress. The streetlamp, not only had no presence but also appeared to be made out of a cross between plastic and glass (urghh!). Therefore the large milkglass shade is back in the upstairs hall. I need to find two more smaller fittings for the side halls of similar style. Have my eyes on these two, again from LampGoods.

Dining Room: Hmmm. Was thinking about one of these from Complete Pad. But can't seem to commit. Should I look for something more interesting like this one?

Outdoors: I have found these ones at Complete Pad (same supplier as above), and also have my eye on the il Fanale collection from Magins, which are similar. They are all very expensive so I haven't yet pressed the button.

Lounge Room: Not Done and will be left until I discover more budget and inspiration.

Laundry etc etc: Am I really spending time worrying about lights for a laundry....? Maybe all the lights which got rejected along the way can live here!

LIGHT FITTINGS - NINE DOWN, FOURTEEN TO GO

More progress on the light fitting countdown. Bathrooms are largely taken care of. I have decided to assign this large milk glass shade to the main bathroom, and have acquired a similar style flat milkglass shade for the guest bathroom.

While I was on a roll, I also bought this very economical pair of small milk-glass shades, which I am hoping will make cute sconces in the main bath on either side of the to-be-identified mirror.

For the halls, I have found another large flat holophane fitting for the downstairs rear foyer (very similar shape to this one purchased at The Country Trader for the front hall but very different price!).

I am hoping a second-hand street light (again from ebay but no decent photo) has enough presence for the main upstairs hall, and have bought a smaller round holophane shade for one of the smaller halls upstairs. I need one more shade in a similar style for the upstairs halls.

With the bathroom and halls largely taken care of, I am scanning ebay daily for large schoolhouse lights for the bedrooms. I found a set of three 16" light shades which would have been perfect for the upstairs bedrooms, but I fell asleep on the couch and missed the end of the auction. Up there on the list of great ebay regrets!

LIGHT FITTINGS - FIVE DOWN, EIGHTEEN TO GO

While waiting for the perfect Australian based retro chairs to come into my life, I am also starting the hunt for vintage light fittings. There are a total of 23 light fittings, which with the exception of some very fiddly pink glass shades here and there, are all comprised of bulbs on cords (as per below!).

I have two original school house lights which I brought over from the Old House and I bit the bullet and bought the third one in this post and this matching smaller hallophane shade from The Country Trader for the two fittings in the main halls. 

Having taken a chunk out of the lighting budget with just two purchases, I am scouring Ebay and Etsy for school house and holophane light bargains. Bought this little beauty today. Not sure exactly where it will end up - maybe either the rear foyer or if it is large enough, the upstairs hall.   

INSPIRATION: HALL LIGHTS

Am on the hunt for some great feature lights for the halls. I can't remember how many light fittings there are in teh halls so it is all hypothetical for now.

Spied these lovely lanterns at Cotton Love.

And these at The Country Trader.

and this one also at The Country Trader (currently on sale!) and would be fantastic if there was only one light fitting needed - but have a sneaking suspicion it is more.

I am also on a search for a feature light for the main living room. But nothing has jumped out at me yet. S.P. has warned that I must exhaust all possible options before considering a chandelier - which I probably agree with!