Lighting Over My Kitchen Table

To start out, I'm not going to make the same mistake I made here. I'm going to lead this post with a beautiful photo

From Elle Decor featuring a Christian Chaize print from 20x200. Love these chairs!

Now that that's out of the way I can show you my terrible before photos of what I'm working with. Again, please excuse the image quality. My good camera is on a temporary hiatus.

Let's use this as a Before photo for everything in general.

Totally inspiring right? I very recently sold my Eames Eiffel Chairs - reproductions. Not the real thing - and am currently on the hunt for a new table as well. Not sure what I'll end up with. More on that later.
Anyways, I can't find any lighting I like. And can afford (this is key).
I tried this last winter...

Zuo Modern Lighting

But they hung so low over the table and weren't big enough as a fixture. They just looked out of place. They would be wonderful in a loft. I don't live in a loft. Mind your space, you know?

Here's some photos of lighting I love. Peruse at your leisure.

From West Elm

This one's super interesting. And these are the Eiffel Chairs I was talking about. Mine were white.

I like the orange and zebra chairs in this too.

Love everything about this room!

I LOVE this one by Lindsey Adelman. Apparently some people are crafty enough to do it themselves. I am not one of those people.

and speaking of DIY here's one I found through Little Green Notebook

I keep telling myself THIS IS IT but have yet to get around to actually attempt it. Apparently, my friend Arinn can make lamps using items found around her house, like Macgyver, so maybe I'll solicit her help. Also, one of my problems with the lighting over the kitchen table is that it is mounted into the ceiling in the centre of the room, not over where the kitchen table would naturally go. So Stupid. So frustrating. So I need my light fixture to have a chain so I can hook it onto a ceiling hook over the table (what's that all called?). 

See my problem?

Gawd! lol this light is terrible.

I considered a pendant drumshade for quite some time but our kitchen and family room rely on our table light for most of its lighting at night. The recessed lighting doesn't cut it. I don't think a drum shade gives off enough light. Am I wrong? Do any of you have one?

They're oh so pretty!

There's my chairs again! Maybe I'll buy them again.

If you know of any good places to find anything similar to what I currently love let me know. I'm tired of looking at my sad kitchen chandelier.

My dining room, however, has the best light in the world! A sputnik replica!

This isn't my dining room. Or even the same light that I'm talking about. But mine is the same idea. I'll show you later on.

Remodeling Our Fireplace

 One of the most sure ways to give away your home's age is its fireplace. Some can be worked with with just a simple quick update, like a coat of paint (my friend Arinn is just going to paint her tile surround since her mantle is gorgeous). Others are teardowns. Ours were in between. So I tore them down.

The family room. Here I had initially considered keeping everything as is but sanding off the flower carvings (or whatever
you call that stuff), and then painting it black to match the tile surround. But I wasn't keen on the round cutout above it.

The front room. This one, I liked the structure itself, no flowery carvings (or whatever they're called) to sand off but I hated the grey tile surround and again the cutout in the wall above the mantle. Again, I considered painting the whole thing out either white or black.

So those serve as nice before photos. Because I didn't have the insight at the time to take proper before photos I photographed the realtor listing on my computer screen with my cell phone. Good enough.

I was stumped with what to do but our contractor, Billy Boyes, with Boyes Brothers Contracting, was starting work really soon so I had like a DAY to decide. Then I found THIS

The 2012 Princess Margaret Showhome, designed by, Linda Reeves.

I love the painted brick, minimalist fireplace, the built in shelves beside it, how it's flanked by large art and has a flat screen mounted low above the fireplace. And I've had my eye on that ikea Stockholm table for a while now. But I think they don't sell it anymore? Anyways, I decided, from this photo I had to have white brick going up the fireplace in the front room. It's a tall, vaulted, two story ceiling. It would look BEAUTIFUL.
Turns out, this is a very expensive idea. Even with the interlocking facade brick. So I needed more ideas. Here's what I found

Drywalled! Looks great, very close to my original idea, a little less interesting, but equally modern and minimalist.
Here's some more

This is from House and Home. I like the wood panelling.

This room is just a whole lot of interesting. Love it.

So I was reassured by these photos that  A. a mantle is NOT necessary and B. a simple drywall around a minimal surround will look beautiful.

Billy - I love this man - got to work tearing it all down, drywalling in the alcoves (or whatever they're called), and doing what he does to make my house look amazing.

Front room

Family room

And Billy's final work by my design
update: new photos!

Note the new hearth that wasn't there before. The black tile surround is from the original
fireplace. Saved us money but also worked perfectly with the look I wanted.

And the family room. To the right of the fireplace I have all my art by 20x200. And if you're curious about where I got any of my accents, I'm just realizing this is almost all Urban Barn.

Beautiful, right? I love when a vision comes together.