The Near Mistake I Made with the Chandeliers (parts 1 & 2)

Hi Everyone,

This is another two-parter because recent developments have occurred about the alabaster chandeliers and other lighting. If you’ve already read the post, please click the link below to read part 2.

 

Part 2 Begins Here

 

We’re taking a break from the painting for now. I’d like to focus your attention on the new alabaster chandeliers that I just ordered from Brass Light Gallery in Milwaukee, WI.

Many of you know I’m not from Milwaukee, but I lived there for three years in the late 1970s. I visited my mom and sis too many times to count until Mom passed away in 2019.

 

How did you find Brass Light Gallery, Laurel?

 

I found them like I found many things by doing a Google search.

However, we need to go back to last May because I originally planned to do a different chandelier for the living room.
Please read about it here.

Then, I realized there was too much teal, so I changed the Gracie panels from the Robinson House to the Hampton Garden with a beautiful celadon green background. (below)

 

 

But before that post (which is a really good one to read in the link above), I decided to change the living room chandelier from the Egyptian glass chandelier to a neo-classical alabaster bowl. That’s when I found Brass Light Gallery in Milwaukee.

The plan was always to do an alabaster bowl chandelier in the den. However, the Egyptian chandelier makes such a grand statement in a room that has already reached its quota of grandiosity. Besides, the Egyptian chandeliers are nearly $10,000. I have so much I still need to do, and that is not in the budget

 

I opened up a designer account but never contacted them, that is, until about two weeks ago.

 

Since then, I have been working with the sales manager, Janel Previn, who’s a doll, and a damned hard-working one at that. She’s going the extra mile for me. This is just how she is. So, make no mistake, this will be going in the next edition of Laurel’s Rolodex! (It comes out every November and people who purchase it are entitled to lifetime updates!)

 

While the designer discount is only about 10% off, the retail prices are exceedingly reasonable.

All their custom light fixtures are manufactured in their plant in downtown Milwaukee, which I’ve driven past dozens of times.

Brass Light Gallery is a family-owned company that began in 1974. I love that. It reminds me of fantastic Crown Point Cabinetry.

While Brass Light Gallery makes indoor and outdoor fixtures, they are known for their exquisite hand-made alabaster chandeliers. The stone comes from Spain, and in case you missed it, the lights are fabricated in Milwaukee.

 

The first decision to make was selecting a style of which there are several.

 

 

While I like all of them, the Palladian style, with its lovely fluted bottom, was the clear winner. After all, flutes exist on the casings, fireplace mantel, and stylized palmettes of the Anglo-Indian sconces.

The next choice, and perhaps the most agonizing, is what size to get. Many posts discuss what size light to get for all kinds of lighting and situations. The measurements for all lighting can be found in the 333 Rules & Tips You Need to Know Guide.

Please remember that the numbers are a guide, not a decree from the Pope regarding sizing chandeliers.

 

However,  I have one rule that never fails me when it comes to most lighting.

 

If in doubt, size DOWN, not up. There is nothing worse than a light fixture that takes over the room. That is unless that’s the look you’re going for.

By the way, this rule is for light fixtures, not art or mirrors.

 

The common rule, which most of us know, is to add two perpendicular sides of the room together to get the diameter.

 

Fine, I have a room that’s 20 x 30, so I guess I’ll get a 50″ diameter chandelier.

WRONG.  That’s ridiculously big, but you might do well with two chandeliers or maybe even four in a room that large.

Here’s what happened. I knew that the living room could easily take a 30″ chandelier. However, since both alabaster chandeliers can be seen from the dining area, I want them to be the same size. Despite the super-high ceiling in the den, the room is only 10 x 13. So, I fear a 30″ shallow bowl would look like a flying saucer coming in for a landing.

In addition, they only had one 30″ chandelier in stock.

 

Today, I made a paper template, a 24″ circle. Luckily, the painters were here.

 

Haha.

It isn’t easy to see in the photo, but the size looked terrific.

Another thing I did was look at antique alabaster bowl pendants online. Most are around 19″ in diameter. Then, I saw two 24″ alabaster chandeliers described as large.

 

The next thing to decide was what to use to hold it up.

 

Brass Light Gallery offers solid brass stems with or without a break, and they also offer a chain holder. The 24″ bowls get three chains. As shown below, one can also do three chains or stems that go into a single stem.

 

This is also a good visual reference for scale.

 

Above is the Tuscany style with the 3-chain holder.

 

I decided on the three-chain version with a 60″ total drop, about 8′-6″ from the floor. I chose the chain version because I want to be able to raise it higher if we think that it would look better. With the solid stems, changes in height are not possible. They have a choice of three styles of chain. I went with their basic chain, which is lovely.

Because of the original ceiling rose, I can only do a six-inch canopy. I selected a simple stepped piece with a lotus flower design for that element. It’s so high up that no one will ever notice. However, flowers are abundant in the frieze, art, door/window casings, fireplace mantel, and guardrail.

 

Above is a spec sheet made for me, today.

We will always be looking up so the chains will be fore-shortened. This is a 66″ drop on this 30″ alabaster chandelier.

The next decision was which finish for the chains and canopy.

 

Janel Fedexed me some samples, and the winner was immediately clear: Heirloom Brass gets the gig.

And one last decision: to tint the alabaster or not to tint. Janel strongly advised doing a light tint to highlight the fluting.

 

Today, I created a new rendering.

 

 

This rendering was originally done when the room was still a huge mess, so I had to draw the wainscoting.

Near the end of the day, Janel sent me four of the Palladian alabaster chandeliers they had in stock. While some interiors would look fantastic with these, they are too gray and too busy for my classically influenced living room. If they don’t have something else in stock, I might have to wait to have some new ones made with less going on.

It will be worth it.

 

In the meantime, tomorrow, the electricians are returning to begin installing the light fixtures!

 

Without the alabaster chandeliers, there are 18 fixtures to install. But there’s a lot more than that, as I am still missing an intercom, all of the switch plates, and more! I reckon they’ll be here at least two days.

OH! On Thursday last week, I scrambled to get new light bulbs, which arrived yesterday. More about the lighting for Wednesday.

In addition, the den is getting painted tomorrow!

 

*********************************************************

Part 2 Begins Here

 

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

 

The other night, after I published my post, I had the arduous task of getting together all 18 light fixtures. Most I knew where they were, but a few I struggled with. I discovered that I put the kitchen pendant IN the kitchen pantry. Sometimes, I’m just too clever for my own good. lol

This morning, I was met with fumes from the stair railing I didn’t know would be painted.

 

However, the electrician, Milton, was there, and I knew I needed to go over everything with him.

 

I am trying to cool it with the negative self-talk, but I just have to say I’m an idiot. I have made mistakes, and one was not getting the sconces rewired.

You know those sconces I got on auction and have had since the third week in October 2023?  Those gorgeous anglo-indian sconces with the tinted aqua-blue hurricane glass shades?

Well, I’ve known all along that they needed to be rewired. However, I told myself that if the electrician can wire an entire home, they can rewire some little sconces. Nope. They don’t do that.

So, no, they are not ready to go up, but I found two sources from a Google search. One is in Brookline, and the other is in West Roxbury. Chris also gave me the names of a couple of places west of here.

 

However, last night, standing in the living room with the horrid single bulb on, I held one of the sconces up and gasped.

 

To set your minds at ease, it was a GOOD gasp. All I need is to paint the den and install these sconces, and we’ll be done—I mean, done. Nothing else. My guests and I will sit on the floor.

 

 

The other bad news upstairs, but not the worst, is the kitchen pendant.

 

I knew it was a bit small, but it was also too white, even with the yellow bulb. It’s possible to tint glass, so that would be something to look into. However, it would be better as a semi-flushmount ceiling light. I’d really like it to disappear; I’ll tell you why in a sec.

In the interest of seeing how wackadoodle paint colors can be, the image below is an excellent example.

The ceiling, coving, and frieze are ALL the same color.  (Cloud White 967)

No, the ceiling is not a brighter white, even though it appears to be.

 

Tha’s Milton, the electrician, an Adonis if there ever was one!  (please forgive the blatant objectification) He didn’t get very far with the first picture light installation. He had to run off to a class as he’s getting a master’s degree.

Anyway, he put up the bathroom ceiling light and the Katie pendant over the new toilet. (I will show you, soon.) That little toilet niche is one of my favorite parts of the renovation. Actually, the bathroom as a whole has turned out far better than I expected.

 

Oh, there was a question about LED bulbs.

 

I can share what I used in another post. The bulbs I got are softer and have a higher CRI  (Color Rendering Index) than those I’ve been living with. While they are 270o kelvins like the others I’ve used, they are considerably more white.

They are a big improvement, but I need to keep investigating to see if something even better exists.

 

Oh, there’s more.

 

It’s about the alabaster chandeliers; specifically the SIZE of the chandeliers.

 

This is hilarious. There was a little get-together this evening at a friend on Beacon Hill, and in our host’s living room lives a 35″ round ottoman, a 26″ rattan tray on the ottoman, and a semi-flushmount round ceiling light. How do I know how big there are? Well, there was a time I used to carry a tape measure around with me, haha. However, my host kindly fetched me a ruler. She was happy to oblige.

I can’t post the images from her home, of course, but it’s not really necessary. I took pics, and I did find the light fixture online. I thought it looked a little small for the living room and maybe the den, too. Well, it’s 25″ in diameter—one inch bigger than what I was planning to do.

 

If the 26″ tray were my chandelier, it would be a little too small for my living room.

;

The 35″ diameter would be too large, but not by much.

Therefore, it’s clear that I need to do two of the 30″ diameter alabaster chandeliers. They will be spectacular, but this is why I need the overhead light in the kitchen to disappear. The entry light also needs to take a backseat.

Alas, they only have one, but it is a beauty.

 

Janelle sent me this exquisite 30″ diameter alabaster chandelier late this afternoon.

 

In the meantime, the painting is nearly done! I can’t wait to show you the den, but I must wait because the second coat of wall paint wasn’t on. But I can tell you this. The color-drenched den in North Sea Green with the Mayo Teal ceiling, coving, and frieze is STUNNING.

It is exactly like the rendering.

 

Okay, I am falling asleep!

xo,

 

***Please check out the recently updated HOT SALES!

There is now an Amazon link on my home page and below. Thank you for the suggestion!

Please note that I have decided not to create a membership site. However, this website is very expensive to run. To provide this content, I rely on you, the kind readers of my blog, to use my affiliate links whenever possible for items you need and want. There is no extra charge to you. The vendor you’re purchasing from pays me a small commission.

To facilitate this, some readers have asked me to put

A link to Amazon.com is on my home page.

Please click the link before items go into your shopping cart. Some people save their purchases in their “save for later folder.” Then, if you remember, please come back and click my Amazon link, and then you’re free to place your orders. While most vendor links have a cookie that lasts a while, Amazon’s cookies only last up to 24 hours.

Thank you so much!

I very much appreciate your help and support!