After reading through all of your comments on yesterday’s post about what I should do with the areas above the washer and dryer in the closet, I’ve decided to add pretty pendant lights above the washer and dryer and then add a single large, framed piece of artwork on the wall behind each appliance. That was not only my favorite idea, but it also seemed like the easiest, which made it even better.
So while I was working yesterday, I was thinking about lighting. Now that all of the perimeter cabinets are in place, I can see exactly where the center light in the room needs to go. As you can see here, the center light (currently a ceiling fan) is off-center about six inches.
So I’ll need to move that junction box over about six inches so that it will be centered over the island. And that’s where I’ll be hanging a pretty chandelier.
You may remember a while back, I was looking for a pretty chandelier to go above the island, and I came across this one that costs $2300…
There’s no way I could or would ever pay that much for a chandelier, so I’m going to make a chandelier that looks like that one. I needed a good base to start with, so I ended up buying this one from Lamps Plus. (affiliate link) I was looking for a very specific shape to work with, and this one had it. I wasn’t concerned about the color because I’ll be painting it all white anyway.
And then I’ll have my cute little flower sconces in this cabinet section. I had hoped to get the wallpaper and sconces up yesterday, but I ran out of time. Painting this many shelves is taking way longer than I had expected.
Anyway, as a reminder, the sconces look like this…
And then I’ll be adding five recessed lights to the ceiling. Four will be spaced evenly in the closet area of the room, and one will be centered between the washer and dryer.
And then I hope to add some dimmable rope lighting to the jewelry drawer, which I finished yesterday. I got the inside painted to match the jewelry trays, and the front and sides painted to match the cabinets.
I ended up selecting very simple gold knobs for the drawer because there’s going to be so much going on here once the wallpaper is up and the shelves are loaded with shoes and other items, so I didn’t think I needed yet one more eye-catching thing on the front of the drawer.
And then I think I’ll add some rope lighting to the back of the necklace bar as well.
So until yesterday, that’s all of the lighting I had planned for the room. But now I love the idea of adding pendant lights above the washer and dryer. In fact, with pendants above the washer and dryer, I might not even need the recessed light that I had planned to put between them.
I spent some time looking at pendant lights last night, and I really don’t know which direction to go. Of course, I love unique lighting. I view lighting as sculptural artwork more than anything else. So my first inclination is always to find something that’s really unique and eye-catching. But at the same time, I don’t want something that will detract from the chandelier that I’m going to make for above the center island. And, I know, not everything needs to be a feature, right? Several of you have tried to drill that into my head over the last few years. I’m finally getting it. 😀
With that in mind, the only kind that really seems to make sense would be something like this (affiliate link)…
The white would coordinate with the other lighting (chandelier and sconces), and the gold would tie in with the other hardware in the room. Those would look nice and coordinate while not trying to be a showstopper to take attention away from the island chandelier.
Although, I did come across this one from Home Depot (affiliate link) that I think might work. It’s not plain, but it’s also not so attention-grabbing that it would be distracting. That silver would have to be painted, but that’s easy enough. And it’s only $20.68! 😀
Or is it too eye-catching? I don’t know. Maybe I should stick with the simple dome lights.
So that’s the direction I’m going with the washer and dryer area — pendant lights and large, framed artwork. But I need to find the perfect pendant lights. They need to be pretty. They need to coordinate with the other lighting (white chandelier and white sconces). But they don’t need to be too eye-catching to distract from the main chandelier. I just have to keep looking.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a look at this sweet boy. He can’t stand to not be around me, so he just makes himself comfortable in here and snoozes while I work.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
