Mid-century light fixture for the kitchen

I finally found the perfect light fixture to put over my island. I wanted a brass mid-century swag light, and I found it on ebay — as usual:-) These can be pricey, but I found this one and made an offer of $28, then purchased when the seller countered back at $32, which is a bargain. 

I had planned to rewire it since it was so old and had already purchased a swag lamp kit from Lowes with plans to cut the 12-feet length in half. Since I don’t really have a place to work, I threw all the parts in a box so I could put it all away and not lose anything.

The fixtures were porcelain, but I could not detach the wiring inside, so I bought new porcelain fixtures at Lowes, only to find there was no place to hook the ground wire. Since the fixture had the ground wires, which I replaced with new, I searched all over and finally found porcelain fixtures online with a place for the ground. It was a tedious search. 

With much patience, I rewired both lights, then added the hooks (with anchors) for each lamp to hang from. This really made it easy to hang and install the fixture by myself as the weight was all on the hooks.

As you can see, I wanted to replace the chandelier. I really wanted two lights over the island, and could not just hire an electrician to go into the attic and rewire everything as I needed, and that is beyond my electrical experience at this point.

Just hanging, these lights look soooo much better than the chandelier before:-) These were more than likely over a bathroom vanity, but I think they are perfect here.

I *love* them, and love the mid-century feel they bring to the kitchen.

This is how it looked before.

And now. Love. Love.

I cannot tell you how excited I was to turn the breaker back on and flip the switch. Let there be light:-) I put in 60 watt LED bulbs, and they are perfect to light up this area.

I just love these lights, but I’m even more satisfied that I did all the rewiring and installation myself. I did consult my dad just to make sure I was on track, but I’m happy to have learned just enough about electricity from him to do basic things around the house. 

Thanks Daddy:-)

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