Greenwood was a perfect blank canvas when I bought it a year
ago. The walls were all a milky white and with the exception of the downstairs
all the lighting was plain and awaiting my personal touch.
A year later and I have finally got round to sorting the
hallway and bedroom lighting. I mentioned previously that I had bought a light
fixture for the bedroom but not yet had it put up, well after coming back from
Austin I had more holiday money left over than anticipated and finally forced
myself to buy the hallway lights I had been deliberating over for several
months.
The difficulty is that I needed three lights for the main
landing on the first floor and one for the top of the stairs on the second floor
and ideally I wanted them to be a bit of a statement but also the same.
Since the landing is a slightly funny narrow Victorian shape
I also wanted something relatively slim that would not over power the space and
it did not feel right seeking something ultra-modern.
I once read that lighting is the jewelry of a room and I
think that is particularly the case in a thoroughfare such as a hallway where
there is no furniture and lighting and art become more important.
I spent a lot of time looking at period appropriate lighting
and whilst I love these, the upturned glass fixture would have required regular
dusting and cleaning to make sure that dust did not collect and I felt that was
not realistic for me given my lifestyle.
I wanted a fixture that would allow enough light to be
thrown but was not clear glass which would show dirt to easily. So I started
looking at opaque glass fittings which would throw lots of light but not
require lots of upkeep.
Colour wise the handles and light switches in the house are
all brushed chrome but I am not a lover of chrome light fixtures, and found
myself drawn to brass, burnished brass and black light fittings.
As the ceilings and floors are not completely even in my
house the fittings needed to be adaptable so they could be made shorter
depending upon the ceiling height. This meant looking at chain lights with
links which can be removed to make them the perfect height.
In the end I settled on a schoolhouse design with a black
fitting and white cloudy glass fitting. The school house lights have been around
since the 1920’s and was a style adopted in libraries, schools and other public
buildings. Given that electricity did not reach most homes until after World
War One they are also of an era when Greenwood probably first had electricity
which gave a good nod to the history of the house. The style is both classic, throws
a soft clear light which was perfect for the hallway.
The ones I bought came from Homelava and were £61.25 each, as
they came from China there was also postage costs of about £13. I would say
that had I not paid for an electrician it would have been very difficult to put
the lights up ourselves as they had to be put together and there were no
instructions.
I have put together some other traditional style lights that were in the running for the hallway in case you are interested.
