Lighting

Kitchen and Dining Lighting | Myrtle House

We had another productive weekend at the Myrtle House! I am convinced that renovating a house might be the best workout out there, because man, am I sore today! This is mostly due to the fact that we started installing the vinyl floors in the bathrooms (lots of squats, y'all!), and I will post about that process later on this week. For now, I am so excited to show you guys how the lighting turned out in the kitchen and dining room. The amount of lighting in this space is on point, and I think this area is going to be so lovely when it is all wrapped up... whenever that might be!

This first photo is of the kitchen. The oil-rubbed bronze and crystal chandelier will be above a small eating area, and the gold and crystal chandelier on the other side of the fireplace will be the dining room. Please excuse my husband's derriere! :)

Elizabeth Burns Design | Kitchen Lighting - Old House Renovation/Flipping

In the kitchen, we did a mix of recessed lights with a couple of oil-rubbed bronze fixtures (one chandelier and one flush-mount). I love the contrast between the dark oil-rubbed bronze and crisp, white-ish beadboard ceilings.

Elizabeth Burns Design | Kitchen Lighting - Old House Renovation/Flipping
Elizabeth Burns Design | Kitchen Lighting - Old House Renovation/Flipping

And here are a few shots at night!

Elizabeth Burns Design | Kitchen Lighting - Old House Renovation/Flipping

In the little nook beyond the beadboard arch will house some base cabinets and the kitchen sink. The flushmount will be right over the sink.

Elizabeth Burns Design | Kitchen Lighting - Old House Renovation/Flipping

And here is the chandelier in the dining room. I took off most of the crystals so that they wouldn't be damaged during installation (you can see it all put together here), but I LOVE how this light looks in front of the brick. You can also see a peek at the vinyl flooring flattening out below. No vinyl for this room :) ; we are going to attempt to match the old existing hardwood in here that will continue into the kitchen.

Elizabeth Burns Design | Kitchen Lighting - Old House Renovation/Flipping
Elizabeth Burns Design | Kitchen Lighting - Old House Renovation/Flipping

We were actually able to sleep in the house for the first time ever since starting this project in January of last year. That felt like quite a milestone! It is really exciting to see it all slowly starting to come together.

High/Low Lighting | Myrtle House

If you follow along on Instagram (@elizabethburnsdesign), you may realize I am a tad lighting obsessed these days. There is good reason, however, as our electrician will be starting in a few weeks. I think we are finally done purchasing, and am pleased to report we came in a hair under our anticipated budget of $350 for all of the lights in the house. I love the mix of old and new and can't wait to see it all installed! In the meantime, I wanted to share two fixtures in particular that we purchased. I had originally fallen in love with their more expensive cousins, and was thrilled that we were able to find comparable substitutes for a fraction of the cost. First up is the Clarissa Chandelier from Pottery Barn. It looks like it might have just been discontinued (still available in a smaller silver version), but here it is in a blogger's home. This beauty retailed for $499.

And below is the Lowe's version that we snagged on clearance for $47. That is over a 90% savings! I was going to tell you to go out an snatch one up for yourself, but it looks like it may be about out of stock (at least in the RDU area). :/ The Lowes version has less crystals and slightly less detail than the PB version, but it is still gorgeous. If I get ambitious, I may try to add a metallic rub to the metal to make it appear more vintage.

Another chandelier we bought is for the guest room. While the two below are not exactly like it, the general design is similar. The Arteriors Chandelier from Layla Grace goes for $1236, and the Shades of Light Chandelier is $789.

Again, this fixture was purchased on sale for $39.75. It is very pretty in person and a great scale for a small bedroom. There is a green version of it too if you are looking for something darker.

I was surprised by how expensive lighting can be, especially when you are given the task of buying lighting for an entire house all at once. Have you ever had to outfit a whole home with lighting? Where did you shop? Did you splurge or save?

Lighting | Myrtle House

We recently learned that the electrician will be starting sooner than we expected, which is awesome, but we were lacking the majority of the fixtures for the Myrtle House. I prefer to collect things like light fixtures over time - buying slowly as I can find good deals instead of all at once. In a slight panic, Brian and I went to the Habitat Restore in Cary to see if we could find anything that would work and not break the budget. We found some amazing lights at such great prices! Most of them need a good cleaning and a few will get a coat of paint, but here are a few photos of the fixtures we picked up.

Elizabeth Burns Design | Myrtle House Light Fixtures
Elizabeth Burns Design | Myrtle House Light Fixtures

While we were not able to find everything secondhand, we did find some great deals at Lowes and on Ebay. I have been wanting to do a beach-y look in the guest room since I already have this "ocean" colored rug and am in love with the beaded and shell chandeliers that can cost quite a pretty penny. I saw this chandelier for 75% off at Lowes, and knew it would be great in this space. Plus, Brian had a gift card so I think we ended up paying about $3 out of pocket for it. :)

Elizabeth Burns Design | Myrtle House Lighting

We also decided to buy the guest bathrooms' lights new. I found these chrome three-light vanity fixtures on Ebay on sale for $25.49 each (free shipping, no sales tax!) and bought two. I had originally seen them at Home Depot, but they are out of stock until December. :/ Luckily, these ended up being even less expensive!

Elizabeth Burns Design | Myrtle House Lights

So between the old and the new, I think we have our major fixtures purchased with the exception of the kitchen light (thinking this for over the table). When all is said and done, we will probably end up spending close to $375 for all of the light fixtures in the house which I am happy with. I think it will be a fun mix of vintage and modern. :) Where do you shop for light fixtures?