To make room for our DIY-ed clothespin light, first we had to give the current fixture the ol’ heave-ho:
Well, not literally. Since there’s actually something kinda charmingly retro about that puppy, we wanted to give him a new life somewhere else in the house instead of sealing his fate (aka: donating him to the Habitat For Humanity ReStore). That’s where this hallway that leads to the guest room, hall bath, playroom, and nursery comes in:
Clearly our hallway screams “nothing to see here folks, move along” for the time being, so there’s certainly a lot to be improved upon. But our attention kept going to this 18″ wide (I’ll pause while you digest just how wide that is) behemoth of a swirly ceiling-fan-ish glass shade. This picture does not do justice to its sheer size and resemblance to a giant serving dish for a twenty pound turkey or five million brownies in a pyramid. Be careful not to stare too long, you might fall under its hypnotic spell…
Are you getting sleepy? Well, if you aren’t – apparently I was. Because moments after turning off the power, taking that honking twice-as-large-as-the-soon-to-be-installed-light down, and readying myself to install the smaller and more streamlined retro laundry fixture in its place… this happened:
No sooner did the loud shatter stop ringing in my ears did I hear this from the other room: “John, PLEASE tell me was the old light.”
Sadly I couldn’t. As I raised the metal base of the laundry light towards its new home in the hall ceiling, I failed to notice the glass cover had accidentally come with it – barely hanging on by one screw. Call it working too fast. Call it butterfingers. Call it errant flashbacks from cleaning up after someone who pooped in the bath that morning (hint: it wasn’t me, Sherry, or Burger). Whatever my excuse, this current all-my-fault situation…
… was giving me crazy deja vu to this previous all-my-fault situation…
The lesson here? Don’t let me near anything fragile in a hallway. Ever.
The other lesson? Bless Home Depot for selling similar glass bulb covers for seven dollars. A quick trip out to the store followed by some much-more-careful light fixture installation left us with this (don’t mind the ugly attic pull-string in the background- we’ll have to upgrade that):
It’s not quite the same as the original (which had subtle frosting on all sides, whereas this has a more distinct white band and a translucent base) but we don’t really mind the slight difference. Sherry’s considering the whole spray-frost option down the line if she changes her mind, but we’re happy to live with it as-is for now. And at least finding something similar spared us from having to reinstall the old light again. Which is basically the DIY version of the walk of shame.
We’ll be the first to admit that the new fixture hardly qualifies as a “room transformation,” but maybe we’ll do something fun with it down the line – like paint the base a fun color, or add stripes a la this $75 version from Schoolhouse Electric:
We learned from our other hallway (where we hung a ton of frames) that this type of small space can actually be a fun spot to do something semi-dramatic. So we’ve talked about DIYing some wainscoting or some other architectural detail (and maybe even using a bold-ish color above the rail). The only challenge will be working around all the other wall acne. Like this oh-so-attractive doorbell for example:
Maybe when it comes time, we’ll shop for a new doorbell at this place…
Random side note: when I briefly studied improv comedy at the Upright Citizen Brigade Theatre in New York, that girl was in my class. Clearly we followed similar paths in life.
Oh look, now I’m all sidetracked. Where was I? Oh yeah, apparently I break stuff. You?
Crystal says
I have the same wall acne! Ours is broken and needs to come down.
Connie says
You studied at UCB?? Very cool… My friend Michael Hartney performs there sometimes. If you ever come back to visit keep an eye out for him, he’s amazing!
And I think you should definitely paint the light like the one from Schoolhouse Electric… very retro chic.
Lauren says
Oh I am so so clumsy. I break things and myself daily (and that is not an exaggeration.) I just wrote about how I hurt myself yesterday here.
http://filingjointly.blogspot.com/
It’s good to know I’m not the only bumbling being out there.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, hilarious post.
xo,
s
Ali says
Those retro lights are ALL over our house, left here by the previous owners. I like them in certain spots, but they are starting to drive me a little insane :) But they do have a certain charm to them, definitely. I like yours in it’s new spot!
hannah says
uuummm… ORB the wall acne? :)
anything is better than the gold/ smoker yellow plastic!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, it’s true. I’ll spray anything that doesn’t move (lookout sleeping Burger).
xo,
s
Autumn says
Awww now i’m thinking about the poor dog! My husband put a screwdriver through the ceiling trying to locate where the bathtub was leaking. It’s still in the celing above the dining room table. Why do all simple “fix ups” turn into messy, broken glass/drywall?
Kim says
There are some interesting white animal creations on Joss and Main today. Thought of you when I saw them.
YoungHouseLove says
Love them! You know me well. Haha.
xo,
s
Rebecca says
I had a dream last night about your ceramic dog – I thought it was just another crazy pregnancy dream, but since you posted a picture of the dog today, I’m thinking it was half pregnancy related and half prophetic. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, too funny! You’ve got a mind-reading bun in the oven.
xo,
s
Anna says
Just wanted to leave a general comment and say that you guys make home renovation look easy! And it’s definitely not. My husband & I attempted our first itty bitty foray into DIY projects and tried to put a curtain rod up last night. It was NOT pretty. We have 15 foot ceilings and the wall of windows spans 10×12 – the owner (our landlord) never put a window covering up, even though she lived there for about 5 years! After living without any privacy for nearly 18 months we finally got fed up. One trip to IKEA for 118″ curtains and curtain rods, two trips to Home Depot (who knew screws would completely pop out of drywall without anchors to hold them in?), snapping at each other and a near-breakdown on both of our parts, and our curtain rods finally went up about 5 hours after we started. They’re of course a little crooked, the curtains are dragging on the floor a bit (screw the hem tape at this point) and we have about 8 giant extra holes in addition to the ones we actually used (ugh…don’t ask) BUT – it’s up. What a nightmare!
Thanks for all you do. I was dreaming of owning and decorating our first house and I’m a little spooked now, but I’ll keep reading!
PS – what do you recommend using to fill those giant craters (oops, I mean holes)?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, we’ve so been there! As for filling those holes I love the lightweight Dap spackle with the red lid. And a pretty firm caulk knife (plastic ones work just as well as the metal ones for holes). Good luck!
xo,
s
Clarissa says
Luckily, it’s not about the things you break but how you regroup and your hallway update looks like an overall success. Does this mean a new “how this thing became broken” illustration could be in the works?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I for one would love that. John’s things-breaking sketches crack me up.
xo,
s
Carrie says
Funny….we just cleaned up poop in the tub this past weekend!! Glad to hear we aren’t the only parents having fun with that! :-)
T.D. says
Every time I visit my sister and she makes quesadillas, let’s just say she hides her quesadilla maker. Ok, so I broke one or two or…?
To my defense, I have yet to break my own though, hmm must be some kinda jinx.
P.S. For those who have never heard of a quesadilla maker here’s a link to the amazing machine to pick one up S.T.A.T. (hope you don’t get the curse):
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Salton-Santa-Fe-Quesadilla-Maker/5639871
P.P.S. I’m also no swag, Walmart or Salton (I think?) did not pay me for this.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- I love it. We don’t have one. Yet. Might need to put it on my gift list for the fam. Haha.
xo,
s
Marla says
I was afraid to read on and find that the other dog broke. whew! There’s something appealing about the light you’re ditching – kind of art deco looking. But I like where you’re going with the idea to paint some stripes on the other one. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
Ted says
Oh yeah, apparently I break stuff. You?
Yeah…it’s a guy thing. We build lots of stuff and break a little along the way. It happens.
Katie Adams says
I love that school house light. Reminds me of this great store: http://www.rejuvenation.com/types/Flush_Lighting.html
Enjoy!
YoungHouseLove says
Love that store! Sigh.
xo,
s
Karla says
Funny post! I am in love with the idea of something dramatic in that hallway. Have you ever thought of bold wall paper?
YoungHouseLove says
That could be fun! It’s visible from a lot of rooms so it would have to be something that goes with everything. But it could really be a cool choice actually! Thanks for the suggestion.
xo,
s
Karla says
I know what you mean! If you’re maybe if you want something bold that can be easily changed, maybe a stencil will work? I don’t know. I’m kind of obsessed with giant lattice or knotted stencils right now. That way you can choose your own colors and maybe do it kind of inexpensively.
YoungHouseLove says
So much fun! Always a possibility!
xo,
s
Katie B. says
I have that same light fixture in my kitchen! (The broken one.) I was thinking about moving mine to the hallway as well because the hallway fixture is an ugly tiny brass/flowered glass thing. Not our style at all.
I just wanted to add that I just found your blog a few weeks ago and have been coming back every day since. You have fueled my new passion for home decorating since we bought our first house this year. You guys are awesome! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Katie B. So glad you found us!
xo,
s
Greer Carlson says
Love the doorbell skit! You could totally have your own Young House Love doorbell ring :)
Heather says
I hope you were also able to visit the Safari Park while at Natural Bridge. It’s so much fun. If not, it’s definitely worth planning a trip back just for that.
YoungHouseLove says
Sadly we didn’t have time but we can’t wait to go back!
xo,
s
Callie says
Ha I love the term “wall acne”, I’m totally stealing it!!
While we’re on the subject of doorbells, we have a funny one. Our house was built in the 1920’s, and it has an old brass bell-knob right in the middle of the door that you turn and it makes a bell on the inside of the door ring. It’s so cute and quirky, but no one ever knows what it is till we show them (it kind of looks like a brass filigree in the middle of the door). Then our friends get v. proud of themselves ringing the “secret” doorbell when they come over…haha!
The white retro light is so cool! Totally worth trying something unique on, like frosting the bottom and/or a leetle stripe. Thinking of the attic pull – in our house we have ceiling fans and I (wifey) am too short to reach the fan pulls :| so we found additional coppery pull chains from Lowes that we attached (like this: http://www.lowes.com/pd_80730-1811-FP10_4294857048__?productId=3122781&Ntt=pull+chain&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl_Lighting%2BPull%2BChains_4294857048__s%3FNtt%3Dpull%2Bchain%26page%3D3&facetInfo=). I wonder if something similar would work for your attic? Maybe it would be too distracting, but we love the eye-level visual diversity. My husband wants to take them with us whenever we move someday, as a momento of our house :)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so funny because we had these pretty clear crystal pulls on the fan in the old house that I was contemplating, but someone mentioned installing some sort of subtle metal loop on the attic door and then using a 3′ dowel with a hook on the end to pull it down (and storing that in a hall closet when not in use) so that started to sound fun and James Bond-ish!
xo,
s
Callie says
Yeah I like that idea too Sherry! It might be less distracting for a hallway, especially depending on ceiling height. And who doesn’t love a good secret-ish passage?! =)
Leanne Wight says
Thank you so much for that SNL clip! I laughed my head off! Great post! I love your blog and read it every day, sometimes twice a day if you all post more! You are my daily addicition, besides my morning cup of deliciousness (coffee) of course! :0)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Leanne. You’re sweet.
xo,
s
{hooked on hickory} says
what a bummer! i totally think you should DIY the school house electric light!
ashley
Ali says
You know, I was just thinking today, ‘do they ever have something just break?’ Of course, I blacked out the ceramic dog episode. So, not glad that you broke something, but glad to know you’re human. :) Glad it was only a $7 mistake! A giant oak in our front yard dropped a giant branch that took out our lamp post. :( More expensive than $7. Sigh.
And yes, we break stuff ALL the time. I’ve stopped getting so upset about it because it’s just going to happen!
Ali says
Oh, and does the Decorating Outlet have lamp posts? Or just interior lights?
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, I think just interior. Maybe call and just make sure though?
xo,
s
Colleen P. says
Ugly doorbell has an EASY fix-spray paint especially made for plastic! I started out with a brown doorbell cover, a very yellowed smoked detector cover and a white thermostat all on the same wall-popped the covers off the first two, put umpteen thin coats of the spray paint on them from a lot of angles and now they play nicely with the new white thermostat.
Also used it in black, along with loads of tape, to take one of those half round windows with segments from yellowed in the sun to glossy black.
It’s great stuff!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh that’s smart!
xo,
s
Jeannette Barnes says
My husband has had terrible luck with glass items. One of the first days in our home, he was hanging blinds in our bedroom and tipped a hammer back too far, breaking the pane of glass above our bed. A few months later, while we were updating my parent’s bathroom (as a Christmas present to them, because they are not very DIY savvy), he had a brand new mirror resting against a cabinet, ready for install. He accidently bumped this silly heated towel rack, which tapped the mirror and tipped it over. It shattered. Last week, it was my flower vase on our mantle. So we are very accustomed to sweeping, and to buying glass items multiple times :)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, poor guy! And poor glass objects that keep breaking in his presence!
xo,
s
heather h says
2 mornings ago i got all nesty (9m pregnant) and started cleaning the fridge. i proceded to spill soup all over the floor AND shattered the glass to to one of the drawers in my sink…right over the dispossal. GO ME
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man. John shattered a mixing bowl the other night and it was crazy! Clara was on the floor nearby and it went everywhere and I freaked but somehow managed to scoop her up and run into the other room while John cleaned up and no one got hurt! It’s the worst, but that stuff seems to happen from time to time.
xo,
s
Mindy says
Okay, so first of all, I had that SAME exact ‘serving dish’ shade in my house when I bought it. Mine also had to go.
Second, I too, have an ugly doorbell that I inherited with the house. I did paint over the God awful gold, but in ten years, I still haven’t switched it out.
Third, I LOVE Schoolhouse Electric! I just don’t love their prices.
And fourth and final, I’m dying to know what you’re going to do with the pull down string. I have the same problem in my hall, but don’t know what else to do with it.
RachelSD says
As our household klutz, I feel for you John. It’s no fun being the one who drops/breaks things! :)
I’ve been renovating my mom’s house and couldn’t figure out what to do with the ugly doorbell “butt” in the hallway… then an electrician suggested a wireless, battery-operated doorbell. Apparently they’re available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Amazon, etc. I’m going to be looking into that…
Janelle says
“Which is basically the DIY version of the walk of shame.” Love that line. Way to self-deprecate. :)
pds says
Hey there, I’m noticing that the video is from Hulu. They can be pretty fickle about their content and have been moving older content over to Hulu plus, which requires a paid membership.
Just thinking about people in six months who might stumble on this post and might not be able to watch the vid.
Anyhooooo, funny post.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the heads up. Guess we’ll just have to cross our fingers that it stays up for a while (it’s already lasted a season or two passed its original airdate, so here’s hoping!).
-John
Jen_nifer says
Not just fickle in the future. Hulu won’t let me watch it now because I’m not in the U.S.
YoungHouseLove says
Rats. Sorry about that, but Hulu’s the only place that has that video (legally, at least) so we don’t really have another option. Wish we did!
-John
Nicole says
Schoolhouse Electric is in Portland! Perhaps they’ll feature it on Portlandia soon :) We have one of their fixtures in our hallway, too. LOVE it!
rosie says
Our house also had an UGLY doorbell when we moved in and it was oversized due to the fact that we have both a front and back doorbell that each have their own distinct ring. I DIY’ed a little cover using an inexpensive shadow box type frame and a section of leftover toile wallpaper from my dining room. So, it looks like a framed piece of toile on my living room wall, which is right next to the dining room. It’s MUCH better than the creepy and gigantic doorbell cover we had before :)
Erin Randall says
It’s a shame to admit, but my doorbell is almost identical to yours (albeit mine has plastic faux wood cover-ugh) and I’ve become completely immune to its existence. If we hadn’t sold our house a few days ago, I might be compelled to do something about it. *On a side note, I followed your advice on selling our home by owner and we had some major success (sold in less than 24 hours). :)
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- that’s amazing! Congrats!
xo,
s
cas says
the hallway seems like the perfect place for a chair rail and some chalkboard paint below it. Keep Clara entertained while being able to watch her from multiple rooms.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s definitely one possibility! My little artist loves to doodle…
xo,
s
Ally says
Your random post, which I actually loved b/c I really dig that retro light, is leading to my random comment: I’m going to NYC next week for the first time in 11 years. I miss the city!! And I just bought tickets to Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. I’m almost as excited about watching some improv as I am about watching the Broadway show I also scored tix to. Yay for random connections w/ ppl in blogland!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, that’s so funny. You’ll love UCB. Although I happen to think that John is the funniest guy who ever walked through there. I’m also a little biased…
xo,
s
Emily F. says
We had an ugly doorbell box thing situation at our house too and once we realized how expensive replacement doorbells are, I decided to just spray paint it. I took out my trusty Rustoleum multicolor Texture spray paint in Autumn Brown (my own version of ORB)and went at it. It looks MUCH better and still works great! Just an idea before you go out and replace it!
YoungHouseLove says
So smart!
xo,
s
Ana says
All the wall acne in my house is almond colored. I recently replaced the giant plastic box that housed the non-functioning door chimes with a wireless plug-in that’s hidden by the credenza in the dining room.
And I really feel for John. I did that in my old house, only with a new fixture. I was all excited because I’d gotten a good deal on a West Elm dining light. The BFF came over to help and everything. The crappy brass-and-glass fixture got removed without a hitch, but then somehow the new glass fixture fell in slow motion and smashed on the tile. I still didn’t put the old one back up though. Enough was enough.
Beth says
Good fixture choice but don’t be fooled by the price. If you look closely it says it’s for the fixture only, with shade it’s $137. I was on their site the other day choosing one of my own and noticed that… just beware. It is a lovely fixture though.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much for the tip!
xo,
s
threadbndr says
ACK John, you broke my kitchen light! Your old fixture is exactly the one I have, and you’re right, those set screws are TOUCHY. I have come very, very close to having that exact mess happen to me when changing bulbs.
I’ve learned to stand steady on the ladder and put one hand under the glass and GENTLY put the set screws in, not letting go 100% until I’m sure everything will stay put.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, gentle is definitely the key word.
-John
Andrea says
So, wonder if modern “serving dishes” exist? We have these all over our 1960’s brick ranch (well, except the hall!) I actually don’t mind the dish concept, but would love to replace the wavin’ wheat motif in the den, the dotted swiss in the bedroom… you get the idea. Even something in a plain frosted glass!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh that would be really smart! Anyone know if they exist?
xo,
s
Erika says
Every once in a while you can find plain frosted glass replacement covers at Home Depot and Lowes, but their supplies seem to change a lot. Buy them when you see them!
In our old home we had those types of light fixtures in all the rooms and I thought it would be cool if you could get simple blown glass pieces (like in a dish or large square shape) to put over them. Maybe even with slight colors, or textures like bubbles or lines in them. Unfortunately the only thing close that I found was in the lighting catalog at one of the big box stores and they were lot’s of $$$$!!
So, I’m putting it out there- Million Dollar Idea glassworkers!!!
Brandan WH says
Entirely too funny…the clip not you dropping the light. Sorry for you and the poop!
Grace says
Doorbells is a good one. But I am personally a bigger fan of the car horns.
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/new-car-horns/1205294/
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, always a classic.
xo,
s
Erika says
That skit was pretty funny!
We have the exact same fixture in our laundry room and I thought that it has a nice vintage feel, so I left it in place. However, we came home one day to find the fixture just inside the hall next to our laundry room shattered on the floor. It was one of those, oh how did you put it..”boob” lights that the builder’s put in and it had a gold base. We thanked God that it did not fall while we were home because the dent in the hardwood floor proved it would have done some serious damage should it have hit one of us, but we have yet to find a replacement. Since I have been considering a rip off of your clothespin chandy for the laundry room, I might do the old switcheroo too.
Great idea! Thanks!
Erika
YoungHouseLove says
Yikes! Glad no one got hurt!
xo,
s
Melissa says
Look up “Hallway Hopscotch” on Pinterest…when I saw it, it made me think of your bare hall :)
YoungHouseLove says
So much fun!
xo,
s
Jenny G. says
I can’t wait to see what you do for that attic door string hanging from the ceiling. We have the same thing in our house and I have been hating it for 2 years now, the whole while trying to decide on a way to make it look better but still be functional.
Megan says
I painted my doorbell thing. What a difference it made!
CG says
Sherry, Please teel me you saw the adorable white ceramic items featured on Joss & Main yesterday. If not, you should probably go check them out!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, I loooove them!
xo,
s
Laura says
This has nothing to do with the light situation but instead that attic pull down string. . . as unsightly as it may be, that is one of my best child hood memories! We had the same in my house growing up and it was in the hall leading to my room and I can remember running and trying to hit it every time I went down the hall! The best was when I was actually able to do it! I even remember coming home from college and I would give it the old hit! Ah, good times were had in that hall trying over and over to hit that thing. Just something to think about for when Clara gets older! I would totally teach my kids if we had one in our house :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw that’s cute. We used to jump up and hit the doorway above the kitchen in our house. Mom haaated it because we left fingerprints. Haha.
xo,
s
Alyssa says
Bahahaha I did the EXACT same thing last time I installed a new fixture.