Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Replacing An Exterior Light

Let’s talk more about things that were too tiny. But instead of yesterday’s mini-mirror, this time we’re taking things outside. To the carport to be exact. See that tiny little lantern hanging from the ceiling?

Carport Light0

Yeah…. she’s not looking so hot. Rust? Check. Cracked glass? Check. Teeny tiny dollhouse-ish scale? Check.

Carport Light2

So we’ve been keeping an eye out for a larger light since we moved in back in late 2010. You name it, and we’ve looked there (at stores like Home Depot, online, on Craigslist, at local outlets and secondhand stores like The Habitat For Humanity ReStore, etc). Ideally we wanted a big chunky clean lined lantern in a rich dark oil-rubbed bronze finish and a price tag that didn’t knock us over (we saw a few that we loved, but for the jumbo size that we wanted, they were two hundred big ones). And it had to be made to be outside since we wanted it to hold up and not get all rusty or be unsafe (things outside have different UL listings for that sort of use, so using an indoor fixture outside can be a fire hazard).

But finally, as if by some miracle, after over a year of looking we came across this guy at a local lighting outlet (The Decorating Outlet) which is one of about ten places that we had been dropping in on every month or two, just to see what popped up.

Carport Light6

And by some even larger miracle, this lantern was majorly marked down. Yup, the original price of $295 was slashed and then $159 was written and then that was slashed and a giant $19 price was drawn on in marker. Now we’re talking, right? That’s over 90% off! The reason? It was missing the ceiling canopy. No biggie, those are $6 at Home Depot or Lowe’s in the same dark oil-rubbed finish, so that definitely wasn’t a deterrent.

The other defect? The outside of the lantern has four panes of glass, and one of those four panes was actually missing. The funny thing is that we didn’t notice the entire time we checked it out (and we were holding it about a foot away from our faces). So we knew once it was hung over seven feet from the ground no one would ever be able to tell. Especially if we hung it so that missing pane faced the side of the carport with the wall of bushes (you approach the space from the front, and there’s a door on one side and a gate off the back, but no one ever walks towards the carport from that wall of bushes). And if it ever really bothers us we can get a new pane cut for it at a local glass store (if we have issues with bugs & birds trying to nest) for under $15, which is still way cheaper than the full price. The bottom of the lantern also slides out so we can keep that part removed so bugs don’t collect in there. Such a convenient feature!

As for hoisting that baby up, it definitely was a two person job (I held it up with both hands while standing on a ladder and John connected the wires – with the power off of course). Here’s a terrible photo I snapped while holding the lantern with one hand and the camera with the other while teetering on the ladder because I love you guys.

Crport Light8

Oh and before we settled on our hanging height, we measured our friend’s big SUV (just to be sure we left enough clearance room for taller cars and not just our short little Altima). Thankfully the carport is super high (over nine feet), so it can still have a bit of drop to it for that fancy schmancy lantern feeling (we didn’t want the top grinding up against the ceiling or anything) with loads of room even for tall trucks/SUVs to pull in under it.

Redo Lantern

So much better, right? We’re digging him. In person he just feels so much more in proportion to the wide open carport and the rest of the house in general. As a source of comparison, here’s the old guy…

Carport Light3

And here’s the new lantern, holding things down…

Carport Light10

Don’t mind that pile of wood on the right. Blame it on the de-eh-eh-eh-eh-eck-pro-ject. That doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?

Old guy from further away…

Carport Light5

And the new guy…

Caport Light After Car Far

Purty cute. Not exactly easy to see from the curb since our house is set so far back… but no longer invisible! Woot!

It’s just one of those proportion things. A giant high-ceilinged space with a tiny child-sized lantern can leave a bit to be desired (seriously, it was the size of one of these little metal tea-light holders that Ikea sells for $3.99). So nineteen bucks later ($25 if you factor in the canopy we added) we ended up with something that’s not only an upgrade from inside of the carport, but it’s actually a nice crisp and updated look from the driveway and even from the curb (now that it’s to scale with the house and you can actually see it). Huzzah!

Carport Light14

Oh and although I pointed out how doubly-miraculous it was to finally find this lantern, which was thankfully the right size and the right price, the true lesson is probably that if you look long enough for something (over a year!) and resist settling for something cheap but not pretty enough (or pretty but not affordable enough) you’re probably likely to come across something sooner or later (and I guess over a year definitely falls into that later category). So don’t give up. Also, eat Oreo’s. They fill the hole in your heart until you find the ambiguous item you’re searching for.

Carport Light15

Even though we eventually have plans to convert the carport into a garage, we think we’ll still definitely appreciate having a light that we control with a switch that feels nice and stately.

Oh and here it is with our car back in there, just for comparison (and to show you guys there are still over two feet of space for a taller cars like SUVs – I promise we measured and all is good).

Carport Light After Car Close

Doesn’t it just feel more substantial and balanced than this old picture with the car in it from the same angle? And you can see from here that although the new lantern is a lot larger, it only hangs about 4″ lower than the last one did (use the ceiling line in each pic for comparison). So it’s not like it’s danging a foot and a half lower or anything.

Carport Light0

So that’s our little lighting/carport upgrade. Any other light switch outs going on? Have you been hunting for something for over a year that you finally got your mitts on? Was there a funny reason why it was on sale? Did hanging it involve two of you teetering on a ladder, silently cursing the day you found it until you got it up and permasmiled with relief?

Comments

  1. Stephanie says

    LOVE IT! I love the scale and the pretty pretty finish. Also, yay for little Nissans! (I have a Nissan Sentra and it’s my baby. I actually call it Baby. My mom rolls her eyes at me when I do.)

    I haven’t been here for a year but there’s boob lights EVERYWHERE. It’s horrible. But replacing them involves figuring out what exactly I want to do so I haven’t done anything yet. A couple on the main floor are off center and it drives me batty. So I need to decide if it’s worth the expense to have them moved.

    (There’s also a crooked AC vent that annoys me. I might be slightly OCD.)

    Reply

  7. Pearl says

    That is the most awesomest lantern light I’ve ever seen! It does look way better than the child sized one that was hanging before. We have a teeny tiny garage…seriously, your carport looks bigger than our garage! But I understand your desire to have an enclosed space for your vehicles.

    Anyway, good job guys! Looks great!

    Reply

  8. Margee Krebs says

    Great upgrade! I, too, held out for a new light in my recently renovated dining room. Went to The Decorating Outlet (or called) every week for five months. Was rewarded with a fabulous chandelier that is MUCH better in scale and style! Those guys are great! Thanks for turning me on to them!

    Reply

  9. Jennifer says

    Well, it’s not a home-related item, but I was LUSTING after many articles of clothing from the Webster Miami for Target line this summer……….then this weekend, I hit pay dirt and found four pieces at my local Target for 75% off, all in my size!!! Woooohooo! A dress that was originally $42.99 came home with me for $12.48. Yay!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I just love that giant clock (it used to hang in our sunroom at our first house, so when we moved in there was a nail there in the carport so I hung it up).

      xo,
      s

  12. Katie Rose says

    Digging the new lantern!

    There is definitely something to be said about waiting it out. Sometimes, during the wait for a particular item to decrease in price you end up finding something even better! Or, realize you didn’t like it as much as your originally thought. I can’t tell you how many times I have removed something from my wish list because as time went on I started to think “now, why did I like this so much again?”

    Reply

  15. paige says

    Random question:

    When you have a dangling fixture like that, do you not worry about things like Hurricane Irene smashing it to bits? The old one obviously survived the last storm…it just seems like the kind of thing you’ll find in your neighbour’s yard during the storm season.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think since the last one was so small and light and on a longer chain and survived (it looked to have been original to the house) we have high hopes for this one!

      xo,
      s

  16. Wendy says

    We were looking for bar stools for our new place, and my husband kept nixing ones that I found on KSL (Craigs List similiar here).

    We went to a rummage sale and found one for $1. It blends very well with the other two which we picked up at a garage sale 4 days after we moved here for $3 each. 3 stools for $7 that’s how the grad student-teacher family runs! Especially because who knows where we’ll be post grad school (this is a rental).

    We also held off on buying a few things for the wee one, and were able to find them for free on Craigs List when we lived in Northern Virginia. It pays to stick to what you know, what you can afford, and trust…while doing the patient research!

    Love the lantern, too! Very cool! :-)

    Reply

  17. beth says

    Any idea what the space above your carport is like? My parents put pull down stairs in theirs and finished off the flooring, now they keep outdoor furniture and stuff up there during the winter. Not so practical for bikes, but it would give you more storage space. You do have a lot of outdoor living space, but we have had many picnics under the carport when the weather was not cooperating for us to be outside.

    Reply

  20. Julie says

    “Also, eat Oreos. They fill the hole in your heart …” Too funny! You guys crack me up (along with inspiring me)! :-)

    Reply

  22. ellie says

    Off topic but I wanted to write an thank you note for the diaper rec. My 5 month old is sleeping next to me looking adorable with his big blue diaper on. They have worked way better then the old school ones we used with our first. Few blowouts, no rash. I’m so grateful! When I went to the store to buy them I told them a friend had recommended them because it seemed weird to say, “some people I’ve never met, but who’s blog i read, like these, and I am choosing to blindly believe them with no further research.” :) Turns out to have been a good plan. Thank you!

    ps. light looks great too!

    Reply

  23. Emma E says

    The new light looks fantastic! I am on board with waiting and shopping around for the perfect item at a good price. You are too funny about the Oreos! The Landscaping around your house looks so nice. I know how much work y’all have done. Way too go!

    Reply

  26. Amanda says

    Love it! Sometimes you just need the right scale to make it all come together.

    We’ve been working on our bathroom for what feels like FOR.EV.ER. and we were at the point of putting in the toilet on Monday…but then we noticed how short it was compared to everything else (new taller vanity, and slightly taller soaking tub). I drove around with it in the backseat of my car for two days before I could get a chance to exchange it at HD (oh, the comments from my co-workers), but we managed to get a taller toilet for the same amount of money AND the cashier gave me a 5% discount for using my HD card – how awesome is that?

    Still finishing up the details, but now I’m sure we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (I’ve said that for the last three weeks and been wrong every time – plumbing is our arch-nemesis at the moment).

    Reply

  30. Sarah@SBrandesDesigns says

    Wow in the first picture it was hard to tell scale & it kinda looked like a new lamp that was only a tiny bit bigger. Then pictures of it IN the space and I realized it is actually a lot bigger! I’m curious where you can get glass cut? Is that a specialty sort of place or do home improvement stores do it? I’ve been meaning to get a new piece for the curio cabinet the movers broke when they moved it but just haven’t gotten around to it… And now I’ll probably wait til the next time we move (less than a year from now) so that we don’t have to replace it again.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Framing and glass companies usually have it for a great price. If you look up a glass company in the yellow pages or online (or a framing company) and just give them a call they can usually help!

      xo,
      s

  31. Ashley says

    I love your upgrade!

    We just bought a house and had some light fixture change ups to do. Since the kitchen had been a fan with a light, and we removed it, we had to act fast and find a budget-friendly fixture NOW. Not ideal but we finally had our electrician come and put it up last night. I LOVE having light!

    We did get a cute industrial pendant light for our laundry room but didn’t realize that the door would swing open into it’s air space. Luckily, we kept the old and yucky little globe light that was previously there. I guess that fixture will be my year-long project! Thanks for that advice!

    Reply

  33. Tara Olson says

    Nice it looks so much better!! it is so worth it to wait. When my husband and I were dating he had mentioned this piece of art he really liked and we had looked at getting it but it was super expensive. Fast forward to 4 and a half year later and I found that piece of art at a Thrift store for 15$!! sometimes waiting does pay off!! enjoyed the post!

    Reply

  34. Rrachel says

    Looks great! We just replaced an ORB fixture in my former office with a DIY crystal chandelier in our baby-on-the-way’s nursery. I got an ugly brass chandelier with a nice shape from Restore (it was $5 but free since I signed up to receive their emails!). I spray painted it white and adorned it with crystals from Pottery Barn’s holiday clearance – I draped a strand around and attached it at each candle base with S hooks, then attached some individual crystal prisms at various points. Finally, I string silver seed beeds on fishing line, and used a hot glue gun to wrap them around the candle holders. We shortened the chain, it’s now installed and it looks beautiful! Final cost was less than $10!

    Reply

  36. Koliti says

    Thanks for another great example of scale & proportion (& style). Nice upgrade at an exceptional price!

    I had this teeny tiny metal stand by my backyard door – and I would think “I need to get something bigger to go there”.

    In Tucson we have a place called Bookman’s Used Books – you take in your used items (books, music, video, instruments, games, magazines, knick-knacks, stuff, furniture, etc) and if it’s something they want then they will give you “trade” credit for it. Great concept – trade stuff you no longer want for something you do (trade-credit never expires).

    A few weeks ago, they had the PERFECT larger size 3-shelf metal stand for my space! The price on it was $15, but since I have trade-credit – FREE for me!! Happy find, happy day!

    The other day I took the teeny tiny old stand there along with some other items and got more trade-credit! Love it!

    Reply

  37. Emily says

    The lantern looks AWESOME! I wish I had a giant lantern! And a carport to put it in.. :) We just updated our front porch with hanging lanterns on either side of the door. Lanterns make everything better. :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We actually had to get a new one when we sold the car, so we worked a Clara reference in there too- so it honors both the Burgsie and the Beansie. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  39. Lisa in Seattle says

    Wow, that *is* a very stately light fixture! Is there any chance the glass panes are a very standard size and shape such that you might be able to swap in something from a thrift store picture frame? Or is the glass a lot thicker?

    I’ve been wanting to replace our exterior house light for three years but can’t get the hubs to sign on to a “Dark Sky” approved fixture. (Of course, I don’t know why I’m bothering, since we recently installed motion sensor lighting over the garage which is on at a low level all night long. So much for Dark Sky.) But the current light, in all its bone-ugliness, does have a built-in power outlet which is super handy for our lighted Christmas wreath!

    Reply

  40. Bonnie Sayers says

    As often as you guys mention eating Oreos, I’m starting to think you’re one of their sponsers =) If not, could you suggest Newman’s Organic Oreos – good for the body, good for the Earth =) (And no, I’m not a sponser for Newman’s. HA! I just like to think of people relieving their stress with yummy oreos and being somewhat healthy at the same time. It’s a win, win in my mind =)

    Reply

  41. Ryan says

    I always think it’s amazing how the scale of an item can change so much picture to picture. In the first pic, the lantern looks small. In the other pics, you really get a sense of the size. I love the scale in the space! It’s a really great addition to the curb appeal (and probably puts out a ton more light too).

    Reply

  42. Laura says

    That looks great. It must be huge. Reminds me of a big weapon used in the Lord of the Rings. I mean that in a positive, funny way. Patience is a virtue. Good for you.

    Reply

  44. Sarah says

    Oh WOW! I literally cheered when I saw the after picture! What a great fixture, and what a huge improvement!! Nice work as usual, you two. :o)

    Reply

  45. Robin says

    Super light fixture!

    I agree with those who say the missing glass is an invitation for bugs or birds.

    If the glass panels are a fairly standard size, you might already have a piece of glass languishing in an old frame somewhere. Or you could pick up a cheap frame with glass in it on sale for a few bucks. Or even cut it yourself from a larger piece of glass you already own. You probably already have something that will score glass.

    Reply

  46. Marge says

    “So don’t give up. Also, eat Oreo’s. They fill the hole in your heart until you find the ambiguous item you’re searching for.” — Sherry Petersik …I’m thinking of this on a cross stitched pillow.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’re just using the same old bulb that was in the tiny lantern, but we’d love to replace it with something eco, like a clear LED! Will keep you posted.

      xo,
      s

  48. Karyl says

    Love the lantern! Did you know that Home Depot (and probably Lowes) sells window pane sized plexi-glass that you can cut to size with a utility knife? We used one to replace a broken pane in our cabin window until we could redo it glass and it was under $3 and you can’t really tell the difference from the real glass (it’s been 3 yrs now and holding strong).

    Also, you might consider putting in an energy efficient halogen porch light bulb too. Aside from the efficiency and that they are made for exterior use, they give off a great light that works well with lantern style fixtures. We love how ours works for our hanging porch light.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes we used their plexi for our play kitchen for Clara (the oven door). Love that idea too! And as for the bulb, we’d love to use an LED once this one dies (just using the old bulb from the old light until it’s out). Thanks for the halogen tip too, we’ll have to look into those!

      xo,
      s

  49. T. Y. Lee says

    Love the new light!
    When you guys convert the carport later on, are you going to keep it a single-car-garage, or try to widen it?

    My family is a one-car family (I prefer to walk places instead, and am fortunate to live in a “walkable” area), so I don’t mind a single-car-garage, but I was just curious what your plans are! I think two-car is better for “resale”.

    (my apologies if you already addressed this, I didn’t get a chance to read through all the comments yet!)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Our property line is right on the side of the carport, so we can’t make it a double, but I think it’ll still be a nice upgrade since it’s deep (lots of room for storage along the back wall and a car in front).

      xo,
      s

  50. Annie says

    Just have to say that I loved the random ‘eat oreos’ addition in this post. I too enjoy a good oreo (or twenty). In fact, my husband brought home a package the other night and in only two nights time I managed to polish off the entire package with my husband only able to grab 2 at most. Whoops :) Once you pop you just can’t stop….wait…that’s Pringles…but I think it applies to Oreos too.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Amen! We have to take them out of the box in the kitchen and bring our stack into the living room because if we bring the whole box into the living room it’s gone in a night or two! Haha.

      xo,
      s

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