Young House Love

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Hanging A Moravian Star Light In The Foyer

Dude, things just got real in the foyer.

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We found this light at the local lighting outlet here in Richmond called The Decorating Outlet for $135 (down from $455 at Shades of Light, just because it had been returned). I had always pictured something big and architectural in there – most likely in an oil-rubbed bronze finish because there are a bunch of ORB doorknobs going on in the foyer and I thought it would look nice. Thankfully John was game too since the guy’s down with geometry and shapes and stuff. UPDATE: Here’s an incredibly similar moravian star pendant on Amazon since the Shades of Light version is currently out of stock. 

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Boom. The foyer is now my favorite room ever in the history of rooms. I want to sleep in there and eat in there and braid its hair and tell it all of my secrets.

In keeping it real news, it took us forever to hang. Like the longest it has ever taken two adults to hang a single light fixture. Someone call the Guinness Book Of World Records, for real.

Foyer Light Install

That’s the only shot I got of the process (snapped one minute into things, before this turned into the longest lighting installation known to man) but picture both of us on different ladders next to each other trading off on holding the weight of the light and messing with wires. The hanging hang-up (har-har) had to do with being sure to hang it high enough for my tall hubby to have clearance under it, while still being sure the canopy would thread (if we made it too short, the canopy had nothing to catch on, and if we made it too long, John would graze his head on it). Ten hours later – ok, that’s a slight exaggeration – we’re high fiving under it while holding one arm up with the other one because they were so tired.

I also hung some art and a mirror (the mirror’s heavy so it got 2″ anchors and screws while the art just got a few nails each). This mirror used to hang in our guest room at the last house (from Joss & Main a while back).

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Gotta love when a detail shot reminds you to go dust the mirror.

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I hung an Ikea Ribba frame with some linen-ish fabric and a favorite instagram picture next to the coat closet door.

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Eight of these were over the sofa in our last house, so I let John pick the one he liked best for the foyer. Turns out it’s me in a bathing suit. Men.

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I also hung our favorite swimmer girl next to the door (that’s a print we bought for our last house’s kitchen).

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We also have two favorite paintings by our friend Lesli (one of Burger and one of John’s Granny’s house) that we hung next to the bathroom door.

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And with that, the foyer makes every other room in our house look a whole lot worse by comparison (why do pretty rooms do that to the other ones nearby?!). But we can’t even stay mad. Oh foyer, thank you for making me see stars. Literally. You are the Hershey’s bar to my s’more. I can hardly remember when you looked like this…

Foyer Before1

Love you. Mean it.

Foyer1

UPDATE: We’ve finally transitioned our entire house to LED lights (they save tons of energy & money, and they’re a lazy person’s best friend because you never have to change them). For anyone wondering, these are our favorite interior LEDs. Their glow is warm & natural (not weird/blue like some of the others we’ve tried) and they use around 90% less energy.

* This post contains affiliate links

Comments

  3. Brenda says

    Oh, I love the light! There’s just something magical about star-shaped lights. The foyer is looking mighty fine these days. :)

    Reply

  4. Liz says

    Aaaaaaaaaamazing. I love it. And please tell me your friend Lesli has a shop somewhere that i can browse. I <3 the house painting. Adorable.

    Reply

  6. Sarah says

    It’s so funny I was just looking at that light on Shades of Light and then I pop over to see it here :) You all have totally transformed the entry way – way to go! Can’t wait to see the rest of the house get flipped!

    Reply

  7. Shannon says

    Love, love, LOVE it!! It’s the perfect fixture for that space. What an amazing difference from the before shot!

    Reply

  9. Amanda says

    your style in this house is being so different from the other house.. is so much classier
    I like it, but I love the second house style <3

    Reply

  10. karen says

    love it! i have a star light too that is in the foyer!! we got ours for $99 canadian!! that was a steal. supposedly they make these in mexico for next to nothing and the stores over here mark it up like 400%. Highway robbery!!!

    Reply

  11. JenB says

    It’s so cool how the artwork that you already have just fits in so beautifully. It just goes to show, if you buy things you love (rather than trying to be all matchy-matchy), it all flows together, you know? Looks awesome!

    Reply

  15. Melanie says

    Love it so much! It’s so light (ha) and bright in the foyer now!

    How do you feel about the floor? I think it looks nice now that it’s coming together. I cant’ remember if you guys were digging it or if you’re ready to rip it up and re-vamp??

    PS: every time I see that swimmer girl pic, all I can think of is when Clara saw it for the first time and exclaimed, “That’s a lady!”

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, she was so funny about the lady and the fishes. Oh, those were the days. As for the floor, we like to work with what we have and it’s nice in some areas but in others it needs some love to save it, so we’ll have to see if we can bring it back from the brink. Haha!

      xo
      s

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, I was just thinking this morning that I should have taken a picture last night in the dark of it glowing. I’ll have to update you guys with one of those soon!

      xo
      s

  18. Molly says

    Love, love, love, LOVE the new light! I’m starred with jealousy ;)

    Also, what color is your front door? It’s so bright & cheerful.

    xo!

    Reply

  19. Kerry says

    Ha, totally done one of those longest light installation known to man projects with a drum pendant to replace our chandelier in our dining room-turned-office…the box with the wires kept pushing back up into the ceiling as we tried to screw things together. Maddening. The foyer looks fabulous!

    Reply

  21. Ani says

    Love the light!
    The bottom two pics are amazing! It goes from dark and creepy to bright and cherry! The entry looks bigger too!!

    Reply

  22. Katie O says

    At first when I saw the light fixture I was like, “Uuuuuhhhhh….” and then I was like, “Oooohhhhhhhh” and by the end I was like “Ahhhhh!!!”

    Love it. Capital L. Luuuuuuuurrrrve it. I cannot believe that is the same foyer!

    Reply

  23. Scully says

    It’s insane how much better this light fixture looks in your home v. on the site where it’s sold. I would have never thought twice about purchasing something like this but after seeing it in your foyer? Swoon! That’s some gorgeousness right there.

    (SoL should consider uploading different pictuers!)

    Reply

  29. Heather says

    Adore the light – I want one too but I think it would overwhelm my smallish condo. I also love the Etsy art. Samantha French is one of my etsy favs and I’ve been saving up to splurge on one of her larger format prints :) Glad to see others love her as well! I recommend “tastesorangey” on etsy too.

    Reply

  32. erin says

    Gorgeous! I have been dreaming of a Moravian star for our entry for a while now. what a great find!

    Speaking of changing out lights and them taking time. We recently had a terrible time changing out a ceiling fan. In the process of changing installing the new one the light switch stopped working. Fan portion that was hardwired worked fine, but the light would not turn on via the witch. Despite power going to the light, as tested by a power testing thing (what are they called?), the light would not turn on by the switch. Many hours and lots of frustration later we put in a new light switch and everything was fine. Always something.

    Reply

  36. Caz says

    Amazing transformations like this make me wonder if the previous owners are reading your blog, slapping their foreheads and saying “Doh! So obvious! Why didn’t we do that!”
    Or alternatively “Nooooh! You can’t remove that lamp shade, that was Ben’s great uncle’s pride and joy that he traded for his last eggs”…

    okay, maybe it’s just me…

    Reply

  37. Laurie says

    I’m so glad it isn’t just me that has wrestled with an overhead light. I’m in the process of pretending that my overhead light over my front door isn’t still in the garage because it SUCKS holding it up that long while you try to wrestle with wires.

    The worst part is that I kind of can’t have anyone help me because I get crabby and snappy while I do this and that isn’t very nice. (That’s an understatement. I’m horrible when I’m frustrated.)

    Anyone ever figure out a way to hold up the light while you do the wires? I tried tape but it is too heavy for tape. I’m thinking a hammock device with bungee cords. OR continue to pretend the light hasn’t been hung…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Once I saw a guy hang cabinets all by himself with some sort of jack (you know how you hoist a car up with one? he rigged something up so it hoisted up the light). I have no idea how you’d do that, but I was super impressed.

      xo
      s

    • Sarah says

      We put a pillow on the top of the ladder and let the weight of the light rest on that while we hold it steady. Our ladder is a Little Giant, so it’s very adjustable. Works like a charm!

  41. julie g. says

    Love it! It is crisp, bright, warm and welcoming all at the same time.

    Sherry, I understand your neeed to never leave the foyer. We are currently renovating our front porch and turning it into a foyer. Once the walls went up I was spinning around Julie Andrews style like in the Sound of Music and told my husband, “I may never leave this room”. I think I am going to set up my office right next to the front door.I just love the foyer so much!”.

    He reminded me that two years ago when we had the bathroom done before the holidays I said I loved IT so much I was going to serve Thanksgiving dinner from the bathtub!”.

    Reply

  45. Somer says

    Hi! We (I mean, I did while the hubby watched) painted our master hale navy. Soon after, I kept staring at the white ceiling and broke down and painted it the lightest blue and HOLY COW, what a lovely update! I think all ceilings should be talked about from now on when painting a room. I’m so madly in love with my ceiling. I love laying in bed and staring up and thinking “Aw, yeah, baby.” and then smile really big. Can’t wait to see if you guys take the plunge and paint!

    Reply

  47. Brittney Everett says

    I LOVE IT!!! Love all the pictures choices! I love when it’s personal, not just someone else’s art! I could never choose a pretty picture someone else painted or photographed when I have seen and photographed so much myself! I like to remember where I’ve been, what I’ve done and re-live my life everyday!

    Reply

  48. Harmony_G says

    This is perfect. The entryway has come together so well and i cant help but wish i had that exact thing in my house. very awesome. :)

    Reply

  49. Jessi says

    I love it, so dreamy! How do you get the paint to make your floors look so good? Do they match? We have similar tiles but ours are much darker(blackish and green) and I cannot get the light lofty feeling I’m craving!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      The floors have a pretty blue undertone but the blue trim and the flowery wallpaper were making them look even more blue, so once we neutralized the walls and the trim it seemed to cut down on the blue-ness. I would recommend a light and soft color on the walls with white trim to see if that “tempers” your floor tiles. And a jute rug is always pretty! Maybe a round one if you have room for it?

      xo
      s

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