The Common Sense Guide to Light Fixtures
I grew up with the saying, "Common sense isn't so common." That was our excuse when someone did something stupid. What's common sense to one person is still an opportunity to learn for another. I think something becomes common sense after you've learned from your mistakes.
So the saying should actually go something like..."Common sense comes after you've screwed up enough to know you don't want to screw up again."
Yeah, that seems more fitting.
We are working on our house these days, trying to replace what is broken and what I don't want to look at anymore. We've hit the 10 year mark in our house and it's time. Time to redo. One of the the things we are replacing is light fixtures. I spent hours and days shopping online trying to find the ones that I wanted and wouldn't mind staring at. When I finally found them, I took the plunge and ordered them. One for my entry and one for my dining table. What I forgot to research was the method the lights use to hang.
So, I'm about to make buying light fixtures a common sense deposit in your life without you having to screw up and learn from your mistake.
Buying lights 101: Consider the slant in your roof. Is there a vault where you will be hanging the light? See my kitchen ceiling in the photo above? It's heavily slanted. I bought a light with metal rods that screw into a metal base. There is no give with a metal rod and a screw-in base. If my roof were flat, the light would work perfectly. BUT my roof isn't flat. So I was faced with a light fixture that tried to defy gravity.
Thank goodness my father is like Merlin with anything. He is a magician with his hands. I enlisted his help and after some more hours and days and endless measuring, he was able to build a contraption that hid my mistake. It took several more mistakes and many hours to get the light hung. Needless to say, I learned from my mistake and consider myself an expert now when it comes to buying lights. See how that worked? I now own light fixture common sense! I'm awesome.
What to learn from this...
If your roof is slanted, buy lights with a chain or wire that accept gravity!
I got so caught up in the light I wanted that I forgot to read the fine print. So, read the dimensions, and don't forget to consider the weight of your light and see if you can in fact hang it without hiccup.
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Mandy Cheney is a contributing Blogger for Prime.
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