{renovate} let there be light

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend!

We had a busy weekend working on little projects around the house that we'd like to finish before spring actually hits and we don't want to be inside any more. The room that dominated our attention this weekend was the living room. As a reminder, here is our living room as of Friday.

In all the living room pictures I've posted, I've never shown the ceiling. While I'm sure no one's even thought twice about this (because really who care about a ceiling?), there was actually a reason.

We had this lovely character hanging smack dab in the middle of the room. From this angle it doesn't even look all that bad. In reality, it's electrical wires that have been taped over with blue painter's tape and then painted to match the ceiling. That's how we roll :).

See? Here's Chris removing the blue tape. 

Exposed live electrical wires = bad news.

We've talked forever about hanging a drum shade from the ceiling. First we talked about buying one, and when that proved to be more money than we wanted to spend, we talked about the best way to make one. But making one takes time and it hasn't been a top priority.

A couple months ago I ran across the Eden Pendant Lamp from CB2, I knew it would perfect for this space: afforable, stylish and had incredibly high reviews online. I've also noticed it  looking amazing in a couple other bloggers' homes and that sealed the deal. It needed to come home with me.

We knew we wanted the shade to sit close to the ceiling, so we had to create our own system for hanging it. First, we installed a box and a light bulb hanger (technical term, obviously). We ran into a slight problem when we found the ring that holds the shade up was actually a little too big for the hardware we had installed, which made the shade wobbly.

But it was nothing a little tape couldn't handle. MacGyver Chris simply wrapped the ring with tape to add bulk and make the opening more snug.

Which worked perfectly! Once the shade is all put together, you can't see the tape.

And here it is all installed. I love this shade because the bottom pops out incredibly easy so you can change the bulbs. It's also a great size for this room. It's over-sized, but not massive.

I don't know how often we'll use the light. I shy away from overhead lighting in general, but it's incredible how *finished* it makes the room look. Plus, it's a whole bunch better than the painted painter's tape :).

How was your weekend? Have you replaced any lights lately? How do you feel about overhead lighting?