Dining Room Lighting

 If we did not move forward with your fixture or couldn't get it for a while, here are some thoughts about dining room lighting. 

First, let's look at some images that I have saved for the dining room in general, not thinking about lighting, to see what people and what rooms I like have in common. Don't say 'that piece doesn't work for us" I'm just gathering intel about what works.

I'd like to bring in some of that modern traditional, early American vibe where you can't quite place the period. Like not too costumey vintagey or farmy, but not too modern either. If modern, then should lean more Danish simple than space age.

So I think the gist we are getting here is that it can be modern if it is simple with timeless materials, or it can be vintage-ish and reminiscent of farmhouse if it is not too literal and has clean lines.

I can go lots of different directions here. My desires: 

-not too modern

-maximize light since that's the darkest spot in the area

-Create some levels 

-bring in different color/material. I don't think some dark metal would be amiss. Shouldn't be too matchy with kitchen lighting. Some brass ok. 

-I love the look of a big dome pendant but I understand that the downward light is a problem, which is why some kind of chandelier (loosely defined) might be better

Let's throw some spaghetti at the wall, shall we?

Crate and Barrell, $240 clearance

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Crate and Barrell, $400. Bronze or black. I could go either way.

West Elm. $700

Burke Decor, $589

Pottery Barn, $500

Lulu and Georgia $458

Pottery Barn. Love this one. $600

Bola (?). $200

Build, $470.25

Kitchen lighting finalists

Here is a cubist mockup of our kitchen with some lighting. 

Here are the three sizes for the fixure I want over the island:

https://www.westelm.com/products/sculptural-2-light-pebble-pendant-milk-w3785/?pkey=s%7Csculpural%20glass%202-light%20pendant%7C30

 

I'd be good with any of these but I think I prefer the first one. $209! Not bad.
 

Lighting for Kitchen

 We need lighting. I want to think of the whole living/dining space as one area where the fixtures aren't matchy matchy but complement each other. To me that means:

-a mix of materials (brass, bronze, wood, clear glass, milk glass)

-a mix of sizes

-a mix of levels (pendant/chandelier vs flush)

See my earlier post about "Modern Traditional" (aka Millennial Primitive). It should feel fairly timeless. Sometimes that can mean farmhousey sometimes danish modern, but they meet in functional, simple, sturdy without being too industrial. See this post: https://stylebyemilyhenderson.com/blog/modern-traditional-style-lighting-ideas. Don't think about whether you like each item individually, look at the example photos and see how the fixture as an object contributes to the overall timeless vibe. I feel the kitchen has gotten pretty modern which is wonderful functionally, but I'd like to bring back a little of whatever-word-we-use-instead-of-rustic.

1. OVER SINK SCONCE

-ok to be directional

-small, not hanging down in front of window too much

-Must have some brass

Pottery Barn, $159

Pottery Barn, $99

Lulu and Georgia, $496

I loooove this

Etsy, $118

Shades of Light, $260

Amazon,  $43

Lamps plus $70

Beautiful Halo, $51

Wayfair, $47

Litfad, $83

Etsy, $125 THIS ONE!

2. OVER ISLAND 

-I think we should go for a pendant. We need some different levels. It seems like it would be in the way but I see this all the time online and it just looks so great

-I think we should look for an organic shape to round off all the square corners. 

-brass

-new material - clear glass, metal...different from sconce

West Elm,  $349

West Elm, $169

Crate and Barrell, 

Urban Outfitters, $269

Rejuvenation, $579 (comes in different metals/glass finishes)

Rejuvenation $549

Rejuvenation (customizable) $359

Pottery Barn, $249 or $299

There are lots of great modern traditional pendants on Pottery barn

Lulu and Georgia, $292

\

Lulu and Georgia, $330

Lulu and Georgia, $860

Cabinet Hardware

I want as simple as possible, brass, bar pull. 

You have expressed that you do not want any single-screw knobs on cabinets, which is fine (although FWIW I also really like the look of bars mixed with simple round knobs or these two-finger pull jobbies like below.)

This photo is from the Schoolhouse website. This is the Edgecliff Pull. I like the trend I've seen of just one shape (a simple bar) in different sizes for both drawers and cabinets. 

 

Random inspo, I don't know the specific brands for the two below:

Both have steel appliances and it works. But they also have warm wood floors and brass in the light fixtures, so we need to figure out where to add some more warm colors. Maybe barn wood on stove fan would help.

Amerock Versa:

Amerock Monument (I'm leaning toward this):

Knurled pull from Schoolhouse ($$ but good inspiration)

Here is a kitchen that uses these. The little knurled knobs are adorable too. 

CB2 version "Amp":

Top Knobs version: