Happy New Year! (You’ll see why that’s appropriate in a moment — hang tight.)
We decided it was time to remove the ceiling fan in our bedroom and replace it with a fixture that has a little more personality.
Relax, fan fans — we’re not anti-fan. In our previous house we removed the bedroom fan as well and now use a powerful Hunter table fan in warmer months. Fans can be fantastic when they fit the space, like the ones we kept in our sunrooms. But the old bedroom fan clashed with Ed the Bed and just didn’t feel right anymore.
During a trip to Ikea we picked up the Maskros pendant lamp. It comes in two sizes — we chose the smaller 22-inch version because the larger one would have been overwhelming. It seemed like the perfect statement piece for the bedroom and it was an affordable find, so we finally decided to bring it home after a few months of thinking about it. Yes, it’s polarizing, but it makes us smile, so that’s what mattered.
It looked dramatic on display at Ikea, but when we got it home the first thing it said was “put me together.”
First things first: the fan had to come down. With the house power off (we’re safety conscious), I dismantled it. Pro tip: remove the blades first so you don’t accidentally bonk yourself when disconnecting the rest of the fixture.
Removing the fan revealed an imperfect ceiling — patchwork and uneven paint where the old fixture had been. Not ideal.
I followed a simple fix and picked up a ceiling medallion from the hardware store to cover the blemishes. It’s an inexpensive way to add detail and make a fixture look more intentional.
Technically, the lamp’s spokes shouldn’t be attached before the fixture is secured, but we used a few temporarily to judge the final hanging height. We needed it low enough to sit above Ed’s headboard rail but high enough to avoid looking awkward.
Ikea’s instructions suggest coiling excess wire in the canopy, but we shortened the cord to the desired length and stripped the ends for a cleaner result.
With the spokes attached and the medallion in place, the fixture finally felt balanced. The medallion helps the pendant read as a substantial feature rather than a lone orb in the center of the ceiling. If we ever repaint the ceiling, the medallion will add nice visual polish.
Next came the paper “flowers” — 82 little pre-cut pieces that snap into place. They’re essentially paper asterisks with holes to snap onto the spokes, so you could swap them for different shapes or colors if you wanted to customize the look. We briefly considered adding color, but chose to keep the crisp white. Ikea even packages the pieces in small boxes that help curl the edges outward.
After attaching the first rows, the fixture started to resemble what we’d seen in the showroom.
To our relief, adding all 82 pieces took only about ten minutes total. The assembly wasn’t nearly as time-consuming as we’d feared.
At first the pendant seemed larger than we expected — it looked smaller inside Ikea’s vast warehouse — but the proportions will settle once we add a larger rug and some wall art. Even without those items, it grew on us quickly. Every time we walk into the room we smile, and sometimes we even high-five — it’s just that fun.
It’s the playful statement piece we wanted. From some angles it looks very close to Ed, but it doesn’t actually touch him. The bulb hangs low — just above eye level — but that’s fine because we won’t walk directly under it. Low ceilings, take that.
By day it feels crisp and soft; by night it becomes our little Times Square ball. Sherry likes to count down and flip the switch with a squeal of “Happy New Year!”
The fixture accepts a 40-watt bulb, so it won’t flood the room with light, but it complements the moody, layered lighting we already have from our side-table lamps and the vanity light in the sink nook.
It’s also a great view from bed — a pleasant surprise we hadn’t considered when choosing it. The pendant reflects nicely in our bathroom mirror, which is an unexpected bonus.
The slight leftward shift you might notice in some photos is simply the camera angle; the light is centered over the bed and doorway.
So there you go — our new, bold addition to the bedroom. We don’t miss the old fan (we’re donating it to ReStore), and this fixture never fails to make us giddy. Clara is fascinated by the paper flowers, but for now they’re for looking only — we don’t trust her not to grab one and try to taste it.
Do any of you have the Maskros? Or are there other dramatic light fixtures you love right now?
Psst — a few readers asked for more angles, so here are more photos:
Clara likey.
Update: Things evolve around here. If you want to see how Ed the Bed and our light fixture changed over time, there are follow-up posts documenting the tweaks and finishes.