From the moment we first saw this house, the row of three lights in the upstairs hallway caught our attention. Call it the “tri-light zone” effect. Despite the old carpeting and blue trim, we could tell that arrangement had real potential.
The existing fixtures were undersized for the space (this is a 33-foot-long hallway!), so we considered painting them—oil-rubbed bronze, red, navy—but decided repainting might make them look too heavy or gothic. On top of that, all three were crooked, one had a broken stem, and the middle one was inexplicably larger than the other two.
I’d been mentally bookmarking some lantern-style fixtures for years after seeing a similar look on a project in 2012. I liked the mix of classic and modern, the dark finish for contrast, and the glass that keeps them from feeling too heavy. Sherry agreed, which was a big win since we don’t always see eye to eye on lighting. The problem was price: our inspiration fixture ran about $250, and we needed three.
We hunted locally and checked resale outlets for matching fixtures, but finding three identical ones proved difficult. Eventually we scored a set during a sale that made each fixture significantly more affordable—enough to buy all three for less than the single inspiration piece.
I usually skip detailed installation write-ups since I’ve shared them before, but watching an electrician at a showhouse taught me two small but useful tricks. Trick #1: leave protective packaging on during installation. I’d always peeled plastic and cardboard off immediately, but leaving whatever doesn’t interfere with mounting prevents dings and scratches while you handle the fixture. The pro removed packaging before powering up the lights, but the protection while hanging felt much smarter than rushing to strip everything first.
We wanted the fixtures to hang lower, but our 8-foot ceilings prevented long drops. That meant shortening the chains by prying open links with two pairs of pliers; I wrapped the tips in masking tape to protect the finish.
The old lighting had been a little low for my six-foot frame—especially the larger middle lantern—so we mounted the new lights using a single link to raise them a couple of inches above the previous placement. After installation the bottoms of the lanterns sit at about 77 inches from the floor, which feels right for the space.
In addition to shortening the chain, the electrical cord needed trimming. I cut open the cord cover, removed it, and stripped the white, black, and green wires before making the ceiling connections.
With Sherry supporting the fixture, I connected the matching wires in the ceiling. The power was off during this step, so lighting was limited while we worked.
Trick #2: hang the fixture lower first, then raise it to your final height. Raising is usually easier than lowering—especially after cutting wire—so installing the fixture a bit lower made it simpler to wire and secure. Sherry didn’t have to hold the fixture as high, and I had more room to work between the top of the fixture and the ceiling.
Once everything was secure I swapped the long chain for a single link and tucked the excess wire into the canopy, tightening the screw that clamps the cord in place.
Installing all three fixtures took a few hours—maybe three, with photo breaks and some interruptions—but the result made it worthwhile.
Like the foyer fixture downstairs, these lanterns add striking contrast. They tie in with dark door hinges, doorknobs, and the stained stair rail, which makes the whole upstairs feel intentional. They’re oversized for the hallway, which might bother some, but that bold scale is what I love most.
We plan a few complementary updates to balance the space:
- Reinstall and possibly modify the laundry doors
- Add crown molding (the angled cuts will be a challenge)
- Install substantial wainscoting to add weight to the lower half of the hallway
- Choose and hang artwork to personalize the walls
For comparison, here’s the hallway before these changes.
I had worried the hallway might feel darker after switching from three three-bulb fixtures to three single bulbs. In practice the new fixtures accept higher-wattage bulbs (60W vs. 40W), and the glass reflects light so well that the space actually feels brighter. It’s also possible several old bulbs were burned out, which didn’t help the previous lighting.
Here’s how they look with the clear bulbs that came with the fixtures. The lights cast some angular shadows on the ceiling; if we want a softer look we can swap to frosted bulbs. Eventually we’ll switch everything to LEDs for energy savings and long life.
Update: We’ve since transitioned our home to LED bulbs. They use a fraction of the energy, last much longer, and provide a warm, natural glow that we prefer over cooler, blue-toned bulbs.