If this post had a moral, it would be: when something in your home just doesn’t feel right, do something about it — or let it die on its own and take that as a sign. Our living room light fixture is the protagonist of this little story.
From the start there was something off about that fixture — it was the only permanent light in a large room and it sat awkwardly in a corner. Sherry once tried to distract from the placement by adding a bit of color to the glass shade to cheer it up while I was out for a run. The blue tint looked pleasant in person, but in photos it cast a noticeable blue wash across that half of the room. I started calling it our “alien invasion corner.”
We eventually agreed the paint wasn’t the answer. Sherry’s reversible project looked fine in real life, but we kept photographing the room for the blog and the tint created an unwanted color cast. So she wiped the paint off, and the shade returned to its natural state. That helped, and we considered spray-painting the chain oil-rubbed bronze to better match curtain rods and the sectional’s legs, but it still wasn’t our style. Ultimately we realized we wanted to replace it entirely with a drum pendant or add recessed lights across the room, so we questioned whether it was worth spending much effort on a fixture we planned to remove.
Then the decision was made for us: the light died. About a week after Sherry wiped off the paint it started flickering and then stopped working entirely. We tried a new bulb and fussed with it a bit, but it wouldn’t come back to life. Maybe it couldn’t cope with its awkward placement — you can see how randomly it was positioned in a recent house tour video Sherry shared — or maybe it was simply tired of hanging out in the wrong spot.
We weren’t heartbroken; if anything, we were a little surprised it gave up before we did. Fixing the wiring wouldn’t have solved the core problems: its off-center placement (not centered in front of the window or between the ceiling beams) and the fact that it wasn’t a fixture we’d choose long-term. So instead of resuscitating it, we decided to retire the thing for good.
During removal, I discovered the cause: a torn or disconnected wire near the base. It was something that could probably have been repaired, but by then we were committed to removing it. Farewell, poorly placed broken brass lamp in the corner.
We used a quick, inexpensive fix to conceal the junction box: a metal box cover and a white plastic ceiling cap that cost around $2 total (50 cents for the metal cover and $1.50 for the cap). It isn’t permanent — we’ll have an electrician either remove the junction box or relocate it to a more centered spot in front of the window when we’re ready to install new lighting.
It’s not the prettiest solution, but it’s far less noticeable than the non-functioning, awkward fixture that used to hang there. Best of all, the window view is now unobstructed. We no longer catch ourselves wishing the light were two feet to the right to make more sense in front of the window. That nagging little thought is gone, which feels like a small victory.
We donated the old pendant to Habitat for Humanity ReStore, so it gets a second life somewhere else. Removing it does make that corner a bit darker at night, but that will be fixed once our long-in-progress console table is finished and we add a table lamp next to the sectional. Eventually we’ll hire an electrician to add lighting in the right places — whether recessed cans or a centered hanging pendant in front of the window — but for now the simplified ceiling is a welcome change.
R.I.P. Weird Light. You won’t be missed — except for the entertainment value of its awkward placement and the small role it played in pushing us toward a better lighting plan for the room.
