Replacing An Exterior Light: a house log

Let us talk more about things that were too compact. But instead of yesterday’s mini-mirror, this time we are taking things outside. To the carport to be exact. See that compact little lantern hanging from the ceiling?

Yeah…. she’s not looking so hot. Rust? Check. Cracked glass? Check. Teeny compact dollhouse-ish scale? Check.

So we have been keeping an eye out for a larger light since we moved in back in late 2010. You name it, and we have looked there (at stores like Home Depot, online, on Craigslist, at local outlets and secondhand stores like The Habitat For Humanity ReStore, etc). Ideally we hoped a big chunky clean lined lantern in a rich dark oil-rubbed bronze finish and a price tag that did not knock us over (we saw a few that we enjoyed, but for the jumbo size that we hoped, they were two hundred big ones). And it had to be made to be outside since we hoped it to hold up and not get all rusty or be unsafe (things outside have distinct UL listings for that sort of use, so using an indoor fixture outside can be a fire hazard).

But at last, as if by some miracle, after over a year of looking we came across this guy at a local lighting outlet (The Decorating Outlet) which is one of about ten places that we had been dropping in on every month or two, simply to see what popped up.

And by some even larger miracle, this lantern was majorly marked down. Yup, the original price of $295 was slashed and then $159 was written and then that was slashed and a giant $19 price was drawn on in marker. Now we are talking, right? That is over 90% off! The reason? It was missing the ceiling canopy. No biggie, those are $6 at Home Depot or Lowe’s in the same dark oil-rubbed finish, so that certainly was not a deterrent.

The other defect? The outside of the lantern has four panes of glass, and one of those four panes was in fact missing. The funny thing is that we did not notice the whole time we checked it out (and we were holding it about a foot away from our faces). So we knew once it was hung over seven feet from the ground no one would ever be able to tell. Especially if we hung it so that missing pane faced the side of the carport with the wall of bushes (you approach the space from the front, and there is a door on one side and a gate off the back, but no one ever walks towards the carport from that wall of bushes). And if it ever truly bothers us we can get a new pane cut for it at a local glass store (if we have issues with bugs & birds trying to nest) for under $15, which is still way cheaper than the full price. The bottom of the lantern also slides out so we can keep that part took out so bugs do not collect in there. Such a convenient feature!

As for hoisting that baby up, it certainly was a two person job (I held it up with both hands while standing on a ladder and John connected the wires – with the power off of course). Here is a terrible photo I snapped while holding the lantern with one hand and the camera with the other while teetering on the ladder because I enjoy you folks.

Oh and before we settled on our hanging height, we measured our friend’s big SUV (simply to be sure we left sufficient clearance room for taller cars and not simply our short little Altima). Thankfully the carport is especially high (over nine feet), so it can still have a bit of drop to it for that fancy schmancy lantern feeling (we did not want the top grinding up against the ceiling or anything) with loads of room even for tall trucks/SUVs to pull in under it.

So much better, right? We are digging him. In person he simply feels so much more in proportion to the wide open carport and the rest of the house in general. As a source of comparison, here is the old guy…

And here is the new lantern, holding things down…

Do not mind that pile of wood on the right. Blame it on the de-eh-eh-eh-eh-eck-pro-ject. That does not have the same ring to it, does it?

Old guy from further away…

And the new guy…

Purty cute. Not exactly straightforward to see from the curb since our house is set so far back… but no longer invisible! Woot!

It is simply one of those proportion things. A giant high-ceilinged space with a compact child-sized lantern can leave a bit to be desired (seriously, it was the size of one of these little metal tea-light holders that Ikea sells for $3.99). So nineteen bucks later ($25 if you factor in the canopy we brought in) we ended up with something that is not only an upgrade from inside of the carport, but it is in fact a pleasant crisp and updated look from the driveway and even from the curb (now that it is to scale with the house and you can in fact see it). Huzzah!

Oh and although I pointed out how doubly-miraculous it was to at last find this lantern, which was thankfully the right size and the right price, the true lesson is likely that if you look long sufficient for something (over a year!) and resist settling for something low-cost but not fairly sufficient (or fairly but not affordable sufficient) you are likely likely to come across something sooner or later (and I guess over a year certainly falls into that later category). So do not give up. Also, eat Oreo’s. They fill the hole in your heart until you find the ambiguous item you are searching for.

Even though we eventually have plans to convert the carport into a garage, we think we will still certainly appreciate having a light that we control with a switch that feels pleasant and stately.

Oh and here it is with our car back in there, simply for comparison (and to show you folks there are still over two feet of space for a taller cars like SUVs – I promise we measured and all is good).

Does not it simply feel more substantial and balanced than this old picture with the car in it from the same angle? And you can see from here that although the new lantern is a lot larger, it only hangs about 4″ lower than the last one did (use the ceiling line in each pic for comparison). So it is not like it is danging a foot and a half lower or anything.

So that is our little lighting/carport upgrade. Any other light switch outs going on? Have you been hunting for something for over a year that you at last got your mitts on? Was there a funny reason why it was on sale? Did hanging it involve two of you teetering on a ladder, silently cursing the day you found it until you got it up and permasmiled with relief?