Let There Be (All the) Light(s)
Executive summary: Eight months after moving into our condo, my overhaul of our light fixtures is complete. I have heavily relied on them as a design feature in a home where we’re prohibited from touching most things, so it looks like my renter-friendly hat is never coming off!
Over the summer, I wrote a post called “Let There Be Light(s),” a riff on my alma mater’s motto Fiax Lux (“Let There Be Light”). I explained how I replaced three of the underwhelming light fixtures in our condo when we moved here (in the dining room, flex space, and second bedroom), and I was pleased by how much they improved the look and feel of each space. So then I proceeded to do the same a couple months later in the hallway bath and primary bedroom, and again, I was pleased. Lighting is like jewelry — a room will be fine without it, but can be so much more elevated with a few thoughtful features. So now, apart from the recessed lights (which I’m not touching — I do have my limits), all that remained were the primary bathroom sconces and the pendant lights over the kitchen island that had yet to be swapped out. That’s what I’m giving an update on today: eight months after moving in, I’ve finally replaced every light fixture in our home. My husband probably wishes I’d stopped at the initial three, but he’s essentially given me a blank check by saying “do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t require me to get involved.” So since I picked out the lights and the handyman installed them, I think everyone was satisfied, right?
The light fixtures we now have in our home are a big step up aesthetically from what came with the condo.
We replaced four lights this time, two over the kitchen island and two in the primary bathroom. The existing kitchen island pendants were totally fine (that sound is my husband gnashing his teeth), but they were nothing special and faded into all the whites of the kitchen. I imagine they were chosen by the builder to be as inoffensive as possible, meant to raise the least number of objections by potential buyers. I’m fairly low risk with my decor, but I do have favorite colors and shapes and textures. We are forbidden by Stanford Faculty Housing from touching most things in here (e.g., counters, backsplash, cupboards, flooring, etc), so the lights are one of the only levers I can pull to make this home feel more like mine. I gravitate toward graceful, flowing shapes, which is what drew me to the organic swirl pattern on these glass pendant lights in the kitchen. I’ve also been leaning a lot on various shades of blue as a neutral accent color (is that an oxymoron?) throughout our condo, from the painted doors to the textiles to the lights. I love how these pendants now serve as a focal point for the kitchen.
Source: Shades of Light
The other pair of lights we swapped out this time was in the primary bathroom. I do not care for the metal tube lights that all the condos came with, so I’ve been searching for an alternative. The challenge here is that the lights are wired to come out relatively low on either side of the mirror (which we’re not allowed to alter), but most wall sconces arch down, not up. It was non-trivial to find Goldilocks sconces that had enough visual weight on the upper side, were big/bold enough to make a statement, yet were narrow enough to fit in the 11” between the mirror and the cupboard. These lights literally pop off the wall, and that’s what we need in here! The bathroom is otherwise a boring brown and beige box (I’m not allowed to change or paint the tile or cupboards or anything, much to my everlasting design dismay), so again, the lights play a big role in setting the tone for the whole room.
Before-and-after. Source: Shades of Light
It’s kind of strange having to treat our home like a rental, but the difference is that I do have more of an investment mindset toward our condo vs. an apartment (i.e., willing to spend more money). Lights are an easy enough way of inserting my design preferences without needing to make major hard-to-reverse changes. I find that especially in multi-family buildings, where the units are so uniform, it’s nice to be able to add my own touches to create a space that is distinct to me and my style. I’m grateful for the opportunity to play around in here, enabled in part by my MIL’s largesse — she’s given me an advance on my 2025 and 2026 birthday and Xmas gifts in the form of light fixtures. So if I want to change anything else before 2027, it’ll be 100% on my own dime. I’m sure hubby wishes I could find a new (free) hobby to occupy my attention until then, but he knows there’s no chance of that!