We have one hallway in our house – it leads to the bedrooms and the guest bathroom, so it gets used all the time.
And it’s never looked right. Or been fun. Or well-lit, for that matter.
Here’s how it looked after we renovated our house 4 years ago, and it hasn’t improved since then.
(Btw, the lights aren’t on in this photo. Not very helpful for visualization purposes, I know.)
It actually looks just fine in this photo, just a little boring. But there’s a big problem – those two pretty capiz lights that you see? They barely light our hallway, so it’s always dark and kind of depressing. :( Which is surprising since between the two of them the fixtures take a total of 360 watts! I think it’s because of the shades, which are really quite opaque with the capiz overlay. I tried changing the bulbs the other day to see if that helped make the hallway a little brighter, but it didn’t. (About time to show some initiative after 4 years, ha!)
UPDATE: Here’s a current photo (below) of how the hallway actually looks today, with the lights on. Try not to be too impressed by the crooked, half-completed gallery wall.
So, we’re contemplating new lighting. What kickstarted this change after 4 years? Well . . . I want to turn that long wall on the right-hand side into a chalkboard wall. Painting a wall black in a dark hallway is probably not the best idea, right?
New lighting it is. :) Here are the 7 beauties that have made the final list!
While I really love each fixture, none of them is without its issues.
- The cage light at the top left puts out the most light by far since it has 3 bulbs (yay!) but I’m worried it might be a bit too industrial-looking for our house (although I’d like to incorporate a bit more of that vibe into our home).
- The sputnik light is quirky and fun, but is it a bit too glitzy? And it requires special bulbs that add up to about 90 watts per fixture.
- The Moravian star has been a long-time favorite of mine, but it only takes a 40 watt bulb – womp womp.
- The concave fixture with the aqua interior is so cute, but can handle just 60 watts per fixture.
- The glass flowered light is so pretty, but it also takes weird bulbs and only puts out 90 watts per fixture.
- The striped schoolhouse fixture is so adorable – I really love it, and each fixture takes a 100 watt bulb. But would the obscured shade mask too much of that light?
- And finally, the vintage industrial fixture - love the look, but it only takes a 60 watt bulb.
So here’s my dilemma – do I just take a leap of faith and order my favorite fixture and cross my fingers that it will give off more light than my current, very opaque fixture? Should I just nix the idea of the chalkboard wall and stick with the current lights? Am I the only person on the planet with a dark hallway that needs more than a 60 watt bulb to light it?
What would you do? Do any of you own one of these fixtures? Help! :)
Ack! Hallways are so tricky! I love the Morovian star for shape and contrast and it gives off cool reflective light too !
Kate
Some thoughts:
-Are you set on black chalkboard paint? Or would you consider a colored chalkboard paint?
-Have you investigated track lighting at all? I know when I initially think of track lighting I want to gag, but have come to realize there are some really cool options out there.
-I’m drawn to the industrial cage one, but it’s all a matter of opinion. If you plan to add more industrial in your home, then this wouldn’t be a big deal.
-Can you buy the one you like, but use different wiring to accommodate more wattage than comes standard in these kits?
Love your blog and your style!
i’m with Joanna, what about a different color than traditional black for the chalkboard paint? i think that would be a nice surprise! what about installing a few recessed lights (for example 4 or 5) and have every other (or something to that effect) directional so they pointed onto the chalkboard wall, acting like gallery lighting?
I like the sputnik light and it seems like it will give off a lot of light. I’d be afraid the schoolhouse light would have the same problem you’re currently facing. I’d definitely find a funky, bright light and do the chalkboard wall! Another outside the box idea – we used a modern looking chandelier from Ikea and chopped off the hanging wires so that it’s nearly flush with the ceiling. It provides a ton of light. We put it in our kitchen initially, but moved it to the hallway when we put recessed lights in the kitchen. Here’s a post from when we first put it up: http://www.ourlittlebeehive.com/2010/01/our-first-ikea-hack.html
I personally love the flower light. Have you ever thought of hanging a mirror at the end of the hallway to reflect some more light? It seems like that might help a bit…
Jenn, you’re a mind reader. I actually have a large mirror hanging there right now (painted teal, taken from the third house we flipped). I should have posted an up-to-date photo rather than the old one!
Okay, I updated the post with a photo! It’s scary. :)
The mirror idea is brilliant! As for brightness, I think schoolhouse fixtures give off a nice clean white light. And since the bulb is concealed, you can use a CFL to keep the actual wattage low.
We recently installed this light from Ikea:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00176042/
it’s nice because it’s flush mount and comes in two sizes. Has three bulbs and you can use the lower wattage flourescentsz
Love the hallway lightening! I like the funky designs for some.
I say SPUTNIK all the way! AND go for the chalkboard paint! Just paint a bright color border around it or something. Use bright chalk?! GO FOR IT!!!
The hallway of our renovated ranch looks nearly identical to yours. We went with recessed can lights because the hallway is so narrow that the lights really open it up more.
I think you’ll find that even the fixtures that only hold 60W will give off plenty of light for your hallway. Test it out by taking the shades off your current fixtures and see how bright it is! I bet when you take off the shades, you can unscrew quite a few bulbs from those fixtures and still get the brightness you’re looking for. All the new fixtures you’re considering are much less light-obscuring, so the bare-bulb test will be a good approximation.
That excellent idea is on the agenda for today – I’ll be taking the shades off during Peanut’s nap time!
Dana Miller from http://www.housetweaking.com actually used the cage light in her boys bedroom and loves it. I like the industrial look, but it may not go with the other ideas you have for the hallway decor.
Ooh, good to see it in action!
What about large (foot wide + or-)horizontal painted stripes on the wall, with one of the colors (other than black, as Joanna mentioned) being the chalkboard paint? The stripes would go down the left wall and across the end, so it “draws you down the hallway and around the corner!” It adds fun and interest to the hallway, only half of the wall space would be a bit deeper in color,could still write on that part with chalk and would accent the fun lighting even more! And I vote for the SPUTNIK too! I too would be worried about enough light but it is so FUN and you do have 2 fixtures! It adds that eclectic touch!
PS: Take the height of the wall and divide into an uneven number so that the top and bottom stripe are the same color.
I’ve always thought stripes would be fun, but I’m also wanting to incorporate photographs onto this wall so I think it would get too busy. But now I’m thinking about painting the lower half of the wall with chalkboard paint (about chair rail height) and hanging the photos above – maybe the best of both worlds?
The photo of this hallway reminded me of yours. I think a mirror is definitely one of the solutions.
http://themcmasters.blogspot.ca/2011/04/and-after.html
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I’m loving the cage light, it’s got my vote :) And if you are wanting to add a little bit of industrial to your house, this is a step in the right direction!!
I love the cage light…go for it! Take the risk i think it will be worth it. Once the chalkboard wall is done i think it will look amazing. BTW…love the chalkboard wall idea. I have one in my kitchen and it was the best decision ever.
We have a similar long long hallway.. used to be dark! We installed a solar light tube since we live in a one level home. It’s working very well.. always bright and it cost us like $600.00..
I have a solar tube in my “dark” hallway too. It makes a huge difference and it doesn’t cost extra in bulbs lighting.
Get your fave! They are all fun, I love the star and the last vintage one. Excited to see what you get!
I suggest the schoolhouse fixture, remember this is your hallway so keep it quick and simple. No one’s going to spend an abnormal amount of time in your in your hallway.
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Order that sucker and go for it!!!
Amanda
Http://16thandmain.com
Hi,
I really like the school house light – didn’t know they came striped. But I got thinking that it’s almost girly (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Now if it were white that might not be too bad.
My next is the Moravian Star but you already don’t have enough light and this one might even be worse.
I’m quite liking the vintage industrial light. Is that come kind of grid at the bottom?
Given how dark that end of the hall looks with just the black-framed pictures, a complete black chalkboard wall would be even worse. I agree with a couple of the others you can still have a chalkboard wall and it doesn’t have to be black. You could match it to the paint that is already there.
How about replacing the shades in the ones you already have? Is that a possibility?
Good luck,
Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Cathy
Ha, the stripes are exactly what I liked about it! :) I’m still sold on the chalkboard being black, but I agree that the whole wall would be too much – right now I’m thinking of making it chair rail height – we’ll see how long that current idea lasts! As for replacing the shades of the current lights, that’s definitely a possibility but I’m opting for entirely new lights since I’d like to reuse the existing lights somewhere else. And the search goes on! :)
My favourites are the Moravian star and the vintage industrial fixture–and always have been. For your hallway, I think the striped schoolhouse might be very nice. Plus it seems like the best option in terms of actual function. My hallways looks pretty much exactly like yours (minus the gallery wall/chalkboard), and we have exactly the same issues with dimness. Our lights are currently lovely brass boobs–I don’t recommend them!
But brass boobs sound so fancy! :)
Forget the chalkboard wall but go ahead and get different lights. Have you considered can lights? All of the fixtures you’ve chosen, while stylish, are very trendy (well, except for the schoolhouse light).