BRIGHT SHINY THINGS

so this past weekend j and n decided after french class to venture over to the west end of the city and look around at a specialty lighting store ... we had scoured every inch of the home depot, rona and totem hardware stores and a few smaller specialty lighting stores but nothing really inspired us for the basement ... well after french class we took a trip to park lighting ... outside it didn't seem overly big but inside the store went on forever and as soon as we walked in it was magic ... so many lights to choose from and so many that fit the square modern design we were looking for

of course we also had some very specific obstacles to overcome ...

the lights for the bathroom couldn't be taller than 3 1/2" from the top of the box to the ceiling because all the furnace ducting jogged down right at the spot where the vanity would go

the lights for the stairwell, gym and living room could go up to 9" high in the living room but in the hallway it couldn't be higher than 5" again because of the furnace ducting ... and of course it is such a small space n didn't want different lights in the hallway and the rest of the basement

walking around was reminiscent of picking out an engagement ring or a wedding dress or i guess even finding the one ... sure you see lots of ones that are nice and they would do but then there is that moment where you turn the corner and instantly you just know that this is the one ... well we had that moment on saturday when we were picking out lights ... in one short trip we found all the lights for the entire basement and i must say they are perfect for the design look that we want to achieve (and they came in under the price we set for our lighting budget and we even added in 3 lights for the dining room upstairs ... score!) ... and anyone who knows n knows that she loves anything that has a hint of sparkle and shine to it and she also got that

so enjoy a peak at these beautiful shiny things ... sadly the only ones to not show off yet are the living room, gym and hallway lights because they are special order and we will be seeing them in 2-4 weeks

here's what we had to work with in the bathroom for space

here's what we found

good things really do come in small packages

also totally love that the light shines both up and down through the glass

we bought 3 of these beauties to hang over top of the new dining room table

time for a close up

just the right amount of sparkle

cheers ~n

p.s. cannot wait to show off the rest of the lights for downstairs