Colorful Chain-Hung Lights Complement Character of 270-Year-Old Home
When Kate started searching for a forever home in Connecticut, she imagined finding a mid-century house with plenty of character. She found one, but it was from two centuries earlier than she imagined.
“The very first time my real estate agent took me to this house, I was smitten,” Kate says. “It was so obviously The One.” As a writer who worked for a national home renovation magazine, Kate has seen and written about plenty of restoration projects. Transforming the home, which was originally built in the mid 1700s, is both fun and daunting. Kate chronicles her adventures on Instagram.
The 1,500-square-foot, center-chimney Colonial was built when there was no electricity and horses traveled the nearby road instead of cars. There were few improvements over the years other than electrical and plumbing, so Kate started with a new roof, new furnace, plus a lot of wiring. She also repaired and refinished all of the wood floors.
“I knew I’d be doing white walls with lots of exposed wood, so I wanted to bring in color with the lighting everywhere I could,” she explains. “It’s an area where I can really have fun and personalize the spaces.”
For the larger of the two upstairs bedrooms, Kate chose the Loma Chain Hung Pendant Light for its strong silhouette. She customized this hand-spun pendant with a 16″ shade and white cord.
“The center of the room is really where your eye goes when you enter, so I knew I wanted the light to be a showstopper,” Kate notes. “Would you look at how gorgeous this light is?” The Loma can be customized with different finish colors inside and out, so Kate chose Watermelon for the exterior and Blush Pink for the interior.
“When I realized you could do an interior color on this fixture, I just about swooned. It’s such a focal point, and the Watermelon is a really bold color with the white walls and ceiling,” she explains. “This is also the only room where you can walk beneath the light and appreciate the detail of the Blush Pink.”
In the dining room, the electrical box for the fixture is in an odd spot with the light swagged over to the fireplace which was once used for cooking. Kate wanted to keep that setup but wanted a lighter, brighter color to pop from the wood ceiling.
She chose the Wilcox Deep Bowl Chain Hung Pendant as the perfect complement to the configuration. She customized this American-made pendant with a 16″ shade, the same Blush Pink finish as the interior of her bedroom light, and a standard white cord.
“Every part of this fixture is the finish color. That was really the difference maker here,” she says. “I didn’t want there to be any black or silver at all. I chose the white cord so the chain link would pop because it’s so cool. I’m happy with the white as it’s sort of the backdrop for the light.”
For Kate’s office, a colorful rug and handcrafted desk made by her brother anchor the space.
“I worked from home pre-pandemic, so the office set-up was really important to me,” she notes. “With the hairpin leg desk, I needed task lighting with a more utilitarian look.” Kate chose the classic Original™ Chain Hung Pendant Light and customized the fixture with a 14″ shade and Chartreuse finish.
“I love that this is a classic, factory-style light, but the color makes it modern. The color options let me take these really classic styles and personalize them,” Kate explains. “I knew I wanted Chartreuse. The color is perfect for the office and matches one of the confetti colors in the rug.”
She adds that the lights help make each room feel finished although she admits she will be puttering and changing things up forever.
“The lights make it feel like this is really my home,” Kate says. “It’s a house that clearly has a lot of history, and these help mark the beginning of my chapter. They’re distinctive, stylish, and colors that I clearly chose. They just make me happy!”
Photos courtesy of @mid18thcenturymodern
