Easy-to-Customize Lighting Simplifies Choices for New Beach Home
Small spaces are often overlooked when it comes to stylish lighting. Bathroom, hallways, and reading nooks often lack natural light but need adequate illumination for the tasks at hand. Although these spaces may not be used as often, they deserve the same quality and style as your living spaces!
When Bren and Bill built a new home in Alys Beach on the Florida panhandle, they wanted to create a coastal casual and comfortable feel with a touch of elegance here and there. Lighting, even in the smaller spaces, was important to the couple.
“Good lighting is essential to me, from form and function to the actual color temperature of the bulbs,” Bren says. “I selected fixtures as accessories to our home much like jewelry accessorizes an outfit.” Bren turned to Barn Light Electric to accessorize her new home.
“I love the look, quality, and variety in choices and color,” she notes, “and I knew this would be the go-to for our beach home.” For her laundry room, Bren chose the Pollock Pendant #13 for its whimsical yet practical look. She customized this handcrafted light with a 12″ shade and standard white cord.
“The real attraction to the Pollock was the porcelain finish with the blue-and-white swirls,” she explains. “It moves much like water and is perfect for a laundry.”
Bill also installed a Round Schoolhouse Stem Mount Pendant nearby to add more overall lighting to the space. They customized this pendant with a clear glass shade, White fitter, and 6″ stem. They also opted for painted bands of Delphite Blue on the glass which complement the Pollock’s finish.
The new house was designed with grandkids in mind and includes a swimming pool and courtyard. A half bath just off the pool area features a Double Market Industrial Guard Sconce over the vanity. Bren customized this rugged wall sconce with a vivid Royal Blue finish, wire guard, and ribbed glass.
“The Royal Blue goes with the color schemes in the house and, most simply put, is fun to look at!” she says. “The ribbed glass allows light to shine through while also creating a distraction from seeing the bulb in its entirety.”
On the opposite wall, Bren picked out a Kao Wall Sconce for an additional touch of light and color. This compact sconce is customized with the same Royal Blue finish as the vanity light.
“I wanted a a sconce in each bathroom to serve as a night light of sorts,” Bren explains. “When I happened upon the Kao, I knew it had to be part of our light-hearted, fun, half bath.”
Just off the courtyard, a long hallway leads to a carriage house and a loft over the garage where Bren and Bill have individual offices and project rooms. The hallway space beckons with stunning Brisbane Pendant Lights. These nautical-style pendants are customized with 14″ shades, the Royal Blue finish, white cords, and ribbed glass.
“This long hall called for something that would direct the eye to the other end with a whimsical touch,” Bren notes. “And again, the color, cord, and ribbed glass answered all of the needs we had for the space and coordinate well with our other Barn Light fixtures.”
Bren chose matching Brisbane Stem Mount Pendants for the stairwell leading to the loft. These fixtures have the same Royal Blue finish and ribbed glass but feature a heavy-duty cast guard. For the fixture on the landing which is installed next to a window, Bren chose a 16″ shade and 36″ stem to fit the space. In front of the loft door, she chose a smaller 12″ shade and a flush mount to allow for the door swing.
“The 16″ needed to tell a bigger story than the fixture at the entry door to the loft space,” Bren explains. “And with much help from Paige at Barn Light, we were able to order the proper mounts and canopies to make such a steep ceiling accommodate our need to achieve hang-straight fixtures!”
The ability to customize fixtures for each particular space made Bren and Bill’s lighting choices much easier. The lighting helped create the casual, coastal feel they wanted with handcrafted, American-made quality behind each one.
“I love looking at them. They make me happy!” Bren says. “The provide the whimsy I was looking for in these rooms. The size, scale, and function are perfect in every way.”
Photos courtesy of the homeowner
