204 Park House Build: Lighting & My Favourite Lighting Resources

It's been a while since my last 204 Park House Build update so today I thought I'd share a bit of our lighting plan. I'm not going to lie here, the lighting was a bit of a stressful situation. I'm no lighting expert and thankfully most of the house has lots of pot lights but choosing the standout fixtures took some time for James and I to.....ahem, compromise on haha (AKA- there were quite a few disagreements before we got to where we are now! lol Just keepin it real over here). After much thought, back and forth and crunching numbers we've finalized most of our fixtures so I thought I'd share our direction and what we've decided on so far!

The Dining Room 

The inspiration for our dining room was to select a statement fixture in brass to add some funk to our main level. Since our main floor is open concept we wanted this to be a fixture you'd see right from when you walked in the door. Hopping on the brass trend I knew I wanted a sputnik type modern chandelier fixture. 

brass chandeliers

Details: 1. Alto Compass - Cedar and Moss // 2. Vega Flush Mount - CB2 // 3. Armstrong Chandelier - Kichler // 4. Acrylic Framework Chandelier - West Elm // 5. Mobile Chandelier - West Elm // 6. Pelle Chandelier - West Elm

Above are just a few of the lights we were looking at but ultimately, cost was a major consideration thanks to our weak dollar against the US and shipping/duties charges. We came thiiiiis close to buying light #5 from West Elm (which I actually prefer) but we ended up with #3 which was a close second seeing as our lighting supplier was able to supply and install this light for us at a lesser cost than ordering the one from West Elm and having to install it ourselves. I'm still thrilled though with our choice and I'm excited to see it in person and play around with moving the arms of the fixture to get the perfect configuration. 

The Kitchen

Due to it's proximity, the next area we chose to focus on was the kitchen island. Our island has 3 pendant lights over it and we wanted them to stand out but not conflict with our chandelier. I have always loved the Tom Dixon beat pendants and dreamed of using them somewhere in my home. Thankfully Nuevo Living makes a great replica for a fraction of the cost so right from the start I figured this would be the direction we'd go. That's not to say I wasn't tempted to go in another direction, all of these pretty pendants caught my eye.....

Details: 1. Isaac Pendant - Schoolhouse Electric // 2. & 3. Isle Rod Pendant - Cedar and Moss // 4. Wyatt Pendant - Cedar and Moss // 5. Beat Light - Tom Dixon // 6. Fuller Pendant - Schoolhouse Electric // 7. Penngrove - Park Studio // 8. Aurora - Cedar and Moss

As tempting as these were, James and I decided to stick with our original plan and go for the Tom Dixon style pendant. Now our decision was do we go white, or black? My initial thought was to go white to have minimal competition with the chandelier however, with white kitchen cabinets and white walls we can afford to add a bit of oomph to the situation so we took a bit of a risk and ordered the pendants in black. Every space needs a bit of black plus, the brass on the inside of the fixture will pick up the brass in the dining fixture so we will still have a cohesive look. Confession: despite having potlights pretty much everywhere in the house our kitchen also has a track light which I was really not pumped about. Without getting waaaay into too many details swapping the track out for potlights wasn't really an option and with very limited stylish track lighting out there I'm not totally in love with what we've picked but once we're in the house I'm hoping I'll be able to take my time and find a better replacement. So for now we're just gonna focus on the pretty pendants...mmmkay?! ;) 

 

The Bedroom

I've long dreamed of a bedroom with a Nelson style pendant. (Can you see a theme here with statement modern lighting?!) During one of my online sourcing sessions I came across this light from Wayfair and fell in love. It had the same 'feel' as the Nelson pendant but was a little more unique and slightly warmer which I liked. I shortly after found this light from Nuevo as well and I think this is the fixture we'll be ordering. We've ordered a temporary inexpensive fixture from our supplier to install while we make up our mind and after we move in we'll swap out the fixture ourselves.

In addition to the overhead light I've managed to convince James to opt for wall sconces rather than bedside lamps. In a perfect world we'd have them wired in however with so many beautiful plug in options to choose from (and less work and $$), I am loving the look of these sconces. Now we just need to choose which ones to go with. Stay tuned......

Bedroom Pendants: 1. Melrose - Wayfair // 2. Diamond- Nuevo // 3. Lex - Nuevo // 4. Nelson Saucer - Herman Miller

Bedroom Sconces: 1. Isaac - Schoolhouse Electric // 2. Eduard - Schoolhouse Electric // 3. Beaker - Urban Outfitters // 4. Pelle - West Elm // 5.  Ditte - Urban Outfitters // 6. Mid-Century Task Sconce - West Elm // 7. Envoy Swing - Schoolhouse Electric // 8. Rejuvenation - West Elm

The Bathrooms

The bathrooms were probably the most stressful rooms for our lighting choices. James and I had a very particular idea of the style of lighting we wanted and as we quickly found out this style was not only very difficult to find (AKA - not at all available from our supplier in edmonton) and also, incredibly expensive. We wanted clean, modern and minimal lighting in black or brass. These were a few of our inspiration images...

With our canadian dollar and shipping we splurged a bit but I'm equal parts excited and terrified for our choices to arrive. For our powder room we selected this fixture and for our two main bathrooms, we opted for this fixture, both in the brass and modern black color finishes. In a perfect world we'd probably put two of those fixtures in each bathroom but to be totally honest, that would have big time blown our budget so to make up for the fact that these fixtures have only two 60w bulbs, we added two pot lights in each bathroom so we should have ample light that is both beautiful and functional! Here were a few of the other sconces and fixtures we were eyeing up for the washrooms. Before we settled on the fixtures we chose, these were a few of the other lights we were eyeing up also.

modern bathroom lighting

Details: 1. Ellerbe Sconce - Schoolhouse Electric // 2. Garber - Park Studio // 3. Mira- Cedar and Moss // 4. Wyatt - Cedar and Moss // 5. Theo - Cedar and Moss // 6. Jasper - Kichler // 7. Rudd- Park Studio // 8. Wall Sconce - One Forty Three // 9. Abrams - Schoohouse Electric

So there you have it! Like I said, the lighting was probably the most stressful part of the build thus far and if I'm being honest, I'm a little nervous to see how it all comes together. I'm hoping that the fixtures we've ordered without being able to see in person are as beautiful as I'm imagining them and I cannot wait to see it all come together! 

And in case you're on the hunt for some great lighting, here are a few of my favourite resources!

- Schoolhouse Electric (thanks Aislin for the hot tip!)

-Cedar and Moss (Thanks Kristina for introducing me to these guys!)

-Wayfair Canada

-West Elm

-CB2

-Park Lighting

-Restoration Hardware

-Park Studio

-All Modern 

-One Forty Three