Dining Room Light Fixture Dilemma

We are in the market for a dining room light fixture. The one that came with the house was a bit much for my taste. I must have blocked the details of it from my memory because all I remember are lots of crystals and too much brass. And not a fun antiquey looking brass with great looking crystals. This was circa 1995 - too many cheap crystals and plenty of shiny brass. Since the room served as our playroom, a giant chandelier just became something that anyone over 5 feet tall would hit their head on when standing up.

So down it came. And thanks to Craigs List, someone else gets to enjoy all that brass and crystal in their home. And in an effort to be frugal, we put up a light fixture from another part of the house until we found something that suited us better. It too is brass and has been in the dining room entirely too long.

It's time for a change....The search is on for something new!

I'm loving the drum pendant. Simple look with clean lines.

via west elm

I stopped by Seattle Lighting, after finding this drum pendant online.

via destination lighting

This is the 18" size. And the bronze finish is actually more of a dirty brass (and after 2 brass light fixtures in the dining room, I'm ready for a change). The shade was shorter looking than I expected (only 7" high). So I purchased the larger size, which had a 22" shade that was 9" tall. But it didn't come in the soft white/cream color. So I bought the white. Turned out to be a bad decision. I got it home and didn't like it. Didn't care for the 'bronze' finish and the white was too much of a stark white.

Side note: Did you know how to figure the right size of a light fixture for your table? Measure the width of your table. Mine is 36". Then you subtract 12" from that. So in my case, any light fixture that is 24" in diameter or smaller would be appropriate for our table. Thank you salesman at Seattle Lighting for that helpful tidbit of info!

After more searching online. I came across this fixture at Ballard Designs.

I ordered it in the natural linen shade, which has an 18" diameter. The shipping confirmation was emailed to me this afternoon and it appears that the light fixture will be arriving on Monday. I'm concerned that it may not let off enough light. (I believe it only takes one 75 watt bulb). But here's hoping this one works out!

Stay tuned....more on the dining room to come!

Jen