shedding some light

we've made more changes in the den. the latest is changing out a sconce on the brick wall. the original sconce was a little too shabby chic. while i love that style (i have the book, duh), it's a little too feminine for phil.

so i looked high and low for something modern, simple, and relatively inexpensive. i found a lot of fixtures i really liked, but phil would nix for price : ) finally, i found this one forty three sconce. but it was sold out. forever. so i followed the studio on instagram to know when it was back in production. and i finally was able to order it!

it took a few, okay several, weeks to come in. but well worth it for a beautiful, handmade fixture at a reasonable price! i opted for white and brass. the room is gray, the door hardware is brass (and antique brass-ish), and the trim is white. it even came with bulbs! so we took off the old fixture...

and discovered it had cloth-covered wires!

uh-oh. glad we took it off. then we painted the junction box on the wall, so it would match the shiny new white fixture. and then we installed the sconce ourselves!

actually, it was much easier than i expected. we just watched a quick youtube video after a google search. super quick, super easy.

doesn't it look great!?! i love it. we debated whether to orient the fixture with the bulbs up or down, and decided on down. it seemed less "bathroom vanity" and more "back den."

the light is bright. phil thinks maybe a bit too bright, especially for movie nights. eh. i like it. but my couch seat is further away : ) i'm looking at dipped bulbs as an option to shield some of the more direct light. but i think i'll wait until these burn out.

the den is getting close to complete; the major things left are accent pillows and artwork. the pillows we currently use are from my first apartment in denver, and a little worse for the wear. since this is "phil's room" we're having a disagreement over the artwork... he wants movie posters. ummm no? haha. we'll see. i think we may have some compromises in mind...