I'm having the same problem with my kitchen light - I want a simple one-bulb pendant but they usually come in 60 watt max, which is so not enough for over the table.

I'm considering buying one I like and taking it to an electrician or lighting shop to get rewired for a higher wattage. I wonder if that would be possible for you as well?

How do you feel about antique lighting? The darned lights now a days are supposed to "save energy" thus making us live in the dark half the time :o) I am using some great fixtures from the 20's and 30's which I purchased on ebay. Some I restored, but many I purchased restored. Restoration can be as little as restringing the wiring (I had that done at a lighting shop and specified the wattage I wanted). Here's a couple of pictures...

And the exposed bulbs really help with the level of light you can get from them...Just use pretty bulbs!

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These are all available with flush mount, semi flush and extended. I have them with two lights, three, five, etc. I'll be using them throughout the house. I just love them, and love that I can get a high level of light when I want from them (they're all on dimmers).

What about something like this?

Here is a link that might be useful: Destination Lighting

There is an answer to your question, and it is rather simple. All that wattage builds up HEAT, and flush and semi-flush fixtures keep the heat contained and too close to the ceiling. It's a fire hazard. Note that the higher-wattage fixtures generally have exposed bulbs (like the beauties igloochic posted) or are not close to the ceiling (like the chandeliers that the lighting stores are suggesting). The heat needs to dissipate!

We've had good luck at rejuvenation.com when facing the same issues with older eyes and standard-height ceilings. Lower-priced stores are a lot less likely to address the need you have recognized.

Or use compact fluorescents equivalent to 100 watts each. The quality of fluorescent light has improved.

That would solve the heat build-up problem too, as they are much cooler.

The heat issue is what I wondered about, so thanks, lynnski. \

But also, if you are trying to get more helpful lighting in the room because of 'aging eyes', overhead lighting isn't what you want, anyway. It creates glare and shadows,and washes out color. You want more lighting at work/eye level.

Add brighter light with the bedside lamps, the lamp on the dresser, the fixture in the closet, perhaps a floor lamp by a chair in the room if you have one.

I guess the alternative would be to add can lights in the ceiling in multiple places, but I am guessing that is not an expense/work that you want to face.

Iglo: I may end up going your route. Rejuv can be a little pricey, so that may or may not be an option. Always worth checking out. Thanks for the pics & idea!

Meg: That is one site I haven't checked out. I'll spend some time there to see what all they have. The one you posted is getting there... but wrong finish & lines. Thanks for the link!

Wooder: Neither DH nor I want fluors in the bedroom. We hate the fixture in the kitchen... same problem as lkplatow posted. Next I'll be searching to replace that!

Lynnski: I know that heat build-up is the issue which is why we are not looking at FLUSH mounts but at semi-flush mounts. The 1960 original fixtures are several inches down from the ceiling surface and are rated for 2, 100 watt bulbs... just can't get more stylish covers/shades to fit the original fixtures. Trust me as I have considered adapting.

And I have not been looking at just the lower end stores! I have been to every high-end lighting place in town plus oodles of web sites. We are a 1 income family & the budget is tight. The few I have been able to find are just not our taste. And no way will I spend big bucks for something that I don't even like!

Les: We HAVE additional lighting in the room on the bed sides & the dressers. But when you walk in the room & hit the switch, the ceiling light is the one that comes on & we prefer that to rewiring the switch to an outlet. The closets in this 1960's house are not walk in & there really isn't a good way to get a light in them the way we have arranged them for maximum storage. The overhead is used to pick out clothes, putting away clothes, cleaning the room and general light. Having to turn on half a dozen lights to match socks just seems so pitiful!

I guess the point of my original vent is that they made these fixtures & put them in the ceilings of every house built in the period of ours. But now that folks like us desire to update, we are unable to find more stylish replacements.

If they could make them THEN... why don't they make them NOW?! You can always put a lower watt in a higher rated socket. I take this as yet another example of the dumbing down of the consumer. !!

OK. Sorry. Second rant over. Thanks for the responses!

Syllabus, I understand your frustration. So, you have told us what you DON'T want - now tell us what you DO. What finish, what style, what color glass? What is the furniture and decor like in the bedroom.

You don't want ORB or chrome - so do you want brass, antique brass, brushed nickel? What shape do you want?

We can all be on the lookout, but it would help to know what you are seeking.

Here is a link to two pages at lampsplus.com. These lights are all supposed to be between 200-300 watts. I am sure you don't like many of these, but can you show us some that are close to what you want? Or, can you tell us what doesn't work about most of them so that we can get an idea?

semi-flushmount 200-300 watts

I had a similarly difficult time finding lighting that would provide decent light and would work with the constraints of the rooms in which they were needed. I had a situation like yours where modifications to a space left me with a light fixture that was placed off-center, and located right by a door no less! We couldn't move the fixture to the center because it would have left a big hole in the 1920's stucco ceiling that would always show, no matter how well we tried to patch it. So I had to find something that would clear the door when it was opened, and also would work with another light fixture I had installed in the main part of the room some time previously. It was a long search over the internet as well as in stores located in several states when we were traveling, but just when I had begun to give up I happened to find something at the local hardware store here that worked. I found an alternative shade for it that will match the glass type of the main fixture (seeded glass), although I haven't put it on yet.
I'm wondering if the compact fluorescents mentioned above might be the solution.

Syllabus ~~ thank you for putting into words so well something that has annoyed me too!

Igloo ~~ I love that light fixture! What kind of bulbs do you put in it, I mean, do you have to look for something special? I have been so tempted to get one of those and yours is just lovely. Did it cost you a lot to have it rewired?

Those are easy rewires (about $25 each) Chandeliers with slip shades run abotu $40 (the guy who does them is UL certified). I prefer special bulbs, which I buy from a guy in MN who paints them like the ones in the picture, but you can also find those at lighting stores. Also the ones that look like crystal or pressed glass (available everywhere) look great in these fixtures.

I do love these fixtures. I've used them in several places in the new house (I painted many to go with my personal decor). In all of the bathrooms, my master suite, closet, etc.

Here's a link to the guy in MN:

Here is a link that might be useful: The soft gold tone lights you see in my lights

Thanks for the link. I have admired those that look like cut crystal in those fixtures, I agree. I didn't know you can get them "anywhere" -- now I'll have to look for them.

Your fixture you showed in the other thread is just breathtaking! I've never seen one quite like that one. I'd like to see lots more pics of your fixtures, if you can. I'm very impressed with your work!

"Also the ones that look like crystal or pressed glass (available everywhere) look great in these fixtures."

I've looked locally for these and haven't found any. Does anyone know where you can order them online? TIA

I do wonder what the electrician repairman at the high end lighting stores would say if you asked for help? Perhaps they have ideas about the re-wiring etc. and could suggest some things. I do know that when I was upgrading a kitchen light myself once I found that the wires up in the ceiling had dried out and gotten very flaky. I had to call an electrician and they recoated the wires. I think I remember him saying that it had happened from using too high a wattage. Whether it was from heat from the bulb or pulling too much electricity through the line I never understood.
But I certainly have the same problem with my older eyes, I crave light! I too wonder why it takes manufactures so long to modify things for market changes (not just with lighting either)
I don't think it would hurt to go to an real no kidding light store and ask to talk to one of the lighting electrician/technicians that work in the back.

Wow! I logg off to go wallow in a glass of wine (& whine!) last night and come back the next day to lots more feedback. :) Thanks to you all for your comments & links.

Les: Oh dear! I'm afraid that I'm one of those intolerable folk who can't be defined by a particular style. I usually do/don't know what will float my boat until I see it. Our home is at best eclectic. I've inherited & collected mostly period antiques... but we also have mixed in there some MCM and retro stuff. All in a 1964 multi-level. LOL! If pinned down I would have to say we were traditional. Preference to antique brass (& yet the kitchen is all chrome and nickel!).

That said... Les, you doll, I think you may have found just what I've been looking for! There are a couple that I really like & I'm off to measure & ponder. Your search of that site was so much more fruitful than my slogging. In fact, I think my future replacement kitchen fixture is in there, too!!

Now I just have to teach myself how to post the pics & I can show you what they are! :)

The funniest thing here is that in my origianl post I mentioned the ageing of America & the needs of older eyes and I think that got interpreted as MY being in my dottage! Hahahahaha on me!!:) Now I'll never reveal my age! One of the many facts you read when an article is about building or retro-fitting housing for our older population is the need for plenty of good lighting. And then you go tour the new 55+ homes & they all have dim/soft/romantic lighting (and NOT on dimmers). Sighhhhhhhhhhhh.

Igloo: please start another post w/ pics of all your lighting! We'd love to see what you have done & you wouldn't want your post to get lost in this one.

Thanks again everyone!

Yes, but those of us approaching our dotage (and I am 54, so I guess they consider me close to that) don't want the bright lighting, to avoid showing the ravages of time! LOL

Glad if I was of help. Hope you find things that work for you. I understand the idea of knowing what you want only when you see it. I also have the problem of knowing what I want before I see it, and then never seeing it because they don't MAKE what I want, or haven't made it for 30 years, or something.