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3katz4me

question re: glass shades for lighting

8 years ago

I finally finished this light fixture modification for the light over the island at our lake place. Long story but I ended up modifying the existing fixture and replacing the glass shades because I couldn't find a new one that met my requirements.

So now it's done and looks (and functions) so much better than the old one. I love the replacement shades and now I'm pondering replacement glass shades for every light fixture that has one. I do need to do something about the adjacent dining room though. There's also a foyer chandelier not too far away but not in sight of the others and we rarely actually look at it so that one is lower priority.

Anyway, how much do you think I need to "match" the shades on the two fixtures within sight of each other? I'm not much of a matchy-matchy person so I don't really want to but don't want it to look like a hodge-podge of mismatched stuff either. Here's a picture of the current situation.

Comments (4)

  • 8 years ago

    Your lake house looks so cozy! If you want to change the glass shades on the chandelier over the dining table, I would simply try to complement in style or color. Is your dining chandelier silver toned? If so, I might even consider painting it. Hopefully, some more creative folks will chime in :).

    3katz4me thanked rubyclaire
  • 8 years ago

    Pretty rooms.

    Is the chandelier as high as it looks in the picture? Maybe consider lowering it. If the shades are the same type of glass I think they would work.

    The 2 lamps on the buffet look too formal for your space.

    3katz4me thanked maddielee
  • 8 years ago

    Thanks for the tips. The DR fixture is kind of a antique pewter which I like and it’s similar to the others. I can’t lower the fixture because it is so wide people hit their heads on it. I’ve bought and returned several alternatives that are smaller but I just didn’t like them and they were relatively poor quality compared to this one - and bronze or nickel which I don’t care for. So for now I’ve raised it to prevent injury! Yes the buffet lamps aren’t quite right. These are the shades that came with them and eventually I’ll switch out the shades for something a bit more rustic. I think I will look for some glass shades for the dining room chandelier that are similar color and shape as the kitchen but not exactly the same.

    I also got my new high arc faucet installed today (something else I asked about here). Fortunately I followed your advice and got it as it’s perfect - not excessively tall. And I recently replaced the dirty carpet on the stairs with wood - also wonderful. Really enjoying getting these things done that I’ve been pondering since we moved into this place almost three years ago. They’re small changes but make a big difference to me.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I don’t think you have to match glass shades exactly but I would probably stay in a similar color family as ruby Clare said. The shades on Chandy over island look glittery opalescent white. The shades in fixture over table look grayish (maybe it’s just shadows). But if they are gray, I’d replace with goldish-amberish tones. Home Depot has a decent selection of glass shades.

    If foyer fixture is not within sight of others, you could do a fun color like cobalt blue, red, green, whatever goes best. Or you can stick to whitish-goldish tones. When in doubt, It is safest to do CLEAR.

    3katz4me thanked bossyvossy