Help me replace my gross kitchen lights.

July 22, 2014 7:31 PM

Looking for an industrialish-type fixture to replace the brass boob in my ceiling and the snowglobe stuck above my sink.

So I'm doing a few small things to my kitchen since I can't afford an entire remodel right now. I'd like to replace a small snowglobe-looking light above a sink and the light in the center of the ceiling (which looks a bit like a brass boob stuck to the ceiling).

I really want:

-Something industrial-looking
-Nothing on a pendant cord
-Bonus points for metal and retro bulbs

If I could find something like this without the pendant cord, it'd be pretty much perfect.

Any ideas on where I can find this?

posted by the artless dodger to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

Best answer: Here is one option.
posted by sulaine at 7:36 PM on July 22, 2014 [2 favorites]

Note that those types of fixtures only look as cool as shown in that photo with those silly artisanal lightbulbs... which burn out often, and don't provide all that much light. Put a normal frosted(or worse, CFL) bulb in there and you're quickly into fedora with an anime tshirt territory as far as style juxtapositions go.

That said to directly address your question, while your profile doesn't list location, you put the price in AUD. Regardless of my lack of knowledge in that area i can provide general input. You need the local equivalent of this place. Me and my dad(who does GC type stuff) and plenty of his friends source bits and bobs like this there. I personally have scavenged tons of stuff from there.

Why not get an actual small industrial fixture that's actually vintage and only pay $5-40 for it? My really snazzy(and probably several hundred dollar new) under counter lights were $5 each, and i've seen plenty of fixtures in this style there. Many of which were actually early 20th century stuff.

From what i can tell, a lot of major US cities have building materials resale stores like that. You should look into whether you have a local one. Repro stuff is really overpriced, and honestly total upper middle class disposable income fodder. There's also something to be said for real materials of a real thickness, not the thinnest stuff that vaguely looks the same. You can tell when you're staring at it if you've seen both too.
posted by emptythought at 7:52 PM on July 22, 2014 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Here are some other nice options.
posted by bennett being thrown at 8:16 PM on July 22, 2014 [3 favorites]

You might be able to order the wall sconce version of the light that you linked to which looks like it may have a joint in the stem that would let it be bent straight. This gives you the same light shade but without the drop from the pendant. I could be wrong, but it would be worth contacting them to ask, assuming that you don't mind a short stem for the light, rather than completely flush mounted.

I just bought wall sconce lights that can also work as ceiling lights because I don't have the ceiling height to have pendants.
posted by AnnaRat at 5:02 AM on July 23, 2014

Also, here is an industrial-style flush mounted light, but it is more bell-shaped than saucer shaped.
posted by AnnaRat at 5:06 AM on July 23, 2014