Chandelier Questions Answered!

I had so many of you leave kind comments about my dining room chandelier after my New Year's Party post that I thought I'd do a post on where to buy, what to buy, etc.



The picture above is one from New Year's Eve. The chandelier was decorated with silver beads so it looks a little more ornate than it really is. The picture below is just a "regular day in the Sippycups dining room" shot.



What I can say about my chandelier is this: I love, love, love it. Wouldn't trade it for the world, brought it to this house from the other house, etc. I'm very attached to this chandelier. What I will also say (in regard to lighting in general...)is that you get what you pay for. MOST OF THE TIME.

I found my chandelier on the Great Chandelierswebsite. This was the picture online.



It looks to be kind of a copper color, right?

I actually called the company before purchasing the chandelier and asked very specific questions. You see, I wanted wrought iron, but I wanted it to be a patina'd copper color, not black. In addition, I wanted glass crystals, not the plastic or lucite ones that often come with these website "deals". I was assured that this chandelier was exactly what I wanted. There would be some "minor" assembly involved. Oh, and by the way...NO RETURNS. But you see, by this time I had searched and searched and I was ready to be DONE. I had a very particular look that I wanted. I loved the look of this chandelier from Shades of Light but had seen it too many times in too many magazines, etc.



I also LOVE these chandeliers from Vaughan Designs that I had seen in many a Christopher Peacock kitchen and in many of Betty Lou Phillips' books. However, they were a bit more of an investment than I intended to make at the time. Hindsight, baby, hindsight.






I got my chandelier in the mail SIX weeks after I ordered it. It literally came from Mexico. It was packaged in a box the size of a shoe box. A child's shoe box. I began taking out piece after piece of BLACK wrought iron and electrical cording. There were crystals everywhere, but atleast they were glass. Dr. Daddy was laughing his little ass off. He gleefully reminded me that he was NOT going to help assemble the thing and that he had suggested going to Lowe's to buy a "light". Hah. I was not deterred. I put that thing together in about 45 minutes (good thing I took Spanish in high school, as the directions were NOT in English). I then went to the basement and found some old wood stain in a dark cherry color. I sponged it on pretty heavily and then let it dry until it was semi-tacky. Then I went over it again with some watered down gold craft paint. Lots of smudging and wiping later, I had the exact look I had wanted. Not bad. I was so irritated, though! I called the company to tell them that it was NOT as pictured or described. Let's just say they were less than sympathetic.
Now again, I have to say I love my chandelier. I do wish it hadn't been such a pain to finally find and get assembled, but it makes for a good dinner story!

If you love the chandelier but don't want to go through all that hassle, try some of these options. Murray Feiss is a great company. I've purchased several things from them in the past and have been very happy.






Both available from Lighting Showrooms.