Brady Picks Some Lighting

Hey Folks, Brady here. This time on “#MakeoverTakeover Brady Edition” we are tackling my quest to find the perfect Living Room sconces. Working in the design industry I have heard it said time and time again that lighting is the jewelry of a room. We all know I love me some man jewelry . . . lest you have forgotten, head on back to the first post that Emily mentions me in,  “He is tall, blonde, from Utah, full of skills, creativity, brawn, enthusiasm and very nice necklaces.” BUT, room jewelry is a whole different ball game. Like a good accessory, it has to work with everything else that you pair with it, it has to be both commanding, but not greedy for attention, and last but not least, if done right it can elevate the whole entire outfit. So when it came time to decide on the lighting scheme for my living room, I had some major decisions ahead of me.

In the above photo you can see that there is a lot still to be done in my living room. In my last post, I covered my process of picking out the perfect gray paint, which is now on the walls and looks so good (thanks to all of your helpful input). Still on the list is determining exactly what window treatment situation will work best, what art should go above the fireplace (and on the other walls), some final furniture decisions, and last, but not least, the sconce situation.

To my benefit, my living room has 4 perfectly positioned sconces around the room, but to my disadvantage, those sconces are the ONLY source of lighting.  It’s an old building from the 1930’s and some of them tend not to have any overhead lighting. So in addition to being beautiful, the sconces also have to be completely functional, as they are the primary source of light. I toyed with quite a few ideas for sconces and ultimately narrowed it down the the below options. Now, let’s try on some sconces for size!

The Madonna from TripleSevenHome: It has a lot of good things I love about it. The price is prime, the natural brass is a winner, and I also love that it’s a double sconce, which would bring twice the amount of light into the room. I may be one of the only people that hates really bright, artificial light in my spaces at any time, so one of the first things I did when I moved into my apartment was install dimmer switches on every single light switch in there. That allows me to still use the lighting, but keep it just a little bit lower than full power. That way I don’t feel like I’m on the surface of the sun. Also, how else am I going to get just the right glow for my dinner dates? I digress. The Madonna was definitely a contender but wasn’t the perfect fit for my room.

The L Sconce from Schoolhouse Electric: I have been a lover of this elegant little lady for a long time. It is simple and clean, long and slender, architectural yet a bit industrial, and also has an exposed bulb. I typically love an exposed bulb when it is used on a dimmer, as you get the nicest glow from it. However, exposed bulbs are not always the best source of primary light as they can be very harsh on the eye. With my sconces being the primary source of light in the room,  I figured that an exposed bulb may not be the best option as anyone looking directly at it would quickly be blinded by the light.

The Lucia from Cedar and Moss: This one was a winner for me in a lot of ways. I love the circular aspect to it, I love how it is different than a lot of other lighting on the market, I love the soft warm glow that it creates, and on top of that, the price is great. However, once again it was an exposed bulb. I could technically combat that with some gold tipped bulbs but once I took a look at it in my rendering, I realized that the sconces almost looked like big ol’ car headlights and just felt a bit too wrong for the space.

The Theo by Cedar and Moss: The Theo is a real stunner in person. I love that it’s a double sconce (meaning double the light) and I love that it has a mid-century modern influence to it.  It’s versatility of being able to be hung both horizontally and vertically is super fun, and the scale works really well in my space. The fact that is has glass shades that diffuse the light also made it a winner for me, as that would work best with my lighting issues/requirements. All in all, the Theo seemed like the best option for me but I had a few more that I wanted to try out.

The Puzzle Sconce by Jonathan Adler: This sconce is definitely a bit much for some people, although that is one of the main reasons that I love them. They are large, sculptural, and almost read as a big piece of brass art on the walls. The downfall for me, besides the price, was the fact that the light was completely obstructed by a metal shade which meant that it would give off little to no light. These puppies would be a much better option as a secondary source of lighting rather than the primary source of lighting I needed.

Last but not least, the Lorita from Arteriors: This one has been on my pinboard since it first came out. I love the simplicity of it, the warm brass glow it gives off and also how it can be customized even further with a variety of different types of bulbs. When I first threw these up in my living room rendering, I thought I had found the ones. But as I mentioned before, the exposed bulb ended up not being the best option for me, as I didn’t want them to be too harsh on the eye if I did decide to have the lights on full power. So, although beautiful and still one of my favorites, they just weren’t quite right for my setup.

To be honest, picking out just the right sconce was NOT easy for me, and you can ask Ginny or Emily. I am about the most indecisive person that you will ever meet. When someone says “where should we go for dinner, “ or “what movie should we watch on netflix?” I will go through about 100 options, until deciding on one, and then I will flip-flop back to another option, before deciding back on the first option . . . then change my mind to the second, then back to the first, then realize the last was the best, but then unsure about it, I ask for everyone else’s opinions, then completely disregard them, ponder it out for far too long, end up undecided once again, and finally go with something else entirely. You get my point – it was not easy. So,  I went with my gut decision and got the The Theo by Cedar and Moss. I put them up on the walls this weekend and immediately realized I had made the right decision. They still make me happy when I come into the room, and I just love them. The brass is stunning, the craftsmanship is insane, the soft glow from either of the shades is just right, and they are the perfect scale.

A little sneak peak of the new wall color and sconces. They play together like the best of friends, and I love the way the brass pops off the gray so well. After much consideration, and from all of your votes and comments, I ended up going with Kendall Charcoal for the paint color and it works perfectly in the living room. It is a dark gray with a lot of subtleties. In the morning it’s an earthy gray, in the evening it’s a dark purply gray, and all the damn day long it just makes me happy. Theo and Kendall are the perfect living room couple, and I think they will be together for the long haul. Let’s just hope when the rest of the living room characters come to the party they can all play just as well together. I am curious to know what you all think though. Which gray and which sconce would you have picked for the room?

Until then I’ll be reorganizing my necklaces.

xx

Brady

In case you missed the intro to my living room or picking out the perfect gray head on back to those posts, and if you are craving more #MakeOverTakeover check out Ginny, Sara, and Jess’s progress.

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