27 Oct 5 Essential Ways Chandelier Lighting Adds Elegance to a Room – One Room Challenge | Fall 2019 | Week 4

Yikes!! I know I say this every week, but I can’t believe I only have 2 weeks left to finish transforming our Breakfast Nook. If you’re wondering what I’m even talking about see Weeks 1, 2 and 3 (below) of the 6-week One Room Challenge sponsored by Better Homes & Gardens. Before I get to how chandelier lighting adds elegance to a room, let me share what’s been happening since last week.

 

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6

I don’t remember. Truly!!

It’s been so busy from one moment to the next, and I’ve been doing mathematical calculations (not my strength as evidenced on last week’s post), that it all blurs together eventually. And remember I had the guests of all Airbnb guests last week, Laurel Bern, the best of the best interior design bloggers (if you don’t believe me, see her latest post). And God forbid you should ever install a Boob Light! If you’re not careful, Laurel will come after you!  Just teasing.

Week 4

 

Week 4 is interesting because most of us participating in the challenge, be it a Featured Designer, or Guest Participant like myself, have already hit the wall at Week 3. Some things have worked out as planned some not. So week 4 is when it starts all coming together. Or, let’s just say it’s “supposed” to start coming together.

Here’s what I accomplished in Week 4:

• Finalized my lighting selection with sponsor CWI Lighting
• Confirmed details with modern furniture sponsor Eurway
• Figured out, after umpteen times, which pillows to make and in what size
• Confirmed fabric order for pillows with sponsor Kravet
• Started planning my tabletop design
• Confirmed fashion styling with sponsor Spring Frost Boutique
• Confirmed make up sponsor Face Kandy
• Changed dates and confirmed with Photographer, Gregg Cestaro
• Took a break and had fun with my friend Laurel Bern, who was in town staying at our Airbnb

 

I had a few hiccups along the way. My photographer,  Grgg Cestaro, was going to have to go out of town most of October, so it turned into a blessing. Instead of having to photograph a whole week early on Oct 30th, which I did for the Spring ORC, which makes you have only 5 weeks to pull your design together, we’re photographing on Nov 5th. YAY,  these 6 extra days are proving to be a lifesaver. Thank you Gregg!

After our guest left, I squeezed in our daughter’s 24th birthday celebration and I think somewhere in there, I had to take a day off to refresh.

At Home in Home Depot

 

Then Tuesday our studio seamstress, Kim, and I hit Home Depot and Joann Fabrics to get all the wood we needed to make the valances and fabric lining for the shades.

Here we are sawin’ away! Does anyone else love a hardware store as much as me? (Note: I’m wearing my shades because they’re prescription and I accidentally left my close-up glasses at home.)

Sweet Spot

 

The real sweet spot was when Kim’s, husband Brad offered to build the valance boxes for us. It would have taken Kim and me a very long time to build these and we were already running out of steam getting the supplies which took all day. Brad was a Godsend! Thank you so much Brad.

Didn’t they turn out beautifully?

I didn’t have much steam in Week 4, so by the time it came to reviewing again exactly which pillows I was going to make, and in what sizes, my brain was a hot mess. Thankfully, my friend Sandy helped me once again and this is the pillow chart we came up with.

There’s a center pillow, a left side, and a right side to the Breakfast Nook. And to complicate things even more, I’ve created two seasons. Don’t even ask….

Bright Ideas

 

After CWI Lighting’s Grand Opening to their brand new Dallas showroom (#3327 above) in January 2019, who would have guessed that 9 months later I’d be participating in my second One Room Challenge and CWI Lighting would become a major sponsor!

Crystal lighting really excites me because it is so beautiful.  I grew up in an apartment on the first floor of a Victorian home in upstate New York with amazing crystal chandeliers. To me, and many decorators and interior designers, lighting is like the jewelry of a room. And what better brand to shop lighting with than CWI Lighting with its stunning new designs.

Some of you may remember last fall, 2018, my 1st experience ever in selecting lighting was when I won a Lamps Plus chandelier on Instagram. It couldn’t have come at a more perfect time because I had been diagnosed with colon cancer (cancer-free now!) and having to look through a zillion chandeliers really kept my nervous, panicked mind distracted before surgery. That and a piece of coconut cake about every other day…lol!

Well, this time, thank God, I don’t have cancer and CWI Lighting wanted me to select from their newer designs. No problem, cause I love them all! But while I felt more knowledgeable on how to select a chandelier, it still was very challenging and y’all helped me narrow the choices down on Instagram, thank you.

Going for the Gold

 

Now onto the decision of which chandelier to select for the Breakfast Nook. Even though I know you’ll be mad at me, I really want to save this one beautiful lighting chandelier for a surprise. You already know the blue-green colorway I chose for the Breakfast Nook and you’ve seen the table and chairs, hint, hint… But I’m not telling you which chandelier I chose.

Instead, I’m sharing with you the wonderful possibilities CWI Lighting offers in crystal chandeliers with a gold finish.

Below are some of the chandeliers I considered. The one thing you do know is I’m going for the gold finish. And I’m transforming our drab Breakfast Nook into a more elegant dining space so we can entertain there too.  Since it’s all part of my master plan to transform our living room and kitchen into one big beautiful room.

Leave it to me to NOT follow the crowd and have a simple Breakfast Nook.

CWI Lighting’s NEW ARRIVALS

 

 

Importance of Lighting

 

I cannot stress enough how important lighting is to a room.  There are 3 types of lighting that illuminate interiors:

• Ambient Lighting
• Task Lighting
• Accent Lighting

 

Task and accent lighting are generally considered extra lighting and not the primary source.  Like a table lamp or a floor lamp designated specifically for reading.  Ambient lighting is the main light source for a room. It can be achieved through recessed can lights, pendants, track lighting, or chandeliers.  Think of it as the foundation of your room – the lighting fixture you will turn on to illuminate the entire room.

Because of the nature of ambient lighting, it is the most important lighting to carefully select for your room design. Purpose and functionality, as well as the actual beauty in the design of a chandelier, are important as well.

I had considered not having a chandelier for our breakfast nook, and using several wall sconces instead. But since we have such a prominent architectural feature to our Breakfast Nook – the T-shaped beams – a chandelier really made the most sense.

I’ll talk more in a future post about tips on how to select the best chandelier for your room, but first let’s discuss the power of a beautiful chandelier.

5 Ways Chandelier Lighting Adds Elegance to a Room

 

1. More light – No matter the size or purpose of a room, a chandelier is your main source of lighting, providing the overall foundation of lighting for an entire room.
2. Focal Point – Because a chandelier provides ambient light to a room, it often turns into the focal point in your design.
3. Sets Mood – A chandelier has the potential to light up a room and, especially with a dimmer, can really set the tone and mood of a room.
4. Pulls Design Together – Often because a chandelier, especially a gorgeous one, can be the focal point to a room (think of what you look at first when you walk into a room!) it can be just the perfect touch of elegance to pull your design together.
5. Jewelry for the Home  – There are many design features that can be like jewelry to a room. For example, the hardware on kitchen or bathroom cabinets. But whether it’s a bathroom or breakfast nook, there is nothing more elegant than featuring a crystal chandelier. It’s like wearing a diamond bracelet!

 

Which Chandelier Lighting Adds the Most Elegance?

Click through these CWI Lighting chandeliers and think about which one you’d choose.

 

 

 

 

That’s a wrap for Week 4!  Be sure to click through the chandeliers and shop for one for your home. I can’t wait until the chandelier arrives. You’ll hear squeals of delight.

Do you know which one I selected?  Which chandelier lighting would you choose to add elegance to one of your rooms?

Now, onto Week 5 where we’ll be surging and sewing pillows, the shades and covering the valances and installing everything. You know why? Because in Week 6 it is time to photograph the room for the Big Reveal on November 7th.

Get ready for the final push of frenzy and fun toward the total transformation of our Breakfast Nook. Share this PIN with your friends so they too can learn how chandelier lighting adds elegance.

Please check out the progress of the 20 Featured Designers and other Guest Participants (I made it in under the wire, #200) and follow Instagram hashtags #oneroomchallenge #BHGORC #thepillowgoddess.

Till next time, you’ll find me hunkered down sewing about 15+ pillows and checking on a zillion details to make it all come out perfectly. Thanks so much for following along @thepillowgoddess,  your wonderful comments, and all your support!  XO PG

Note: This post is sponsored by CWI Lighting.  All professional images of lighting is by CWI; all other images are my own, except for ORC logo.  All opinions are my own.