let there be (better looking) light.

our bathroom light fixture was pretty outdated, but it didn’t look too bad until we added CFL bulbs. then it looked crazy.

{before}

we have been looking for a replacement fixture since the day we moved in, but there hasn’t been a single light fixture that has inspired us. we have been to the usual suspects – lowe’s, home depot – and even specialty online light stores, but still nothin’. i have even been scouring pinterest searching for “bathroom light” & apparently people either have wall mounted lights (near the mirror) or chandeliers.

i found myself at ikea sunday morning shopping for a few things & since you basically have to walk thru the entire store anyways,  i was perusing this & that while i searched for what was on my list. as i walked thru the lighting section, a fixture caught my eye. it was the alang to be exact.

{ikea alang}

simple, inexpensive & light diffusion (one of the bad things about the current fixture is the harsh light since the bulbs are exposed). i tried calling aaron a few times to get his thoughts on the fixture, but he wasn’t answering. so, after i had collected all of the other ikea goods i needed, i back-tracked to the lighting section & picked up an alang. i figured i could always return it or use it in a different room if aaron didn’t approve.

well, aaron liked it enough to at least try it, so down came the old one & up went the new.

{installation}

installation went fairly quickly & i am glad aaron was here to do it since it involved unattaching & reattaching the electrical wires.

i think the alang is a vast improvement over the original fixture – don’t you? we haven’t done much work to the bathroom, but have big (painting) plans for it to be completed over the thanksgiving holiday! once we get the ceiling (it looks white in pictures but it is a smidge yellow), walls & beadboard painted, this bathroom is going to look so. much. better. further down the road we want to replace the beige sink with a vanity, the toilet & have the tub painted (we have beautiful blue tile on the floors & in the shower that we would hate to see go, so it seems like painting the tub white makes the most sense).

{the before & after}

this is a pretty small upgrade, but it is still one more thing off the big ole’ checklist (i.e., the never-ending, constantly-being-added-to, how-are-we-going-to-pay-for-this checklist)!

thoughts? have you been updating fixtures in your house lately? where are your go-tos for light fixtures?

M