I like to joke with my husband that when I met him, the inside of his home looked like someone robbed him but left the electronics. It’s been a few years in the making (mostly because I’m slow and indecisive) but it finally feels cozy. The latest addition of the new chandelier that replaced the ceiling fan really just added that extra bit of something it was missing. Eventually, I’ll have an area rug under the table. I’m still not trusting of Luka. He never goes potty on any of our rugs or carpet….so maybe I’ll reconsider soon. Until then, I’m content with how things have turned out. 

In the beginning….the dining room was empty, aside from a barcart. I was determined to measure to find the ideal size table. Then find a table sturdy enough to sit on without so much as a slight wiggle. Furniture shopping was quite hilarious. When we found a table we might like, we would do the sit test. If I couldn’t sit on it and move aorund a bit, we didnt’ need it. So, here we were, running around sitting on tables. After all of the searching (including the famous Hickory Furniture Mart) we found nothing. Furniture shopping is quite exhausting. 

I decided to give RH a try and instantly fell in love with everything they had. Everything was large…and sturdy af. AT LAST. Every table passed the sit-test. hahaha. I decided to put together my vision board and make a call to the Atlanta gallery to make sure they had the items I was interested in on display, and off we went. I do wish I wouldn’t have dressed SO comfortable, we ended up being completely underdressed to eat in most of Buckhead. It was almsot a 4 hour drive, so comfort was priority. 

Finally, I got up the courage to resume doing electrical work. I learned electrical work alongside my exhusband (way back) when he was going to school for electrical certifications. I learned to help him study to pass. Some things stuck…and others not so much. I’m a firm believer in leaning as much as you can from those around you. I cannot imagine a world in which I was not learning something from someone. Anyway, Lately I’ve really been putting my new-found courage to work. I’ve rewired our basement and added over 30 new lights. replaced our and foyer hall lights and now, I’ve added a chandelier. I underestimated this project. I’ll likely have nightmares for the forseeable future that my efforts of securing the light fixture to the ceiling with screws to the studs alongside the absolute best toggle bolts to exist, were all for naught, and the entire thing comes crashing down on my table. New challenges are stressful. 

When I discovered the dining room electrical box wasn’t anywhere near flush with the drywall, I was a little annoyed, as this wouldn’t allow the new chandelier bracket to be installed flush with the ceiling. So, I grabbed a wire hanger, shovered it up into the ceiling to poke through the mountains of insulation so I could find the electrical box a little easier. I found it, trimmed and moved some insulation and readjusted the electrical box…then got back to work with mounting the chandelier bracket. A laser level would have been handy, and I probably would have went and got one had there not been a storm of snow and ice the weekend I decided this was a grea idea. So, I eyeballed it and crossed my fingers. Electricians and engineers would cringe at the thought of this. It’s fine. It LOOKS *just fine*.

After the bracket was installed and the wiring was done, the easier part began….painfully cleaning and hanging each crystal. I also left some extra chain hanging in the event I would like to lower the chandelier to the table in the future. Clearly I didn’t take these photos with the idea I would shove them in a blog post or I’d have done what any respectable, blogger would do and CLEAN my mess and say something like “oh, hehe, look over my mess (consisting of two singular tools on the table) I’ve just been so busy working on this lighting situation”…or something to that effect. I have a mess. I’m not sorry about it. 

Before and After