Light of My Life

No, not these lights of my life ...

... though they are pretty cute ...

THESE lights!



CB2 Firefly Pendant Lamp $199

 
Actually, let's back up a little. Because this is really a story about a table. A nice, solid, functional dining room table I bought in October 1999, before the very first Thanksgiving I ever hosted. I needed a table that would fit in the small dining area of my new townhouse but still somehow transform into something large enough to seat 8. I didn't want to mess with storing leaves, so I was thrilled when I found the perfect table at Crate & Barrel. Most days, it was nice and compact, seating 4 comfortable. But by turning the table top halfway and flipping over the top, it doubled in size! Magic! There's even a secret storage section underneath! The cost of that table and six chairs was a bit outrageous to me at the time, but in the many homes I've had over the years, only one had a dedicated dining room, so this magical table has served me very, very well.

Except. My style has evolved a lot over the last decade, from Pottery Barn/Restoration Hardware before it got all goth and weird (seriously, have you been in there lately? spooky!)/some vague notion of French Country to a more modern/vintage (actual or faux)/random stuff I like sort of vibe. And the magical table suddenly didn't look quite as magical to me anymore in the new house with the new stuff. It looked kind of frumpy and out of place. I noticed its scratches more. I contemplated painting it (and then I remembered I am really not good at that sort of thing). Eventually, I resigned myself to just not really love it for a few more years, until I could justify replacing it with something sleeker and round, maybe with Ghost chairs.

Until! I spied this cool pendant fixture in the CB2 catalog. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was exactly what my little table needed to help it fit in. And it worked! I love my table again. The cool modern style ties it in with the rest of the house, while the black ceiling mount and cords echo the black legs of the table and the black chairs. If I weren't such a half-ass blogger, I would have taken a before picture so you could see the miraculous transformation. You'll just have to take my word for it. And -- bonus! -- I installed it BY MYSELF. Even though the directions said two people were required. Believe me, if I can wire a light fixture, anyone can (white to white, black to black, ground to ground -- that's not so hard now, is it?).

So that is the story of how a light fixture made me feel like Wonder Woman (for like an hour), saved my table from Craigslist, and (a little) changed my life. Makes $200 sound like the bargain of the century, doesn't it?