All is Calm, All is Bright

We completed our "Christmas present to ourselves" home improvement trifecta. First it was the fancy nightlight in the hallway a few weeks ago. Then it was the new dishwasher. And now, new lights in the kitchen and dining room.

Just like the dishwasher, the lights came with the house and were still functioning, but definitely were due for an upgrade. I had a hard time finding a "before" picture. I thought I took some last week, but I guess I must have just intended to.

Possibly you can see that the dining area chandelier and the two hanging lights by the sink all feature gold chains, gold-plated everything, and some circa 1970 or 1980s glass and plastic combos. They used the little 15 watt or whatever chandelier bulbs that eventually just quit working and we were down to three sockets of working light.

And I do hate to keep saying "chandelier" because we're not middle class fancy and not part of the Phantom of the Opera musical.  Still, here is the new chandelier and matching hanging lights. (Thanks mostly to our electrical genius friend Mike!)

They take 100 watt bulbs and thankfully the chandelier has a dimmer switch. I am pretty sure we have not been at full-light capacity for at least a decade. You know what this means, don't you? We'll see things more clearly... and see the need for more upgrades.

Too bad Christmas only comes once a year. Though our birthday-anniversay palooza week is only 6 months away. I can behave that long, Santa.