I got home late last night from work and got a bit itchy to test out a new toy. It was already dark by the time I arrived home after a looooonnnggg day so it seemed appropriate to test out my little hot things promised low light capabilities. This may explain the sloppily composed and cluttered shots of our exterior lights at work. I was drunk with new technology.
Things have been happening around the house, but nothing too exciting to report yet. Soon. I swear.
The office part of the den is my constant nemesis. It used to look like THIS, no wait, lets look at THIS really old version.
I hate the built in desk – which we can’t rip out, or else I seriously would. I hate the stupid half wall of wainscoting that is actually inset in the plaster and therefore makes up half the wall (structurally). I hate the stupid oddly placed hardwired light thing. HATE. I hate the stupid high electrical sockets. I hate that there is nowhere to hide cords since the desk is built into the wall.
Not going to change it though. Costs too much and its not worth it in the long run.
Anyhow, I wanted to try out a simple lighting solution with a basic lamp holder and half chrome bulb. This is sort of a test run for an idea I have for the bathroom.
Hey. It works.
I can’t decide if I want to paint it white or black, I’m feeling very blah and uninspired right now about everything and kind of need a break deciding about things. I’m not totally Debbie Downer though, I do like the light it gives off at night. Also, since it’s a half chrome bulb it doesn’t blind you – which is always a plus with a wall mounted light.
Ugh. I hate you desk.
If you somehow haven’t noticed, I really like The Ace Hotel in Palm Springs. So, when it came time to figure out some exterior lighting for the house I deferred to The Ace and the industrial lights installed outside their room doors. I loved the simplicity of the design, the industrial quality and the low, low price. Easy to source, we just went to Home Depot and bought a set of four.
Vapor Tight!
When we bought the Brick House there were no exterior lights installed, just a bunch of empty holes with cables strung through. About a year ago we tried to install some exterior lights and went TOTALLY CRAZY. The wiring was so funky that the lights would just stay on or sometimes one would shut off and two would go on and after about a week of fiddling with it we gave up. It was stupid and we were stupid.
Now that most of the painting is done (we still have a little more to go – it’s never going to end) we started talking again about the stupid exterior lights. Knowing that we were not qualified to deal with this problem we talked our electrician buddy Chris to come out and try and figure out what the hell was going on.
Installing them was pretty easy and figuring out what was wrong with the wiring was also pretty easy for Electrician Chris. I guess they were wired for Photocells or something. Whatever. We are dumb.
We did end up adding an extra light to the corner above the patio since the whole side yard is pitch black at night. Electro Chris tied this light into the other garage lights like magic! Custom shit.
I know the garage doors are all atrocious and the patio is a mess, but look, we have lights. After two and a half years of living in the dark, we have exterior light! This is a big deal. Go 2010 Year of The Exterior. GO.
We don’t have to stumble around in the dark to take out the trash anymore. Huge achievement.
Yep. They work best at night.
