My brother destroyed our ceiling fan when he tried to take it down in order to paint the ceiling. I was openly grateful as I tend to despise all ceiling fans and have been looking to replace the mishmash installed in the Brick House. There were 4 ceiling fans, none of which matched. One was arts and crafts, one looks like its from the future, and the others were cheapy white ones from the 1980′s that had been painted a rainbow of colors.

So it fell and smashed on the floor and we’ve had a hole in our ceiling for a month and a half. I really wanted to install some mid century inspired drop pendants throughout the house as they give a good even light and have a very streamlined feel. Ikea has a line called FADO that fit the bill and my price range. The smaller 10″ hardwire pendant down light – which I traveled to Ikea to buy – is $24.99 while the larger 12″ pendant hangs from a cord and costs $34.99.

I drove 2 hours and Ikea had no small Fado’s, no Ikea in ALL of California has small Fado’s…and they aren’t getting any more till mid-June. The friendly salesperson told me that they only have 12 ordered and that they sell out almost immediately. WTF.

I bought the larger pendant, even though I hated how the cord looked and I knew it would be way to long for the den. I hoped that I could rig it to be shorter…and after some trial and error…

SUCCESS!

I ended up pulling the whole thing apart and removing some of the cables and rods. Its a little hokey but its stable and works great. This was also the first time I’ve ever hardwired something, and it was frightening! So we have to caulk the medallion in place to cover the electrical box and then paint the medallion and the ceiling to match and it will be done! I really like how it turned out and its really great to have light in the den. I plan on rigging the larger Fado the same way in the bedrooms – and if I can get my hands on the smaller Fado - I might put it in the hall. Globe lights everywhere – I’m globe crazed.

My other new (old) hardwire light arrived that I bought on EBAY for $5. Its going to be installed over the desk in the den and I love it! It swivels and adjusts every which way and the spun aluminum looks great with the Fado hardware. I originally wanted a double cone light, but the deal was just to good and we can always move it if I happen to find that perfect vintage fiberglass double cone sconce. So more adventures in hardwiring and then maybe we can clean up this place.