Winter Wonderland

All the white, silver, wood and greenery in this cottage makes me want to curl up by the fire with some hot coffee and a magazine...

I'm especially fond of the lighting -- those chandeliers in the kitchen are fantabulous!

[Find the full home tour on Living Etc. here]

Even More Fantastic

After my lighting post yesterday, Pam from Retro Renovation sent me this link -- she has the same pull-down light fixture as we do. Not only that, but she found the original sales catalog for it -- how cool is that?

[Pam's kitchen with light fixture above table]

[Original sales catalog from September 1959 --

the light is an Imperialite, made by Emerson-Imperial]

Maybe it's all these years being married to an historian, but I sure do love a good primary document!

Thanks again, Pam!

Light Fantastic

Remember all those decisions I was talking about? Lighting has been a big one. To me, ceiling lights are one of those things that you don't really notice at first glance unless it is really hideous or really spectacular. But, since we are having the entire house rewired, I've got to think about every socket. My brain is officially light-decisioned out. We put fans in 3 rooms, and for the others I found things at Ikea, Crate and Barrel and in 2 cases we are using what was there [it needed a little nod to the 60's!]. Here's what is in the former Dining Room, soon to be office:

One of it's finest features -- a retractable cord! --

We probably would've never discovered that feature if it hadn't been for our electrician -- how often do you yank on a chandelier?! I stumbled on a mid-century lighting gallery over at Retro Renovation, and saw this similar beauty:

Now if only I could get ours to shine like that one!

All that's left is the bathroom vanity lights. Since we are doing so much work on the bones of the house [wiring, plumbing, h-vac, windows - to name a few] we are on a bit of a budget, so I'm looking for steals! If the placement would've work, I would've snapped up a pair of these puppies in a second:

[George Kovacs single scone, regularly $150, on sale for $29.97!]

Anyone have any tips for buying bathroom lighting?