I didn't feel like sanding in my hallway last night so instead I attacked a little electrical. The hallway light fixture that I removed when pulling down the not one but two drop ceilings looked like this:
The shade that went over the fluorescent bulbs was long gone before I bought the house and the fixture was definitely past its prime. If it was in better shape it would have been cool in a Mid-Century Modern home but it was definitely an ill fit for my 130+ year old house.
Since the hallway has no natural light I wanted to keep things as open as possible so when I found these clear glass shades at Schoolhouse Electric. I love classic shape and the fact that they are hand blown from antique molds.
Next I needed to find fixtures to go with the shades. I've been hunting around but haven't found anything that I am completely sold on. After getting the beadboard ceiling up and then painted I was was anxious to get working lights back in the hallway so I decided to use two inexpensive fixtures that I found for less than $4 each at Lowe's. Please excuse the primer on my hands; I spray painted these on Sunday after priming the ceiling.
The white was a no go for me so I quickly fixed that by taping up the bulb sockets and wiring and then giving the fixtures two light coats of oil rubbed bronze spray paint.
To spray the heads of the shade screws I poked them through a piece of cardboard so that I wouldn't get paint on the threads.
Last night with the fixtures done drying I put them up in the hallway. I love how the glass shades look and to be honest, my cheap fixtures don't look so bad for now.
While I had the power off I also swapped out the hallway electrical outlet. The old one was very dirty and had been a casualty of some previous bad paint job. It is amazing to me how something simple like replacing old outlets with new white ones can really freshen things up. 