The best kind of lighting is free...

I love love love looking at fantastic lighting.  I've written about it a few times on this blog.  A long time ago I wrote a little rant about the not so great lighting I inherited in my home.  I also celebrated when I found my ideal dining room light at a RH outlet.  

Now, I have two problems when it comes to sourcing attractive lighting in my current home.  The first issue is my budget-- obviously.  I tend to have an easy time finding gorgeous lighting that would be perfect in my home-- finding gorgeous lighting that fits into my budget?  Not so easy.  Secondly, there are only a few places in my home where I have room for low hanging pendants.  The ceilings in my house are standard height-- and I have a husband that is NOT a standard height (6'7"-- yup, he tends to hit his head on a lot of things).  So, the only lights that are work in my house are flush mounts or semi flush mounts.

Unfortunately most flush mount light fixtures in my price range tend to look like this...

home depot

And if you know me-- those lights are not allowed to be brought into this house.  I have two in the hall right now-- I'm just ITCHING to change them into something fantastic.

Obviously-- pot lights would work with the ceiling height restrictions in my home.  I like pot lights-- but they can be expensive and a lot of work to install-- and a house full of pot lights can be a little boring.  Really great lighting can totally finish a room and give it some personality.  I like personality.

Some of my favorite flush mounts (and semi-flush mounts) have a little vintage charm... I think we can all agree that these ones are pretty fantastic.

Love the stripes-- the brass finish would probably be my favorite...

Schoolhouse Electric

Maybe I'm going to have to make a little trip back to the RH outlet to look for these!!

Restoration Hardware

Restoration Hardware

Now these are my absolute favorites... but they are SIGNIFICANTLY outside of my lighting budget...

circa lighting

I think a pair of these would be so fantastic in my hallway...

circa lighting

Kind of like this hall way....  love it!

nest egg

So the hunt for affordable lighting continues... I have found a few along the way that could work.

I thought that two of these in the hallway would work-- and they could also be a good option for the kid's rooms.  At $50 each-- they are much more affordable.

home depot

This one is pretty charming... only a quick trip across the border...

lowe's

So there are a few attractive lights out there for reasonable prices.  But-- like the title of this post suggests-- the best kind of lighting is FREE.  So when my brother and sister in law were renovating a room in their home and were getting rid of a charming retro inspired brass light fixture-- I snapped it up!

I think Doug's family thought I was a little bit crazy when I said I wanted it... and truth be told... I wasn't so sure it would work.  Maybe I was crazy to want it.  But then I saw this bathroom makeover in June's issue of House and Home:

They used a vintage pendant light that is almost identical to the free one I scored.  Needless to say, I had Doug install it immediately in Caleb's room.  And.... I LOVE it!

(as you'll see in the picture-- some touch up painting of the ceiling still needs to happen)

And I had about 1.5 seconds to snap a picture before this happened...

Guess you could say that Caleb's pretty excited about his new light too.

I know that not everyone would want to bring a light fixture like this BACK into their home.  Style is subjective.  But, if you're a fan of charming, one of a kind, vintage inspired light fixtures-- you are in luck.  Thrift stores are full of them if you're willing to look around-- and who knows... you might score a free one like me :)