USING OUTDOOR BARN LIGHT FIXTURES AS KITCHEN LIGHTS IN OUR LOG HOME!
Have you ever noticed my kitchen light fixtures? I have people ask me all the time where I purchased them. I have to confess they are meant to go outdoors in a barn, but they made for cheap indoor lights. I don’t know if you’ve ever built a home from the ground up but by the time I got to the point of picking out light fixtures my brain was frazzled and I was ready for it all to be over. But I think it was frazzled in a good way because I still love my barn light fixtures to this day.
They came with a silver finish but it was noting a few coats of oil rubbed bronze spray paint couldn’t fix. I have to say it’s held up perfectly 8 years later. There’s no way for the lights to get any abuse that would scratch the surface but I do clean them and the finish is the same as the day I painted them.
For me I can see when the lights need to be cleaned by looking over the loft. From there I can see dust on them and I know it’s time to hop up on the counter and take care of it. The best part about the lights is they swivel from side to side and makes for easy cleaning. All I do is wet down a Norwex cloth, twist the light one way and then the other, to give it a good dusting. If I remember I also wash the bulb off, it’s amazing how much bright it gets with a good dusting.
I use a small step stool to get up on the sink side counter and wash two fixtures and the big clock. From there I jump across to the island and clean the other two fixtures. At some point I’m going to have to quit jumping across and get down and move my stool and get up again. I’m pressing my luck making the jump and one day I’ll probably not make it and have a real mess on my hands. I’m a klutz anyway and I’m just asking for trouble.
Yes I do wear shoes when I get up on the counter I’m afraid my sock feet will be to slippery when I jump across. My daughter in law to be was my photographer for this post and she cringed when I jumped. I’m sure she was thinking I was to old to be doing such a thing.
Funny story I told her to shoot me from my skinny side but when I reviewed the pictures I said she didn’t capture my skinny side at all. We got a good laugh because I no longer have a skinny side. Oh well it is who I am, right? Also I did change my font color to black for those of you who said it was hard to read. I hope this change is working out better for you.
I have always admired your lights ..very cool that they swivel, so much easier to clean. Have a great week Dawn.
Thanks Cheryl 🙂
And I love love love the countertops!
Lisa the countertops are black concrete that hubby did. I love them too!
Looks great !
Thanks Cynthia 🙂
Can I ask you where you purchased the barn lights? I love them!
Gail I purchased them at Menards and they still have them to this day. Made by Patriot Lighting.
Wow! I cannot make the jump, much less clean your neat lights. I’ll get dizzy. What we don’t have is a step stool. My husband usually brings in a small ladder. I do stand on a chair, which really isn’t safe. So next time he goes to Home Depot, he’ll buy a 3 step one. And you look beautiful Dawn:).
Kathleen in Az
Love the light fixtures!! And how smart are u to think of using them…they are awesome!
And I would kill for your skinny side, lol!
Charlotte, LOL you are too funny! I think when it came to light fixtures I was ready for the entier build process to be over so I went with my first choice and didn’t ponder over it much. I have the horrible boob lights in the hall and they’re being changed to something I like right now. I’ll be back to show them off soon.
You are my favorite blogger. I just love your common seance approach. I lived in Midland Mich. So I really understand your weather etc. Thanks for your ideas and thoughts.
Sandy, Wow we were neighbors for a while then 🙂 Thank you so much for the kind comment!