Our home has standard height ceilings. We have looked into having the great room vaulted, but at a staggering cost of no less than $30K due to the way our roof is supported, our 8' ceilings are suddenly looking a-okay. But the boob fixtures, you know the ones, are not okay and we have them everywhere. Chances are, you do too. They are cheap and have been around for a long time, so they have been the go-to for contractors to use in homes. Little ones, big ones. In our entry we have a reddish-toned one that makes me especially twitchy.
Lighting makes such a difference and one by one, we can't wait to upgrade them. And the good news is--there are so many beautiful flushmounts and semi-flushmounts these days that fit into a wide range of budgets. Here are five, but there's 15 more in my article for Houzz this month ranging from $15 to $500. Check them all out here.
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WE'RE CHRIS + JULIA
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love the fixtures, but how do we find them?
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks lights look like boobs!
Love #4! I actually want a few of those for our house to replace the boobs.
Hi Julia and Chris! We moved to Idaho Falls over a year and a half ago, decided to build and have been enjoying our home for about 7 months now. I was determined not to have a singe boob-light in our new home and succeeded. However, while I was looking for new lights, I had a few trial and errors so I will pass them along to you. We tried replacing a few of the lights with ones similar to 1, 3 and possibly 4 in different rooms (farm house lights do the exact thing as well so don't go down that road). I'm here to tell you that because the light can't shine out of the sides it creates shadows on the top 1/3 of the room causing it to feel dim and dark. We immediately had to ask the electrician to take them down and we had to find alternatives which was a waste of time and money. We actually own number 5 (it's in our entry off the garage) and love it's look and the light it produces. I hope you can learn from our mistakes unless a darker room is what you are going for. Best of luck!!!
Thank you for sharing this! Lights #1, #3, and #4 are adorable, but I, too, dislike shadows!
Those are some cute options but I actually like boob lights. We have them throughout our house, with a brushed pewter finish. I know it's an unwritten rule that as a blogger I should dislike them but they make me smile.
Totally in love with numero tres! Kristin from HUnted Interior jazzed them up but I like the aged brass! I think they come in all kinds of colors though
Oh my goodness my apartment at BYU-I had two of them in the living room. It looked terrible!! Hahaha!!!
My vote is for #3!
I just replaced a huge, low hanging ceiling fan in my new house with the #5 fixture, such an improvement and it was so cheap!
I can't wait to replace our boob lights! I think we'll do the house in one fell swoop and hire an electrician. That's one of my takeaways as a second time home owner---lighting makes a HUGE difference!
*Shudder... The BOOB LIGHT; though our builders affectionately refer to them as mushroom lights. :-/ We just got rid of the last one in our house last weekend, and it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. We used these from Ikea (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00176042/) for the ones in our hallways, but we DIY'd a globe flushmount for my son's room for about $15! http://anotherbigbite.com/2014/01/31/a-light-of-global-proportions/
#2! I love that one!
We upgraded the "boob lights" in our hallway on a budget with the Ikea ALANG fixtures. They kind of blend in with their surroundings and don't scream "look at me". So far, we're very happy with them!
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00176042/#/00176042
Great choice! I included an Ikea fixture in my Houzz round-up. Some great options over there!
What a great round up! We put really, really inexpensive boob lights where we just couldn't stand to look at the chandeliers anymore (like really cheap - I think they were $6?).
I am kind of tempted to do the same with our dining room chandelier. I can't even tell you how many times we have already hit our head on that thing since we have been working on the floors. It drives me crazy, but I am not ready to commit to THE light yet.
Aghh! I love a clear globe too!!! I just worry that an edison bulb won't give off enough light as a sole light source (I'm thinking kitchen), and if you were to put a regular bulb in it, won't it be blinding??!?!
Hmm. Good question. You could always go down in wattage, but we have had good luck with edison bulbs providing plenty of light.
HAHAHA I've never heard them called a boob light before. Thankfully, my home lacks them. All of the ceiling lights we have are fans that have three bulbs sticking out each way, if you know what I mean. Not ideal either but saves AC costs! I really like #4 the most!!
We have boob lights galore! I really love option #2!
Hi Chris and Julia! After scouring the internet looking for affordable light fixtures to replace in my rental, I came across a DIY kind of situation that looks very similar to fixture #3 on your list so I thought I'd pass the information along:
http://www.huntedinterior.com/2013/02/flush-mount-look-for-less.html
Not my blog but great idea!
Hope it helps.
I saw that, too! The light she used didn't get great reviews online, but looks-wise it is spot on. So, so gorg.
The boob light! Hahahaha! This name is news to me!! So funny.