Wow what a find! May I ask how much of a deal you got? so I can be totally jealous? LOL I do think that the cat on the ladder is a wonderful decorator touch! Can't get much better than that!
The chandelier will be gorgeous in almost any dining room and I can see that you have an older home and can't wait to see the photos.

Please don't throw the old one away - I love it, too. With a little touchup, many an old homeowner would love it. If we already didn't have a vintage dining room fixture, I'd make an offer for it.

Absolutely beautiful!

I like the new one, but Please do not throw away the old one.

Cooperbailey, we paid $130 for it -- a little less than the seller's asking price and a lot less than what it's worth. Oh, and the ladder is very popular with the feline contingent of the household -- I think they'll be quite disappointed when it goes back to the garage.

Yes, the home is older -- 1880ish from what I've been able to discover at the County Clerk's office. If you check out my Photobucket albums I have a few more pics of the dining room (including the built-in china cabinet) and our nearly finished bedroom.

Kec01, the current dining room fixture was an eBay purchase and we're definitely keeping it. We love our old house and are trying to be very sensitive to its character when we plan our renovations. We're slowly accumulating vintage/antique fixtures, furniture, and accessories and incorporating them into our plans.

I have fantasies of re-installing gaslights (all of the original fixtures were gas from what we can tell) but don't have a clue how to proceed since I'd prefer to avoid blowing up the house in the process. I'd settle for gas-fixtures-wired-for-electric if I could find them in my price range, but so far that hasn't happened.

Anyway, don't worry -- we love our old house because it's an old house.

Lorree

It's stunning! What a lovely find!

And kitty on the ladder is too cute! They just love to perch on those things, don't they!?

OK am officially very jealous! I really like that chandelier and the price is unbelievable.
Until 2 years ago the ceiling in our kitchen looked very much like your dining room, except the hole in the ceiling was bigger, all the way through the lath and very disgusting. The dropped ceiling covered a multitude of sins. Our house is newer it's from 1923. Love old homes. On either side of our fireplace there were old gas light fixtures (all long gone unfortunately)

I love the chandelier, but I'm also glad to hear you're keeping the other. Does it need restoration or just a clean up? It appears to have some of it's original color.

And if it needs restoration...do you know how? I'd be happy to share how I did mine if you haven't researched the subject yet :)

Igloochic, I'd love to know how you did yours. It's lovely!

Mine has been cleaned and completely rewired, but I didn't want to do *too* much for fear of removing the last of the original color. I have another (recent auction find) similar fixture that's also been cleaned and rewired -- still traces of original color on that one too -- so I'd love to be able to restore both.

Thanks!
Lorree

Gorgeous chandeliers, both of them - I'm looking forward to seeing the finished room.

Love the cat magnet ladder.

Sky

Love both chandeliers, the price is so good, and I really, really wish I lived closer to a Craigslist. Cute cat on the "perch" too! LOL

synergystic you wont believe her technique!! genius! just genius!

Ok, Igloochic, I'm dying here... restoration method please???!!!

(I'm also on my fourth or fifth cup of coffee. *sigh*)

Lorree