Very nice original fixture! Sorry but the replacement looks really clunky and unattractive to me, ie cheap. White is unusual, I wouldn't think generally appealing. I think it would be replaced right away, meaning wasteful. Would rather see no fixture used. A lot of people online hate the old brass candlestick ones but I think they're still used a lot by builders so lived with regardless and would look better. You can find them cheap at restores if you'd trust the wiring, even change the finish from brass.

What is the D word?

This post was edited by snookums2 on Sat, Feb 9, 13 at 14:04

Pal, assuming this is a soon-to-be-on-the market question, would you consider just writing an exclusion into the contract that this item does not convey?

pal, what's the "D" word?

It's not a very interesting fixture, but if I were you, I'd try to find that style but with more color to it - gold metal rather than white.

I wouldn't leave an empty spot where the tole piece had been, however; my vote goes for the all-white one over no fixture at all. I think the fixture I bought for my parent's DR was one of those simple upside down hats usually found in halls, with frosted glass and brass-colored metal rim. As snookums would say, it was cheap-looking, but so what? The house sold anyway, although with no help from the DR fixture.

That is what I would do-exclusion in contract-and just leave it for now.

My vote is for no exclusions if at all possible, and definitely not for something like the tole fixture. Potential buyers have been known to get themselves into rabid froths over the most ridiculous items, and I've heard of sales coming to a screeching halt in some cases, because sellers refused to part with items that the buyers insisted had to be included in the sale.

I am not sure how soon the house will actually be on the market, but in my family, my sister just bought a house, I will be moving into one I own and my oldest niece bought a house. My father wants us to start taking things we know we want or will use. We already changed a few fixtures upstairs, and my niece will be taking her mother's bedroom furniture this spring, for example.

I think my dad likes seeing things already being put to use. The key thing regarding replacement is good, similar function.

The other thing about "does not convey", is that sometimes people use this as a bargaining point anyway. A friend of mine had a number of fixtures and things that were "do not convey" and the eventual buyer said she wanted all those things. Since my friend needed to sell, she left them, of course. We wouldn't Not sell over a light fixture, but we decided it would be best if anything that was going to be gone was not even seen by the potential buyers.

Is the "D" word 'dated'? Nice fixture!

These are around the same price at $80-$85 which I think would have more mass appeal. They are more graceful, imo. The house looks Colonial. Not sure if you can do transitional, but one is included.

Your style seems to be less expensive ($40) at Lowes than at HD unless it's the finish which I only saw in brown.

Home Depot:

$50 Lowes:

A little OT, but I think this is one of the difficulties of a forum like this. Different areas have very different looks/needs/expectations/etc.

When we sold my parents' home in Gladwyne, the dining room chandelier was listed under "does not convey" and there was not one issue with that with any of the prospective buyers. I guess it depends on the area and the people looking at the property.

I'm sorry to say that the fixture you pictured is one of my all-time least favorites. Snookums2 has shown some alternatives that are more palatable, to me anyway.

The house where my friend experienced the issue was in Chester County. I also know someone in the burbs who got asked for some of the furniture.

Where my parents' house is, I don't know that it would be such a big deal--I have no idea who a prospective buyer would be anyway, it's a dying town. But one way or the other, that fixture and a couple others are going to be removed anyway, so it might as well be now.

The house is colonial revival, and the door and kitchen hardware is all brass, so maybe a polished brass chandelier it is. I don't like the one I showed either. But I see it in the home center there, and it's cheap :)

But I think I want candelabra bulbs because my dad has been changing candelabra bulbs over the kitchen table for 44 years and there is no reason to throw him off now :)

This post was edited by palimpsest on Sat, Feb 9, 13 at 15:15

The first one does come in brass. The usual builder style seems to run about $100 but I think I've seen them at Restore for about $30?

I'm glad you are taking out the old fixtures! That is a beauty and might even end up in a landfill the way some people think. You just never know.

Here is one that is white but a chandelier form:
{{!gwi}}

I like the fixture but not crazy about white fixtures. They seem dated to me. Maybe you could antique it? But then it would probably go shabby and I'm sure that's not what you would want!

All of the d�cor predates 1987-88, and all the furniture predates 1975, so the whole house is dated, to that extent. Nothing will be changed enough overall to really "update"(only two rooms aren't wallpapered) , so my thought is, I guess, to put something there that is compatible with the appearance of the house as it exists, not to put something there that looks current. I guess that goes against the prevailing trend.

That makes perfect sense for the place to look cohesive. I think the last white fixture you posted has graceful lines more people would prefer to the first and, as we see online, someone could easily change the finish or add shades if they wanted without too much trouble. I'm not sure I'd want to spend $100 on a brass one that a lot of people view as builder basic to be replaced.

How much is that one?

I like the last one. Neutral enough and I would prefer it over a cheap brass fixture. Although I like good brass.

pal, before I installed an ugly fixture which could be a turn-off to some potential buyers even subconsciously, I'd try to find an MCM pull-down (or one of the current know-offs) that can sometimes be found on the cheap.

Pal, I really do think most buyers understand when they are looking at an older person's house and look past that to see the possibilities. I hate to think those people on House Hunters are really typical!

I looked at the other houses for sale in the area, and there are 2-3 comps (Size and rough age). One has a small 1950s kitchen, one has a large 1970s kitchen with sheet vinyl with maroon diamonds set in it, and the third has a wallpaper border with pumpkins on it. The house of one of my father's colleagues is for sale and it had vinyl composition tile throughout the entire downstairs of the house, including the living room (probably complete with asbestos). Buyers up there look past lots of things. When my parents were looking, they saw a house with a spring in the basement. There are houses on the market there for under $20,000 if you include the entire range.

I don't think most home buyers will care about the particular fixture there near as much as most folk here, but I do think exclusions invite trouble and are better avoided. The house next door to me is over 20 years old and has had at least 5 owners. It still has a typical builder brass fixture in the breakfast room we see out our kitchen window.

Given the market, I don't think even the first white fixture would be a problem for sale, especially in a white kitchen and given that white fixtures have actually been making a comeback in the last year or two. I think most buyers would see the current fixture as being worse and would remove it faster than any of the suggested replacements. IO think you are wise to make and update and keep the vintage items for your enjoyment.

I agree with Pal, especially in a buyer's market and at higher price points, people will make a big fuss about keeping whatever they see that they like. We also removed items that were important to us, just to avoid the conversation.

I think almost anything you put there is fine ... except white. : )

I have the one that was posted, I LOVE it, and everyone who walks in my house ask where I got it. Love it, and think it would work for your room too!

Flea markets in my area have tole lighting fixtures from homes of that period. Just look around and see if you can find one. Surely, you can get something that works better than the one you first presented. I have light fixtures that I have removed from houses through the years and occasionally have removed them before showing and sometimes just put it in contract. It has never failed me either way.

You don't want to chance 'an issue'. When I sold my condo, I had a vintage freestanding mantle surround that looked as though it were built in. When I told the interested party's realtor, who told her client, there was a huge disappointment. Since it was a down market in CA almost 5 years ago, I caved in and let it go since I feared I may not get another good offer~it was my 4th and her offer was on target with what I was wanting to get.

You will definitely be taking your chances. If you want to avoid an issues take it down.

When my parents bought the fixture, apparently it was in a coppertone finish. Their house was designed at the end of the dancing pots and pans wallpaper era, and most new builds were getting yellow, gold or avocado appliances and dark woods. Their all white kitchen with black iron hardware and black and white wallpaper was very unusual for the time and place.

The fixture was painted black with white pinstriping at that time, and then repainted in 1987 to coordinate with the current scheme. I think it might be nice to go back to black and white.

The kitchen really needs to be renovated, mostly because of layout and changing expectations, so this fixture could easily get tossed just because of that.

Definitely take down the fixture and replace...dont chance the "does not convey" clause. In our previous house, I had gorgeous silk Cowtan and Tout fabric for my dining room curtains, and an Osboune and Little toile for my living room...the use of a designer and the window treatments were a very generous gift from my mom. I KNEW I would not be able to get window treatments that nice in our new home for quite a while since we ad so many other pressing expenses. Anyway, we stated that those treatments would not convey (I was planning to have them re-worked for the higher ceilings.) Our buyer, of course, wanted them. We stuck to our guns, but probably ended up giving up more on other things than we would have. Just take it down and replace.

Better to err on the side of caution as many have suggested. I'll heed today's mentality for future sales though I've sold at least five times w/ a "does not convey" clause on a high-end fixture. However, I have also deducted in my offer when I detect an unwarranted ugly replacement item not in keeping with the over all offering even though I've always done a full gut. So maybe the happy medium is to put up something decent as a replacement, because there are some of us that will penalize, however marginally, for Cr@p. BTW, I have also accepted when owners were not willing to negotiate on something they valued.

Here are two comps that I could pull photos for. Most houses up there are not on MLS. These are comps by age and approximate size. The one with the larger kitchen is listed for much more than my parents house would get because of property and a pool, but a pool in the climate they are in is a neutral: probably more people do not want them than do.

{{!gwi}}