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Dbl-height stairway light & window seat questions

smalloldhouse_gw

8 years ago

Two questions in the never-ending spillover of renovating our small kitchen 18 months ago!

Since the kitchen, we've replaced the living sofas, rug, and coffee table. New lighting is still to be installed, a few other changes too. I desperately need to order a new window seat cushion, but am having trouble picking a fabric. I've got about 50 different Sunbrella samples (kids live here) and more on order. I would like to go with something other than the beige that's there; it hasn't held up well. But I'm having trouble getting the right colors to work with the pinkish-rust rug and the silver-brown sofas. So far Sunbrella browns are too brown and the rusts are too orange. Plus I can't decide whether I should aim for a pattern or not. Any advice?

Secondly, we have left intact the 1980s light that shines over our somewhat pointless tall stairwell (pointless since it's a small house, not sure what the previous owners were going for when they expanded the upstairs this way.)

The light serves its purpose, including as a target for my kids to throw socks at (slightly evident in this photo along with a paint sample.) But I'm always keeping my eyes peeled for a replacement, especially since we have the electrician coming soon. But I don't know how to size it?? For context the small landing is 3ft x 3ft. Is this light, which I adore, too big at 24" x 41"?

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Comments (5)

lisaam
8 years ago
It is a little hard to discern colors in your photo, but does sunbrella have a small geometric print that will blur the colors a bit and perhaps blend with the rug and upholstery? Something like the swatch in the lower right corner.
smalloldhouse_gw thanked lisaam
smalloldhouse_gw
Original Author
8 years ago
Belated thanks @lisaam! I think you're right on the tweedy one blending the colors. (It also has the advantage of presumably being a little more stain resistant. (Yes, my kids are that dangerous, that I have to consider the likelihood of stains on stain resistant fabric.) I really like the Ikat print and its colors are closer to the rug, but I think I have too much big pattern already. I've ordered another sample of a tweedy Sunbrella that is a tiny bit darker, so I'll probably try to pick between those.

Anyone have a view on sizing for the stairway chandelier?
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Annie Deighnaugh
8 years ago
Go tall, not wide with the light fixture. Look at stairwell pendant fixtures. I'd do something modern and fun.

It looks like it abuts a bedroom. In our old house, my dad enclosed the top of the stairwell and made a cubby into the bedroom for extra storage. Don't know how extensive you want to go, but if storage is an issue, it's a consideration.
smalloldhouse_gw thanked Annie Deighnaugh
Annie Deighnaugh
8 years ago
For the seat cushion, I think I see red in the rug, and a rusty red in the throw pillow...can't quite see the colors in the valance, but I'd go with a nice red accent color for the seat cushion.
smalloldhouse_gw thanked Annie Deighnaugh
smalloldhouse_gw
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks @Annie Deighnaugh! SO, on the light, you think 24" is too wide, right? Is 41" too tall or is that the realm I should be shooting for? The stairway is so silly, but I suspect it would be a much bigger project than it would be worth to eke out some storage space. My medium term goal is to expand our upstairs; we have an addition off the back of our house that includes the living room (above) and dining - if we can pop that up, we'd have a proper master and the breathing space we need for a family of 4. Lots of other stuff to do first, unfortunately....

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