lazygardens, I dunno. I did go up in the attic for the very first time since buying this house, and I remembered to wear old clothes, brought a drop-light with a 50' cord, and a flashlight in case I dropped the drop-light. I didn't think to bring the camera. Poop. I just can't tell if the porch/breakfast room was added on. I don't know how a roof peak generally looks as it comes into one the oposite direction. There were some jagged boards... seems if the peak was original they'd not have had a problem with trimming it - but if it was an add-on maybe they felt cramped and skipped trimming? Still, dunno. Will take pictures. Link to my album is above, it shows front of house from two angles. As for ceiling lights or not, I just don't know. ALL of the downstair ceilings are covered with 12" squares of lightly-textured white stuff that tongue-and-grooves together. Hate to monkey with it as it's in good shape. Hey! When I was in the attic I did find out one thing, all of my ceilings are beadboard under the white squares! ha! Who knew? I wish some of that showed! Hmmmm, that'd be great in the kitchen, give it a real warm feel. I wonder though if it'd let dust filter down? Gag. Back to the lighting, hostaguy, is the lightbox sort of an endtable? Surely it's not a center hung fixture? Maybe I'm picturing something way too large? I've been looking at a LOT of light fixtures in the past few days - and I keep being drawn to the Mission and Arts & Crafts styles. I don't see why I can't make something wonderful, perhaps a silhouette cut of copper, mica underneath? Maybe a spray of pine cones? I am still strongly thinking of a colonnade with lighting built-in across the top to throw a glow across the ceilings of both rooms. Sigh, so many ideas and life so short. GH-

If your looking to not add on and just make it nice, I would: Resurface the cement or cover with some kind of tile mosiac. repair lattice and landscape around it to cover it. Wood if decent I'd restore and reseal, but build new railing wither with metal balusters or bench/planter. I can't see the rest of the yard nor what your budget is so its hard to say. It just looks like it needs some TLC which the above would not cost too much. Me, I went IPE and doubled size to 700 feet and droped a 500 gallon Hot Springs hot tub and had a custom wrought Iron rail made at 100 feet. I started off as a $4000 budget job but grew into a monster of a project long leaving that budget! The imagination is limitless but everyone has a budget! Good luck!

I like recessed lights but due to energy efficiency impacts, I have eliminated most of them as I update my home. The surface mounted ones are not bad in terms of design but the ones you have are not attractive at all. The placement of the lighting is also odd in the room. I like a layering of light in every room and I am not sure how you can achieve laying without overhead lighting. They can be easily replaced without doing recessed lights. Here are a few suggestions and I own all of the ones below: Lotus LED surface mounted that look like recessed lights. There are more options on their site but I own the 4" adjustable gimbal. This box model may be easy replacement for your existing units. George Kovacs surface mounted LED lights (very slim almost flush to the surface) Boxie LED Light from Tech Lighting There are a ton more, you just need to look for them. The prices are not outrageous and the color rendering is really good for the ones I listed above. You will need LED dimmers to get them down to the 5% dimming. Good luck!

They are functional of course but not aesthetic as there is no comparison between even the most "elegant" ceiling fan and a chandelier or other ceiling lighting fixture aesthetically. I might have them on a verandah or three season porch or a family room with a very casual vibe or outdoor vibe but I would never juxtapose with furniture I have selected for a living room or master bedroom because it would clash with the design vision in those rooms - my ceiling fixtures were carefully chosen to add to the decor of the room. If I needed some kind of ventilation apart from my A/C or open windows, I would probably get one of those very sleek well reviewed Dyson fans which are unobtrusive and which could be stowed away when not necessary. I have a very slim tower fan which I have used for this purpose when I wanted to augment the circulation in my master bedroom but I stash it away except for those relatively infrequent occasions when I need to supplement the A/C or just open windows isn't enough. And I used to love lying in bed with the old fashioned window fan that brought in the wonderful night air.