A while back – like in February – I posted about picking a chandelier for the dining room, where we had a “boob light.”

I shared a bunch of options that we were considering, with some mockups of how they’d look in our space. But the truth was that this wasn’t the start of the conversation – this was one stop along a very long and obsessive journey in chandelier-option-considering which had been going on for over a year.

My Dramatic Chandelier Buying Process

Why is this so hard? Well, I just LOVE chandeliers. They are probably my favorite home decor item (with pendant lighting a close second) and due to our low ceilings, I only get to have one.

Even though I got some great feedback on those options, I didn’t end up buying any of them. I ended up loving the Mid Century Modern Mobile and Modern Amber Bubble Chandelier, both from Shades of Light, and came to the tentative decision to go with the Modern Amber Bubble Chandelier, which was also Brad’s favorite.

But I just couldn’t pull the trigger. It was just a little big, and a little not right. We did so much work to open up this space in our renovation, that I didn’t want to close it back in with an over-sized fixture.

But then a terrible wonderful thing happened: while I stalled, they stopped selling it. I just went online to check one day and it wasn’t there! I chased it back through the supply chain (apologies to all the helpful customer service representatives), but no luck. It was gone.

I felt very bad (since this was Brad’s favorite), frustrated (that I was back to the drawing board), and secretly a little relived (since I hadn’t been quite sure about it, anyway). So I tabled the whole chandelier catastrophe to deal with another day.

That day came in a spectacular fashion when I stumbled upon this beauty on the Dot & Bo site:

You’re right, it is uncannily similar.

However, it has a few traits that make it a much better choice. It is a little smaller, which answers some of my concerns about blocking in the space. It is also a little rounder, which is more like the true sputnik look that I love.

It was also on a good sale, and there were only two left!

We immediately called Brad’s mom, who had given me an amazing gift for my birthday over a year ago of offering to buy me the chandelier of my dreams if only I would pick one out already. After literally years of hemming and hawing over chandelier options, we bought that thing in less than 30 minutes.

I guess that demonstrates the difference between being sure and not.

We were so excited when it arrived, and at the first good opportunity, we went to take down the old light and put up our new chandelier. We just popped it up there and we were done!

Not.

How to Install A Ceiling Medallion

We were prepared to have to paint in around the smaller canopy, but we were not prepared to find this:

Yes, a big hole much larger than our new canopy. That is the fun of an older, somewhat shoddy home.

We had not originally planned on installing a ceiling medallion. While I love them, with our low ceilings we don’t want to do anything that will close in the space and make it seem more cramped. But the idea that we would be able to patch this in cleanly was just a non-starter. Ceiling medallion it was!

I picked out this one (affiliate link – read our policies), which was just about $15 when I bought it.

I liked that it was detailed but was not overly ornate or flowery.

Installing it was easy. First, I cut the inner hole wider so it would match the canopy of my new chandelier.

It could be cut with an X-Acto knife because it is made of foam.

After checking it against the chandelier, I put it up on the ceiling. I figured I would use the same method I used for the patches in my garage, and put it up with adhesive caulk held on by painters tape while it dried. I put on my tape and then a thick border of adhesive caulk (affiliate link – read our policies).

However, the tape wasn’t strong enough for the weight of the medallion, and it kept dropping down off of the ceiling, where I knew it wouldn’t dry with a good seal.

The instructions said that it could be held up with a couple of small screws while it dried and then the screws could be removed once the caulk set. So I did what any reasonable person would do… and built a big tower using a bunch of furniture, books, folded up paper bags, and old mail to hold it flush to the ceiling.

This actually worked pretty well, and held it against the ceiling without making any holes that I would need to patch later.

Brad was pretty understanding when he got home (considering) and we just wore clothes that didn’t need ironing for the two days while the caulk cured.

Once it was dry, I just sealed the edge with caulk and painted it with the same paint as the ceiling.

Then, it was time to hang the chandelier.  We just popped it up there and we were done!

Not.  (Ha!  Got you again!)

There were a whole lot of extra wires, and it turned out that the wood beam in the ceiling really wasn’t a beam, and really wasn’t sturdy.  We felt so fortunate when Brad’s friend’s Dad, a stellar electrician, came over to help us.  He and Brad installed the thing over the course of like four hours, and replaced some bad wires while they were at it.

The Result

Then we were done!

I love this thing so much.  Every time I walk to the front of the house I exclaim, “Oh!  What a pretty chandelier!”  (You think I’m kidding, but this is what I actually do, and poor Brad is running out of witty retorts.)

It is just the size I wanted – a statement, but not something that crowds the room or blocks the open feel we were going for.

This is definitely a special piece for us to have; it was such an amazing gift because it is the sort of “treat” it would have been hard for us to buy for ourselves.  Now we have it, and we’re crazy about it!

The amber color of the inner bubbles is gorgeous in the sun, and when the light is on you don’t see the color.  It just makes the light a little warmer.

The chandelier did get a little damaged in transit.  It is not supposed to be perfectly symmetrical, but some of the bottom arms are bent upward, and one is bent downward.

But I’ve decided not to care and embrace the asymmetry.  I think it looks really cool, so I’m not going to let that bother me.

This really calls into focus that our dining room needs a lot of work, though.  Other than the built-ins and now the chandelier, the only thing in there that we intend to be long-term is the rug.  The chairs are cobbled together from different places, the dining table I got for free when it was left in my first apartment, and I bought the console table while in college for $10.

But its been hard to know where to start upgrading since so much of the look was up in the air.  Now that the chandelier is in place, I can be on the hunt for new pieces!

(Sharing at Create It Thursday, Think and Make Thursday,  Idea Box Thursday,  Weekend Retreat Link Party, Two Uses Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesday, and Pin Worthy Wednesday)