Electric Youth

So perhaps the name of this post is not clever, but it brought delight to my night when I typed it. You may not know (actually, I'd be surprised if anyone knows), "Electric Youth" is a song by my favorite singer as a child -- Debbie Gibson. Of course when this song title popped in my head, I had to go look for the video on YouTube (this then prompted me to go search for other Debbie Gibson YouTube videos). Feel free to interrupt this reading to go watch. It's full of late 80s / early 90's glory!

Okay, I digress ... a couple of week's ago, I mentioned my new obsession with bathroom chandeliers and my desire to put one in my own bathroom to replace my current boring light fixture.

Well, right after that, we took a trip to my favorite store (IKEA, of course) and found this little chic piece.

KRISTALLER

Thinking it would be perfect, we purchased it. And, since Landon had the following Monday off work, he hung it for me. But, there was a slight problem ...

We literally lived with it this way for two week. Poor Landon had to duck every time he went under it! I debated taking it back and giving this dream up, but then Landon and I started talking about possible solutions. We examined how the top was put together to determine if we could simply shorten the bar that it hangs on, but we realized that wasn't an option. So, I took a trip to Home Depot and found a canopy kit for it.

Landon was hesitant about whether he could do this since we've never taken on a project like this, but I had confidence. Still, I think we both had a fear the $40 spent on the chandelier would go down the drain if this went wrong!

But, Landon got started, and I assisted.

Of course, first thing we did was turn off all the power. Then, Landon worked with all the necessary tools to take everything apart and cut the wires down to an appropriate length. During all of this, I had some very important tools, too.

The iPad was to look up any necessary instructions; the fire extinguisher was in case something went wrong; and the cell phone was used to tell Landon which breaker was for the bathroom lights.

I wish I had pictures of us trying to actually hang the new fixture. Basically, it was Landon on a ladder with me standing underneath holding the chandelier with arms extended. I know it looked funny. The entire process from the first wire cut took us at least 45 minutes, if not more. But, in the end ... believe it or not ... it worked!

And, we haven't even had to use this ...

So, overall, I'm considering it a success!