Let’s talk about a project that wasn’t as quick as we expected. Between patio building and kitchen makeovers, Sherry and I like to reward ourselves with smaller updates that lift morale and give us a breather so we don’t burn out. One of those small projects was swapping the light fixture in our guest bathroom for something that better suits our style.
The old fixture wasn’t broken, but it skewed traditional and felt out of sync with what we prefer. We decided to donate it rather than keep it, and at first we thought a quick change of shades would do the trick. However, the bulky back plate — as wide as the fixture — made the whole thing feel heavy and dated.
Here’s a straight-on shot of the old setup — hard to capture without getting my whole body in the mirror. (Yes, the dead-ringer Jacob-from-Twilight line was a joke.)
We picked up a new fixture at Lowe’s that lets you swap covers to customize the look. Sherry loves seeded glass, so she chose two seeded/textured covers that don’t look quite as detailed in these photos as they do in person. The fixture was about $25 total.
Removing the old fixture was easy — one glass shade off and the rest tipped sideways from the weight of the remaining cover. After that it came off smoothly.
Here’s the wall after the fixture was removed. And yes, I turned off the breaker to the whole house before I started — Captain Careful.
Installing the new fixture was straightforward: I matched the wiring to the old setup, secured the fixture to the wall, and spent a few minutes cleaning scuff marks from where the old light had been.
We attached the seeded glass covers Sherry picked — our favorite part of the new light. But when we stepped back something felt off: the plastic threads that hold the glass in place were conspicuously visible and broke the clean look of the brushed nickel fixture and textured glass.
The chunky plastic rings made the whole fixture read a bit cheap, and we didn’t want to settle for something that only almost worked. We briefly considered painting the threads silver, but ultimately decided to keep looking for a fixture that felt right without compromising.
Frosted covers would have solved it, but we really wanted seeded glass. Inspired by an industrial-retro vibe that would complement the vintage yellow tile and floating sink in the guest bath, we hunted a bit more and found another option in the outdoor lighting section of Home Depot for about $29.
Back home, we uninstalled the first fixture carefully so we could return it, then installed the new industrial-leaning light. It only took a few minutes to wire and mount it, and the power was back on quickly.
The new fixture felt like a better fit with the bathroom’s character and gave us a direction for future updates — art, paint, and maybe a mirror tweak are still on the list.
As a pleasant surprise, the glass cover on this fixture turned out to be seeded glass too, which we hadn’t noticed from the display or the box — a bonus that felt like fate.
The fixture also included a wire cage. We liked the look, but thought it might be a little too industrial at this stage, so we popped it off — it snaps on and off easily — and decided to live with the cleaner look for now. We can always put the cage back if the room evolves in that direction.
We’re only about 2% done in that bathroom — there’s more to come — but this light swap already makes us excited to carry the industrial-retro thread through the rest of the space.
All told the whole errand — including a couple of store runs — took about three hours. It wasn’t the five-minute quick fix we envisioned, but it was worth it. Also, full disclosure: I took way too many mirror selfies while we worked. Filter included.
Have you ever had a small project turn into a longer afternoon of runs and returns? We’ve definitely been there. Still, swapping the fixture gave this bathroom a clearer style direction and a fresh boost without a full renovation.
Mine and Sherry’s both totally do.