The Living (room) DayLights...

So... my writing seems to be getting this "80's" track. Before, it was "Square Rooms", now its "The Living Daylights". ;-)

Anyway... back to the ceiling lights. Finding the right PLC downlights for the living room was easy (yeah..like scouring the entire Jalan Besar street) but the final spot was an agony. First, I couldn't decide between a ceiling fan, or a ceiling light. So, I left it looking like this for a few weeks.

So, why was it so tough? Well... firstly, having a ceiling fan is practical - especially since I didn't want to make the whole unit air-conditioned. But, given the tight space left between the L-Box and the false ceiling (actually 66 inches wide to be exact), I wasn't sure if a small-ish 54 inch blades was sufficient, and if a bigger 56-incher or more would make the ceiling look very cramped. Luckily, there is always a good breeze running through the house if we open the windows, though when the air is still, it does start to feel a bit warm. Besides, I'm tall and my nephew and niece are very active, so it was also a safety concern. Still... I romantised that it would be great to lie down on the L-shaped sofa and drift slowing into dreamland listening to the blades swish slowing round and round... (Gosh, I feel another 80's song coming on! You spin me right round, baby, right round like a record baby, right round round round...)

So, finally - we ironed out the ceiling fan option - so, the next agony was finding the right ceiling light to fill the spot. Good lord! I thought it would be simple, but Noo.... Its a "Square Room", so if it was a round one, it would be such a contrast or won't fit into the space. Yes, it may "break" the monotony of the edges and maybe soften the feeling a bit, but I could find anything decent at Jalan Besar. At some point, i also thought of chandeliers with crystals, but the good breeze I mentioned earlier ruled that out pretty early in the game - no clink-clanking of crystals (or worse broken shards on the floor for someone to step on accidentally)... At some point, played with the idea of LED lights, or "ice cubes" mounted on the ceiling. Naaah... just doesn't "feel" right to me. But, almost got talked into it by the sales people...

I almost bought something online that looked really nice. They're really helpful with information, and I was talking with them over email on the specifications of the lights, but unfortunately, I ran out of time. On the 4th night on my quest to find the perfect light, I decided to head on to Balestier when my contractor called to say that the following morning, the electrician was coming over to finish the touch-ups, so I must get the ceiling light for them to mount.


So, this is finally what I decided to buy for the final ceiling light after 3 hours and 5 stores along Balestier road. I got it at "L C Lighting" which had a huge selection of lights. I ran through all the permutations again - they did have a very nice round-ish translucent ceramic light that looks like a donut with the centre filled with a polished silver plate which I almost bought - but finally, I saw something that said "Presto!". It was a plain looking squarish design – it looked like a bigger version of the downlights next to it, with a single piece of glass, a clear border with frosted sandblasted centre protruding out from the base held up by 4 round screws (almost identical to the downlights) – most people don’t notice “it” coz its so plain when its installed, but when I saw it I told myself “This is it!”. I went over all the permutations of square and round, spotlights or LED lights or chandeliers. It just fit the space to me, and it didn’t detract from the other décor but blended into the theme. It was also a private joke to myself that only I understood. It was a big brother downlight (3 X 26W energy saving tubes) to the rows of 3 next to it.

Another perspective: You'd probably see it better as a "big brother" PLC downlight in this picture. Well, I kept thinking about the other piece which I saw online, so I thought I'd include a link here for you folks to take a look here: Blue Moonstone.

I always wondered how it would fit in the space instead. Hmmmm... anyway, another time perhaps. ;-)