Day 740: the one that got away

Photo by Architectural Digest

Well, really the one I left behind is more appropriate. I've been dying to hang a lantern over our dining room table -- dying! The brass chandelier that's there just isn't doing it for me (though I do want to spray it white and put it somewhere else) and I think a lantern is the way to go.


And I'm not the only one. Domino (above) liked the idea, too. How great is this room? Love the round table, the chairs with the fun checks on the back, the stacks of books and the cheerful curtains. Maybe replace the coral with some fluffy hydrangeas and I'll move right in.

Interior design by Stephen Knollenberg

Lanterns work in traditional or more sleek, modern spaces. All three of these look similar, but the rooms are so different. And yet, it works in all three applications, I think.


Last weekend, while browsing an antique store in my hometown, I spotted this beauty: an old gas post lantern. The dealer had a note attached (with the photo at the top of this post, actually) suggesting that it be removed from the post, rewired, and hung indoors. Hello! That's exactly what I would want to do. It was old and crusty and perfect, but I hadn't exactly planned to drop $200 that morning on something that would still need some work. But that may have been a total steal -- I don't exactly have a frame of reference for antique lanterns, and I have no clue what it would cost to have it re-worked.

But now of course I'm regretting leaving it behind. Dad? Are you out there?? Christmas is but a few short months away, hint, hint!