Part of my duty as an interior designer is to slowly rid the world of what, in the industry we call, “boob lights”. You know — the builder-basic lights that vaguely resemble a boob on a chilly day. While we definitely LOVE boobs at The Mom Edit, we prefer them fearlessly peeking out of a new top or boldly feeding babies — anything but on our ceiling, really.
Changing up lighting is one of the easiest ways to refresh your house. There are TONS of options that are inexpensive, and with a few quick YouTube tutorials, you likely can DIY this upgrade.
Designer Tips For Upgrading Boob Light Fixtures
- Always consider the height of the fixture and your ceiling height. If you have a taller ceiling height, go for a semi-flush option that allows the fixture to hang a few inches down from the ceiling. Keep a minimum of 7 feet clearance from bottom of fixture to floor!
- Keep your lighting plan consistent! Stick to one style or coordinating fixtures to use throughout the house. Nothing says polished and put together more than a cohesive lighting scheme!
To help make it easy for you I have put together a few of my boob light alternatives by style!
Flush Mount Lighting Alternatives To Boob Lights
Shop My Favorite Flush Mount Alternatives
Classic + Simple
Mid-Century Modern Stunners
Vintage + Rustic
Uber-Modern
-Allison H.
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This is the perfect timing! I would love a post on how to pull together a cohesive lighting plan that also takes into account hardware (i.e, door knobs, drawer pulls etc.) That always stumps me!
So how do you avoid the boob light with ceiling fans? I’m in the south and I think we are on the 50th day of 90+ degree heat so far this year. Ceiling fans are a must. I struggled with finding something that is affordable and bright enough to provide enough light. The results aren’t stellar. Any ideas?
These are gorgeous, but what about the ever-practical ceiling fan? They’re huge energy savers, yet no one wants to install them. I just don’t understand it. Maybe other folks use floor fans? IDK. We have them in all the bedrooms and we rarely need AC.
Echoing the request for pretty ceiling fans! We just moved from a house that had them in every room to a house that has none- I miss them.
This post is timely for me, and I’ll add my vote – I’d love to see a post on ceiling fans. Currently searching for five ceiling lights, and three of them will have fans.
Another vote for ceiling fans!
Roger that Ladies! I will definitely do a round up on “Not-so-Terrible Ceiling Fans!” 🙂 Some can be scary bad. But this is one of my go-tos when I need a fan that doesn’t look awful : https://shopstyle.it/l/6UYL
100%! I have lots of tips on how to create cohesive finish schemes and I will work on a easy to follow guide for a post here at The Mom Edit. In the meantime you can check out this whole house lighting scheme we did for a client: http://curiodesignstudio.com/whole-house-refresh-lighting/
Fanimation makes some decent ones and Haiku Home is wonderful if you can spend a bit up front (super customer service and last forever).
(Sorry – that was supposed to be a reply specifically to the ceiling fan question!)