Challenge accepted...

My mother-in-law, Valerie, reached out to me last week, asking if I would be up to the "challenge" to help her find new lighting for the kitchen in their house they moved into a little while ago. Unfortunately, my husband and I haven't had the opportunity to visit the new house yet, so she had to send me pictures to give me an idea of what it is that we're working with, style-wise. Regardless, I'm totally up for the challenge...Lord knows how much I love lighting!

And I honestly don't know how their current situation can't be improved upon, so the challenge is made even simpler by that fact. And before you think I'm being all nasty and awful about what their lighting is like now, just know that my in-laws fully agree with how bad it currently is, ok? Otherwise they wouldn't have asked, and also? LOOK:

Yeah, those are the two ceiling fixtures in the space right now. Classic in their own right, of course. But they certainly aren't going to appeal to everyone's design sensibilities, as they do not for my in-laws.

They remind me of the light that our friends received from their neighbors as a house-warming present when they moved in to the home they bought last year. It's become a running joke between the two households, being passed back and forth as gifts for various occassions, because it's too terrible and funny to just throw away. It's like the chandelier in the picture above, except it has more heft and size, and I believe it has a "going west" scene on it, with the covered wagons, and everything. I can't remember exactly...I think I've managed to block it out, thank goodness!

Anyway, these are the details in the kitchen that the lighting will be illuminating:

A lovely yellow (eh-em, plastic) tile backsplash in certain spots...

(It can be removed, but I think there's a reluctance to do so, since the glue holding it to the wall is such a nightmare to have to deal with, they'd rather have the tiles up!)

Here is the stove/oven area, which shows a bit of the talent my mother-in-law has when it comes to her artistic skills. She painted those flowers there...

As well as here...

Now, what I think needs to be done, in addition to changing the lights, is to update all the hardware on the cabinets. Firstly, its in an odd place. Almost in the center of the door, which is weird to me. So I'd recommend a pull like one of these:

This one is a traditional style that goes for $3 a piece...

While this one is a more contemporary style in a brushed nickle finish that goes for $2 a piece...

And then there's this one, that I think would fit in as well as the traditional style above, however it's more pricey at almost $10 a piece. But it would be lovely...

With that said, here are the lighting ideas I found.

This is a pretty hand-painted option that goes for just under $50 at Lamps Plus.

I also like this model a lot...its a little bit more modern, but would definitely fit in with the botanical feel Valerie has added to the kitchen with her painting. It's reasonably priced at $52.50, and can be found at Lighting Universe.

This one is also at Lighting Universe, for $66.60...

...and this one as well, which goes for $75.85. I like the schoolhouse design, for some reason. I can't put my finger on it.

Then there's this simple, but pretty option which can be found at Sears for $49.99.

I think I like this one a lot, though. It would be more of a fade-into-the-background light fixture, but that's kind of what they need in that kitchen. It costs $65.95 at Lamps Plus.

So I'm off to send Valerie an email, hoping that my suggestions will be helpful and that maybe one of these options will work for her and the kitchen! They've done such a wonderful job updating the bathroom that I don't really think she needed much help on this, to be honest. But I'm glad I can be involved, even if only in spirit from such a far distance. Wish her luck on finding something that works!