Do you remember way back when, when I finished painting our purple wall? Not a lot else was happening in our living room and it looked kind of really sad. I knew the little lonely light bulb had a lot to do with it, but the light we wanted was very expensive in Switzerland.

What a difference a few months made!

Before we got our sideboard, I mentioned which lights we were interested in buying. In mid-November I actually went on the Swiss Philips site to look up some information for a blog post when I realized that the Instyle 5-bulb hanging lamp was NOT THERE. Cue freakout!!

Kay and I spent months trying to agree on lights and this was one of the two lights I knew we wanted to buy. I did not want to start this search all over, so I began scouring the European philips sites to try and find an online provider in the UK or Germany who would sell us the lamp.

As you can see, I happened to luck out and find our lamp for a super price! It seemed like it was going on deep discount in preparation for discontinuing in Germany, so I got it for around 400CHF instead of 1000CHF. Score!

We ordered the 4-spot light for the kitchen as well since it was also a good price and I didn’t want it to slip away either and before our Christmas party, Kay installed both lights with a little help from his favorite assistant. It was my job to pick up screws off the floor that he dropped and to help him make sure the lights were centered.

We both enjoy this lamp a lot, but I find it really funny that it doesn’t make the whole room super bright, as this is usually one of Kay’s arguments for spots vs other lights. But he likes how the light kind of clusters over the table and makes the table very bright, but everything else around is dark.

It makes for a great mood for a dinner party, but it is still fairly “dark” overall in the living room, so we picked up the two little lights you can see on the sideboard and put some Philips Hue bulbs in there so we can play with colors against the white wall there.

The cables of the Instyle light are still a bit wrinkly from shipping and the glasses covering the bulbs are not scratch free, but I can’t complain I guess. I’m fine with it and I think the wires will straighten out in time.

Yes, I’m a little bit obsessed too.

It feels great having a proper light over the dining room table and guests at the Christmas party commented how this is another non-IKEA purchase that gives the flat a bit more personality. They definitely noticed it was a high-quality light and not a light bulb on wire anymore!

I really do need to polish/windex the glass covers though. Looking  a little grimy below.

Here you can see more how the light clusters on the table. People sitting across from you are properly bright, but beyond them the light falls into darkness. It’s pretty cool.

I promise I’ll take some pictures of the kitchen lighting at some point for an update. At this point, we have no more loose bulbs hanging around and everything is at least fitted with a temporary fixture. This is a success in my book!

Have you ever had some drama with a product that was being discontinued right as you planned to purchase it?