apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I just moved into a new (rented) apartment that has hideous globe light fixtures in every room in the house. And what's more, they all have pull string on the fixture instead of switches on the wall. My question is how difficult will it be to change out these fixtures for something more to my style (will I need a professional electrician) and will my new fixture have to have a pull string?

Thank you!

I want to paint the bedroom hardwood floors in my loft a nice shiny white to lighten the rooms up. I am certain it will look great, but will this have a substantial impact on the resale value? Any experience with this?...

matthew, i imagine that YES it will definitely impact resale...but do you care? lots of people redo floors when buying a new place.

i'm wholeheartedly against painting hardwoods when it's just as much of a process to sand and refinish them (in a diff't stain, perhaps? or bleach them?)

i wouldn't do it, yo.

Matthew -

I'd think that unless you're going to have everyone take their shoes off when they enter, white floors will always show wear and dirt, unless you go with a poured floor like one of the places I saw on Small Space Big Style. They did a white epoxy floor throughout their apartment, and white everything everywhere and the place looked vast.

With a loft, things probably already look vast, but that was one way to do a white floor that really looked easy to clean. I can't imagine it being green, although I don't know if that's really a goal here.

Sarah, you are going to have to get an electrician in there to switch the wiring for an on/off wall switch but it should be an easy job and shouldn't take long to do. I recommend you do not do this on your own.

As far as the fixture itself - you can purchase inexpensive yet nice looking fixtures to replace the ones you have. If you get them before the electrician shows up then he/she can install them for you. Your options for ceiling fixtures are mass. Look at IKEA, West Elm, CB2, LampsPlus, etc....

Good luck, have fun

Matt, if you just want to lighten things up and you're concerned about resale value - perhaps a huge white rug instead?

Sarah, you can just get a wireless control unit installed for all of your light fixtures. Of course, the usual disclaimer is that you should get a licensed electrician to install this, but if you know a thing or two about electrical wiring, you could probably do this yourself. Of course, always make sure to turn off the circuitbreaker!!!!