Alright, all you wannabe interior designers...

...I could use some suggestions.

Our dining room has no lighting. We currently use a floor lamp, only because we have no other lighting & need something. We don't like that lamp, and intend to get rid of it once we have a better option. We do not wish to have an electrician wire in lighting.

Sooo....

Here's the ceiling:

We have a deep red/ taupe/ brown sort of thing going on throughout the first floor. The furniture in this room is all dark wood, and all old. China cabinet of unknown age, but old, dining room suite (table, chairs, buffet) from the 1920s, piano from about then as well. As you can see, the walls are incredibly tame beige-y wallpaper, the ceiling is red, the beams are dark brown, the floor (which I realize you cannot see) is light-ish hardwood.

What I have long envisioned is some sort of suspended grate-like thing, with lights. My first thought was to have an old window (less the glass):

...with icicle lights dangling down:



(Well, technically, my first thought was a pot rack):

...but that went by the wayside due to cost.

Anyways. Potential problems with the old window idea:

• it might be hard to find an appropriate window (I did find one, and am kicking myself I didn't buy it on the spot, because they're not as common as they once were)
• with it being an old window, once the panes are removed, will the structure be strong enough to hang suspended, horizontally?
• also due to its age ... probably lead paint on it, and this is above our dining room table - I could *probably* deal with this issue somehow, but it's just a risk to consider

Then I bought this really pretty willow swag:

...which made me think perhaps instead of a window, I could make some sort of entwined willow (or other twig/sapling) grid or structure. I cannot find anything anywhere that is like what I envision, however, think like this:

...or this:

...or this:
...and you'll get the idea I'm after, I think.


I also started second-guessing the dangling lights (the ceiling is not very high, it's a drop ceiling), though I still like the tiny lights idea, so I bought this: (can return if it's a bad idea)

...thinking that the lighting would go first, close to the ceiling, and the other bit would be below.

NOW I'm thinking, the willow-y idea is a nice one, either very simple & just willow, or with things like
-pussywillow
-lavender
-eucalyptus
-berries
-dried grasses
-wheat
-peppers??
-strawflowers
-pomegranite (don't they look neat?):

-coffee beans... ha ha - though it would be nice, if there was a way - the kitchen, immediately next door, has a coffee theme

I do have 3 sprays of sparkly red berries like this:

If I went with stuff other than just the willow, even though I just listed ten million things, I would want it to look random & sparse - rustic, but somehow elegant ... if that makes sense.

I am not married to the idea of the willow/sapling. Other things I'm tossing around:
A regular cedar trellis:

or

...reserve judgement for a minute on this, until you think about it - regular ol' wire fencing:

(looking at the further-back one, with large-ish rectangles) - in this case, I would need to spraypaint the fencing, probably brown, and definitely stuff like those listed above would be wired to it, plus the lights would probably be resting right on the wire mesh ... the wire part would be not at all the focus.

...but back to my original line of thinking ... it would be SO cool to find wrought iron fence or gate:

...or a wrought iron bed:

One last thought. I was at Canadian Tire today, and saw a really pretty decoration - it's a metal wall scroll thing - which would be really beautiful to use, if I found a way to incorporate it:

Oh - yet another last thought. I do have dozens & dozens of crystals, so could potentially incorporate them somehow.

Our furniture, being all antique (plus a grandfather clock that is not antique, but is in that style), doesn't mean we have a formal dining room. We strive for a sort of "casual elegance" feel. So whatever treatment goes on the ceiling, I think it should be complementary to the antique stuff, though need not look antique itself.

So there ya go. I'd love suggestions - not only of what to go with (and feel free to make other suggestions), but also, any "how to" bits of advice would be nice. Practical considerations include that the lights have to be accessible enough to change those wee lightbulbs without taking down everything (or making it easy to take down everything, I suppose), that obviously we need to avoid any fire hazard-ish ideas ...

We might still have additional lighting in the room. I don't mind a set of buffet lamps & a floor lamp, or something like that - so this need not be considered to be "it" for lighting.

Looking forward to hearing what y'all think!