Zut Alors! Le Chandelier est Mort!

Rewiring an Old Chandelier

Our bedroom chandelier, all blown out.

Oh dear, our bedroom light fixture blew up and is now down.  Zut. The ceiling now has no zing.

When we bought it about ten years ago from The swallowsnest.ca, a dreamy local store full of antique lights and painted furniture,

they said it would need to be rewired, but we could find no one to do it.  Then recently, it went "poof", the light switch got really hot, and that was the end. No smoke. No fires, thankfully.  Nothing lasts forever, wisely said the electrician who removed it.
Now, though we have found a place in Vancouver, BC to rewire it, but it will then need to go to Richmond, BC, to the Canada Standards Association, to be approved and receive the sticker which will allow a certified electrician to install it.  All this will cost $530.  Oh dear.

But when I look online for a new, no fuss replacement, I am stumped. Pottery Barn has lots of lights we can afford, and which are cute, but don't have the same character as this one. Also, their baubles are made of glass, not crystal. I like their lanterns, but we have an eight foot ceiling.  At Restoration Hardware, there are certainly some beautiful crystal chandeliers, but they cost many times $530, much more than I can or would want to spend on a light fixture.  And they, though big and dazzling, don't have quite the charm of this old thing.

Meg Braff - House Beautiful

Look at this chandelier in the dining room of an amazing green house designed by Meg Braff. It is larger and fancier than ours is, but has the same general look, and can you imagine anything more perfect in this room?

Sarah Richardson is always rewiring old lights, so it must work.

So off we go to have it rewired and hope the CSA will put their sticker on it.

What would you do?