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LED Vintage Style Dimmable Light Bulbs

October 27, 2015 by Cassie 27 Comments

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I have been keeping a dirty little hot secret from you, and it has to do with my dining room lighting.  I often share photos of my dining room on this blog as it is one of my favorite spaces.  And the chandelier always gets lots of comments, because it truly is a beauty!  I have loved having it and love the vintage style bulbs it had.  However, no one warned me about how much heat those bulbs give off.  Meals around the table consist of the 4 of us and our guests sweating it out, pretending to be comfortable, and secretly wondering if maybe we should just eat in the dark.  I’m not even kidding!  For a while I blamed myself for not installing a dimmer switch when we redid the kitchen and dining room a couple years ago. But if I had, I don’t think I would have been able to use the bulbs I had anyhow, and this fixture would not be the same without the vintage style bulbs.  Well, well, well, let me tell you how freaking ecstatic I was when I saw that Ace Hardware carried LED vintage style dimmable light bulbs!  Mind.  Blown.  We decided we could tackle installing a dimmer switch in the dining room ourselves, and swap out the bulbs, allowing us to dim the lights (a 12 bulb chandelier also puts out a ton of light!) and turn down the heat intensity!

Vintage Style Dimmable LED Light BulbsPinAround our house, I do most of the DIY projects… there have been some great projects in the history of Primitive & Proper that have, however, been made possible due to the joint efforts of me and my husband, Chris.  We’ve created industrial pipe built ins, planked a cedar mudroom, planked our bedroom wall….. the sky’s the limit, right?  With all of these past projects under our belts, surely we could change out a light switch.

You guys…. it was so easy, that Chris was able to do it without me while I was at work.  SO flippin’ easy!

One thing to note is that our dining room has two light switches, one at each entry to the space.  Because of that, we needed to get a 3-way switch dimmer.  (I may or may not have realized that and ordered the wrong one which had to be exchanged…. oops!  We are newbies when it comes to electrical work!)  Once we had the right switch, the job was done in just 5 minutes.

The first step is to SHUT OFF THE BREAKER.  DO NOT PASS GO until your breaker is off.  You could electrocute yourself, and Chris has already learned once from experience, that being electrocuted blows. So no mistake made this time, and he turned the breaker off.  (In his defense, when he was electrocuted, we thought that the breaker we were working on was off.)

Once the breaker has been turned off, remove the switch plate, and then remove the old switch by unscrewing it from the wall. Ours had two screws which anchored it to the stud, one above and one below the switch.

After the switch has been unscrewed from the wall, you will be able to pull it out a bit from the wall, although it will still be screwed to the electrical wiring.  Loosen the screws that hold the wires.  Uncoil the wires from the switch and remove the switch entirely.  The image below shows the screws that hold wiring being loosened.

IMG_4355PinNext, place the wiring around the screws of the new dimmer switch, and tighten in place.

IMG_4356PinOnce the electrical wires are secured by the tightened screws, screw the entire switch back into the wall and replace the switch plate.  Check out the slide toggle on the right to dim it!

IMG_7410PinTurn on your breaker, and test it out!

Here is the space with no lights on….

Vintage Style Lights in Dining RoomPin

And here it is with the lights all the way up.  Please note I did not edit the lighting or color of these photos with the lights on so that you could accurately see them lit and dimmed.

Vintage Style lighting in Dining RoomPinAs you can see, that’s 12 light bulbs putting off a good amount of light.  So when we want to have those cozy more intimate meals around the table with our family and friends we can now dim the lights to be exactly as we want!  Here they are dimmed down a bit.

Vintage Dimmable light bulbs in dining roomPin

I am really looking forward to entertaining this holiday season, and not sweating it out under bright hot lights!  I am so glad that Ace Hardware carries these awesome vintage style light bulbs in a dimmable LED version!  From now until November 1st, if they buy two select Feit LED bulbs at Ace, they get one of equal or lesser value free!  So hurry over purchase yours in store or online today!

By the way, have you entered my giveaway for a $100 value Ace gift card?  Enter here!

I am a member of the Ace Bloggers Panel and Ace Hardware has provided with products used within this project. I was also compensated for my time and this blog post. All opinions and positions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Ace Hardware.

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Comments

  1. kirby says

    October 27, 2015 at 5:57 am

    This stuff is good to know. My husband and I argue over light bulbs all. the. time. And I like your dining room white.

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      October 28, 2015 at 3:07 pm

      thank you! i painted it back in april and i have no regrets!

      Reply
  2. Sage @ Plaster & Disaster says

    October 27, 2015 at 7:47 am

    So great to know! I have an edison bulb in the light at the top of the stairs, and it’s awesome to know there’s an LED version!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      October 28, 2015 at 3:07 pm

      yes! because they get so hot! this was sucha great surprise!

      Reply
  3. Brynne@TheGatheredHome says

    October 27, 2015 at 8:43 am

    Oh my gosh! The Edison style LEDs look sooo good! I’m totally getting my hands on some in the future!!!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      October 28, 2015 at 3:06 pm

      i was stoked to see they made them!

      Reply
  4. Julia@Cuckoo4Design says

    October 27, 2015 at 9:09 am

    I want dimmer switches on everything! And those bulbs are amazing

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      October 28, 2015 at 3:06 pm

      me, too!

      Reply
  5. Linda @ It All Started With Paint says

    October 27, 2015 at 9:15 am

    Those vintage look LED are soooooo cool! Love your beautiful dining room!

    🙂 Linda

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      October 28, 2015 at 3:06 pm

      thank you, linda! i love those bulbs!

      Reply
  6. Emily @ 11gables.blogspot.com says

    October 27, 2015 at 9:54 am

    Come on over and install some dimmers at my house. I have a box of dimmer switches, but it’s low on my list of priorities. 🙁 I’d rather you do it, and I’ll watch!!! then, we can have wine… at 10:00 in the morning!!! he he xox

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      October 28, 2015 at 3:06 pm

      haha! i will send my husband since he did it. 😉

      Reply
  7. gail says

    October 27, 2015 at 5:01 pm

    oh my! who knew!

    those vintage bulbs are pretty, but can be soooo bright! dimmable? awesome!

    I’ve always loved that chandelier Cassie.

    gail

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      October 28, 2015 at 3:05 pm

      i know, i had no idea! i was thrilled!

      Reply
  8. Amber @ Wills Casa says

    October 27, 2015 at 11:03 pm

    Wow! I had no idea there were LED edisons!! We’ve converted most of our lightbulbs to LEDs but there are a few that I’d rather have edisons! So good to know!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      October 28, 2015 at 3:04 pm

      i know, right? i didn’t either!

      Reply
  9. Lisa @ Shine Your Light says

    October 28, 2015 at 8:04 am

    Dimmers are the best aren’t they!! I install them in all our living areas, love the ambience of a low light. Your light fixture is soooooo pretty, and I am still dying over your gorgeous curtains in there!!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      October 28, 2015 at 3:04 pm

      yes! i am going to dim everything now! 🙂

      Reply
  10. Bliss says

    October 29, 2015 at 10:56 am

    Hot dirty secrets, well that got my attention and my light bulb went on!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      October 31, 2015 at 3:26 pm

      haha! 🙂

      Reply
  11. Corinna - A Designer At Home says

    October 30, 2015 at 9:37 pm

    I need a mind blown emoji. This is incredible!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      October 31, 2015 at 3:23 pm

      haha! they really need one of those! thank you!

      Reply
  12. Kim@NewlyWoodwards says

    November 3, 2015 at 4:16 pm

    I didn’t even know those were LED lights – and I’m so stinkin’ excited about getting dimmers in the new house. Life changing, I tell you.

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      November 10, 2015 at 1:09 pm

      i know it, right?!?!

      Reply
  13. emily says

    November 5, 2015 at 9:36 am

    I did not know these existed…those LED light options are just getting better and better!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      November 10, 2015 at 1:05 pm

      i agree! there are also some awesome ones i love that are sort of faceted but sooooo pricey.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Amber and Aqua Vintage Thanksgiving Tablescape - Cassie Bustamante says:
    November 7, 2016 at 6:37 am

    […] they are on at night, they cast a very yellow light in the room.  Last year we changed them to LED dimmable Edison bulbs and they still were very yellow.  I happened to be at the dollar store a couple weeks ago and saw […]

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Cassie!

I believe that you don't have to spend a lot of money to live a beautiful life and be your best self.  Here you will find budget friendly ideas to live happily, healthily, sustainably, and most importantly authentically.  We all get one chance at this life, and this ordinary girl plans to make hers extraordinary. How about you? Read more...
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Hi! I'm Cassie.

Mother, wife, shop owner, blogger, writer, incurable diy-er, furniture painter, coffee and wine drinker, friend. Seeking happiness and passing it on. Read More…

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