The Chandeliers of Wheaton Labs

Perhaps the chandeliers are part of the means of getting incandescent heat closer to bodies? Or perhaps they are just elegant lighting solutions for added luxury.

here is the first chandelier from a few days ago



The mission is:

    - get the houseplants on the top to become super bushy and eventually cover all the wood

    - the wood is strategically placed to keep direct light out of your eyes

    - there is also wood to help hold the plant pots in place

    - the placement is to maximize light on the table, while not blocking the ability for people sitting at the table to

            o see each other
            o see out the window
            o see most of the things on the other wall

    - the original design had some paper mounted in there to further diffuse light, but that turned out to be not worth the trouble

Thanks, Paul. It looks like that chandelier is living up to it's mission.

We need to put a lot more love into the houseplants part of it.

As part of panelling the ceiling in the Library, those chandeliers have come under scrutiny. Turns out they had more of a dumpster fire vibe going on than an efficient lighting one. This is a note on work done and a suggestion to come back to the situation in the near future.

There are three main light fixtures on the ceiling of the room.

One is near the door to the Solarium and is operated from switches at that door as well as the North door to the patio. As such it ideally would function as a 'navigation' light, providing just enough light for visitors entering a dark room to see where they are going. The current fixture is a conventional 'chandelier' with 3 or 4 'prongs' with a menagerie of bulbs in them. Only one of the bulbs is working at this time. This 'Home Depot bargain-of-the-week' fixture has a slightly comedic aesthetic, but would likely be quickly and easily improved by replacement with a simple surface mount fixture (present in the shop) so as to not be in the way of people carrying things like ladders, easing the completion of the panelling. A single 'warm LED' bulb here would meet Paul's guidelines for entry lighting. An improved fixture in line with those in the FPH might be a good project for the near future.

There are two more elaborate chandeliers on either side of the dock. One has 3 light fixtures in a row, the other has 4, both with wooden partial enclosures. These are for activity lighting, to provide greater light when people are present doing activities more demanding of illumination. It was discovered that these fixtures were wired with what I know as 'speaker wire' using simple, exposed, twisted wire connections, leading to an extension cord type wire routed through the ceiling insulation all the way to the switch on the divider wall. This seemed a few steps beyond sketchy to place some wooden panelling over and hope for the best, so grounded 12/2 wire was used to add a switched outlet in the ceiling above the dock, and the chandeliers rewired with plugs to operate off of that outlet. The wiring of the individual fixtures for both chandeliers is still sketchy, and the wooden structures are not as functional OR beautiful as the ones in the FPH, so these could use more attention soon, but for now they are relatively safe and contained to allow completion of the panelling around them.

I didn't notice at first. But another job of the chandelier in the kitchen of the Fisher Price House is to dry herbs. There are a number of wires strung up against the ceiling. Drying racks are placed on the wires. Here is a picture from Jennifer's BB submission for drying Mullein.



Though I suppose the drying system might have been built, and then the chandelier was hung from it. Either way, it is cool and I could use one.

I made this to have plants on it, but the first plants did not appear for the first 15 years






first try with plants






and you can see a hint of the new plants






a little more

starting to wrap the plants around ...

today from https://permies.com/t/268237/Story-Boot-BEL#2727645