Did you notice that it’s super hard to find reviews on RH light fixtures (or anything else Restoration Hardware sells)? I have to tell you, I was a little afraid… the shroud of secrecy surrounding the quality of the items, and lack of happy customer (or any) reviews, left me feeling a bit wary. So, I hope I can shed a little light on my RH “experience” and provide an honest review (I still have fear about a hypothetical RH strong arm guy coming to bust my knee caps, but here goes…): oh, by the way. I’m not an affiliate. I think their snobbery prevents affiliatery (dude, that’s not a word, I just made it up), so you can be sure of my unadulterated, completely honest opinion.
*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see full disclosure at the end of the post.
First, let’s be totally up front. Restoration Hardware’s marketing team and strategy are second to none. They are selling class. Period. It’s unbelievably brilliant and diabolically well executed. Every purchase says: welcome to the champagne life. But, is it true? Are their products that much better?
I’ve had my eye on a light fixture at RH for a while. I visited it at night on their website, shielding my iPad just in case Rainman was just pretending to be asleep and really wanted to know what I was cyber stalking. Several times I almost caved and bought a knock off (everything that was similar had a lot of chrome, which was too glammy), but I stayed strong and finally bit the bullet. Enter the 19th century rococo chandelier in smoke into my life. It was the perfect piece to complete a recent adult living renovation and I just couldn’t say no.
As we have been busy on a MAJOR DIY deck addition, the box sat unattended for several weeks before my Rainman discovered me looking sad one night and rolled up his sleeves. What we thought would be a simple installation was not quite, but I’ll tell you all about it.
But, first, back to that deck renovation. So, the deck needed to go in before child-next graduated from high school so there was an appropriately awesome place for his friends to hang out, not inside with all of the boring adults (and no one sued us when they fell through the old, rotting deck). Surprise, surprise, as we were peeling back siding to install the ledger board, Rainman and my father in law discovered rot. It went halfway up the back wall and surrounded the door.
This was the same door that eventually I wanted to close in anyway, and was going to have a kitchen cabinet behind it, because we would also rip out windows and install custom steel doors instead. Nevermind that this other renovation was nowhere near ready to start, financially or otherwise, I was like, “fill it in.” We’re already doing this, and I’d rather not install a new door that we’re going to take out and close in later. And, as anyone knows who has DIYed a kitchen reno, there’s no time like the present to start it, and no time like right before you sell the house to finish it! Needless to say, I was a bully, and Rainman was not happy.
Well, I couldn’t leave the blank wall without a cabinet. And if you’re going to get the cabinet you might as well get the matching one for the base of the banquette island you planned. And if you’re already paying the unlimited furniture delivery fee (which is unfortunately $399 in my area because I live out in the sticks), you might as well buy that fixture you’ve had your eye on. It’s like I was saving us money already. (I feel like I’ve maybe been reading those “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie” books to the little one too much lately).
So, I had my fixture.
Rainman just wanted to make me happy, and generally, fixture hanging is a weekday evening type of deal. Straightforward and satisfying. Unless there are like 200 crystals that have to be individually attached. But, it’s fine… it would be better if there were gloves but they’re not included (I still need to go back and get all of the fingerprints off the crystals). I ordered white cotton gloves from Amazon and they’re ready for me whenever I get to it (there was no way I was stopping progress to wait on gloves).
So, the actual fixture installation was pretty straightforward (although the directions are a bit lacking). I believe the prevailing assumption is that anyone buying this is going to have a pro install it and not their own personal slave Rainman after work one evening, so I guess I get that the wiring diagrams weren’t totally great. The real kicker was that the number of crystals doesn’t actually match the installation guide and you basically can’t get there from here. But, it may be that it’s a matter of personal preference how you’d like the crystals to hang, I’m not totally sure.
What I didn’t get from the product info before I received it (and you can’t see in their pictures) is that the body of the fixture is in matte iron – which sort of reminds me of industrial steel beams before they start rusting. It’s beautiful, just not what I expected. The black wrought iron seen in some of the pictures is only on the clear crystal option. I love it just as much, I just figured it was worth noting since it wasn’t entirely apparent to me upfront.
The verdict: (drumroll please) I would ABSOLUTELY recommend the fixture. It’s gorgeous and dazzling (like, going to need a dimmer), it is the crown jewel in the living room that took it from nice to, OMG-where’d-you-get-that? I love watching the light dance off of the beautiful smoke crystals in different patterns as the sun moves around the house during the day and the shadows it creates when the sun goes down. It’s breathtaking.
Although we didn’t have any issues with this particular fixture, there were some blemishes on one of the cabinets. I offered to have them send me replacement hardware, but as that was out of stock, they send a team to pick up the cabinet and bring me a whole new one. No trouble, no fuss, no problem. The customer service is fantastic, and their dedicated delivery teams are super professional and friendly.
Apparently they have some ludicrously good warranty on all of their stuff (which I honestly didn’t know when I hit “play” on the purchase), so even though the products are a bit *cough *cough on the pricey side, we’ll be buying from them again. It’s well worth the extra money to have heirloom quality pieces.
Thanks for hanging out with us today and check out more of our DIY, projects, and decor on our blog.
Cheers!
*Legal stuff:
I am honest about my experiences with different products and write because I enjoy it. I do however, have the opportunity to earn money for my writing, also.
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