When we moved into our house, I knew that eventually I’d replace the too-modern-for-my-taste pendant lights over the kitchen island–and probably at some point, the cabinet pulls, too. The pulls are growing on me, but last week I replaced the pendant lights since the ones I’d been eyeing at Birch Lane were on sale for the Fourth of July.
Here’s the before:
They were fine, just not my style as I’m pretty traditional in my aesthetic. And I prefer gold finishes to chrome.
Years ago I learned how to hang and rewire light fixtures and I’ve saved so much money over the years with that skill. It only took me about an hour to remove the old ones and hang the new ones, and it made such a difference:
We also bought new counter stools. As a military family, for years we’ve had two stools that are counter height and two that are bar height because we never knew which ones we’d need for any given house. Finally I’m in a position that I know that I need counter stools (the bar height ones are on Facebook Marketplace) and that I need four of them. I’ve loved the Serena and Lily bistro style stools for years–they remind me of every outdoor cafe in Europe–and so I ordered them during the Fourth of July sale, too.
We had a little hiccup with the delivery…the Fedex driver elected to drop them at the top of our driveway, not on our covered front porch and not even under the roof overhang of the garage. We had to pay $120 for shipping so I was expecting a phone call and maybe even bringing them into our home, but no. We arrived home in the evening after a late afternoon thunderstorm had popped up and found this:
See the wetness at the bottom of the boxes? And that marking on every box that says, “keep dry”? Yeah.
This was how the top of every box looked:
I was pretty upset…even on sale, four of those stools are over $1200 and then of course I paid extra for shipping. I don’t think our FedEx driver takes much pride in his/her work, unfortunately.
The good news is that I wrote Serena and Lily and sent these pictures and they gave me several ways to fix the problem. I was ultimately pleased with their customer service and the quality of the stools is excellent.
We intend to buy two of the matching dining chairs in another month or so; my only concern is how do I request a different FedEx person?!
In other news, I’ve started back to work as a hospice nurse case manager, and while I’m only going to work part-time, I’m orienting full time so I can get up to speed quickly. So that’s one of the reasons I’m hitting publish on this post a day late.
Thanks for stopping by!
Christy, I absolutely love the lights and the counter stools! The original lights would not have worked for me either. 😂 I’m so sorry you had an issue with FedEx! Did you contact them? I had a problem in March and I think every FedEx office between here and NYC heard about it. I praise excellent customer service but I’m not tolerant of situations like this.
You’re brave for working with hospice. I appreciated them so very much when my mother was ill. I think you are really angels on earth!
Have a great weekend!
xo
Pat
Hi, Pat–
You know, I still need to reach out to FedEx. Ultimately, they were the reason we had an issue–not Serena & Lily. I keep meaning to call but it keeps slipping my mind. Thanks for the reminder! Sorry that you had an issue with them, too.
I’m so glad that your mom was helped by hospice. So many of us have personal stories like that (including me) and I appreciate you sharing yours!
XO,
Christy
Love everything! Gorgeous. Sorry you had that happen. Glad they were good about fixing the problem. And bless you for working with hospice. Agree, angels on earth.
Thanks, Lauren. Honestly, it was therapeutic to write about my experience, so thanks for listening. 🙂 How are you and yours doing?
Your new lights are the bomb!! They make such a difference over that island and I can certainly see how you couldn’t live with what was there! 🙂 I would definitely call Fed Ex and file a complaint. They keep records and can tell exactly who delivered them and while I wouldn’t want anyone to lose their job, at least they could reprimand that person. And it probably would do a lot of good!!!
Anyone who works with Hospice is excellent and God Bless you for working with them.
I know, I don’t want anyone to lose their job for sure, but it’s one of those situations where you just wish that everyone would try to do the best at their job, no matter what it is!
So glad you approve of the new lights. I love them, too.
I love your new lights and bar stools. I’m sorry you had such a bad experience with Fed Ex. Have you called them and showed the pictures? Your house is coming along beautifully..
Hi, Heidi–
You know, Pat just asked the same thing in another comment. I haven’t called FexEx yet but I need to. After all, it was really their fault, not Serena & Lily’s. It’s still on my to-do list–one of these days!
Christy
Hospice is truly a Calling and I have been so very blessed by the care they have given both my parents and both of my in-laws. Thank you for heeding this call.