The lighting in our house totally needs updating. Some of it is just out of style, some of it I am just sick to death of looking at, and some of it is just flat out busted. We have been gradually replacing some of the smaller lights, started with the broken ones out on our deck. But the chandelier in the foyer I have been putting off. Two reasons.
1-It's on the larger side, so it's not that cheap to replace.
2–It's up two stories, so the thought of myself or my hubby trying to balance on a ladder replace it pretty much scares the bejebies outta me. Not only is there the fear of falling and possibly breaking ones neck, but trying to install lighting in such precarious situations also brings the risk of electrocution. Neither option sound appealing. So I figured we'd be stuck with our old outdated chandelier for a few more years until we were ready to fork out the cash for not only a new light, but also for someone to install it.
Then we hired a couple of our friends to paint our two story entry way. While they were here doing prep work, I asked jokingly if while they were up there they'd like to install a new light. They surprised me by saying, "Sure, we can do that." We knew it would be much cheaper to pay them while they were already there than it would be to hire someone else to drive out. (We live kinda in the boonies.)
They were coming back in a few days to paint. And we happened to be heading out of town for our anniversary. So on our anniversary trip, we stopped at a lighting store and picked up a new chandelier. Nothing more romantic then shopping for new lighting. At least that's what I told my husband. 
I meant to take a photo of our old light so we could possibly sell it. But it had a green bouncy ball stuck on top. (Don't ask. Comes with having four boys.) I was going to have the painters/electricians take out the ball before I snapped a photo. But they happened to come while I was in the shower, and when I got out, my hubbie was already hauling the old light out to the garage. Dang.
It looked something like this. Kinda. :
(Source)
Here is the new chandelier we installed. Or rather that we had installed to prevent a trip to the emergency room.
Oh my goodness I love it! Who woulda thought that replacing one light could make a home so much more beautiful and inviting? Not only is it more pretty to look at, but the light it puts off is so much more warm and bright. The whole entire space just lights up and looks so much better. So if you wanna improve your home's beauty and value, all you gotta do is install new lighting. Or hire professionals if you don't want to risk life and limb.
Now we just need to tackle the other 12+ lights that need to be replaced. Sigh.
I Know what you are saying – we have a new home but the lights were just builder grade – have been replacing all of them and it makes an amazing difference in a room
I know, right? I had no idea how much of a difference it would make. So much prettier now! On the downside, I always want to turn the lights on just to look at them.