Last winter I bought a new bathroom light fixture to replace the 30-year-old ugly one that came with the house. The one I liked the best came with Xenon light bulbs that the lighting store assured me was twice as bright as regular bulbs.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

OK, it took 18 months for me to finally install this, and I'm really bummed out because the light is way too dim. (And even if I had installed it in a timely manner, it was a custom order and couldn't be returned.)

It has 3 lamp stations with 40-watt bulbs, and I'm replacing them with 60's in hopes that I'll be able to see without putting in a separate lamp fixture.

If anyone here is shopping for lighting and you're told that xenon bulbs are brighter -- just don't believe it. 40 watts is 40 watts is 40 watts.

At least the fixture is elegant.