Clearly, I never tried internet dating, or I would have known that nothing ever looks quite as good as advertised online.
For example, the pendant light I ordered online to hang in my breakfast nook? As advertised: chic, glowing and glorious, made of capiz shells! Awesome!
In real life? Fat and bland. But worse, it resembled the Star Wars Death Star and did not emit any light. It was weird.
But about the time I ordered it last year, we were about to have a baby shower here at our house, and I couldn’t have a bald lightbulb hanging from the ceiling for the shower, so we hurriedly hung it and hoped it could pass for halfway decent. (It didn’t.)
After the shower, we took it back down and allowed it to occupy a large area of precious storage in one of our closets, where it will live until I get up the guts to post it on craigslist. (Advertising it as chic, glorious and made of capiz shells, of course.)
But now? Let there be light!
I wanted a hanging shade pendant like this one, but to buy them new will run between $150 and $200, which just seemed kinda crazy to me.
So we found an old ugly pendant for $3 at a yard sale that looked a little like this:
Then, we just spray painted the shaft and added a lamp shade. No sweat! (On my part. Andy may have.)
Not bad for a total cost of under $30, right?
Just don’t look inside and see how it’s rigged together with twist-ties please.
Have you ever made your own lighting?
P.S. If you’re looking for inexpensive, beautiful lighting options, make sure you check out my DIY lighting projects gallery, with projects like this DIY capiz shell chandelier:
And this DIY dodecahedron pendant:
Hi, I'm Kelly. Glad you're here! This little blog is where I chronicle our efforts to fix up our beaten-down home on a tiny budget. We're not there yet, but here's a peek at the view along the way...
As much as my boys (Chuck included) would've loved anything resembling star wars in the house, I have to say, big improvement! Looks great!
Oh this is grand. I'm totally down with twist ties and will be linking to your post here once I get my mammoth kitchen project finished. I already used automotive spray paint on my ugly 1970s dark brown laminate cabinets last year. I have nothing to lose but an ugly chandelier. LOL!
Love the pendant light! Looks great. Could you tell me the name of the paint color on the wall with plates? Thanks:)
It’s Benjamin Moore Brittany Blue. Thanks!
I am a single older woman with my first home. I want to change out lights in my kitchen, baths, etc…is this something I can do myself or do I HAVE to have an electrician? I changed the vent hood on my stove myself and the fan and light work! I am planning for my future and want to put pendant lights in so I won’t have to climb on tall ladders to change them when I get old. (Older) LOL>