I can will look at a wire trash can and think, this would be so cool as a light.. "I would just need flip it upside down and drill a hole in it. I will need a light to hang in the middle and then Voila! I have a new light!
I just see it...
That's one of the reasons I started this blog, was to help inspire others to see the diamond in the rough... And to create their own decor using their imaginations and VERY LITTLE cash!!
Which can translate into a One Of A Kind piece!
Here is a (terrible) pic of my old hallway lights.. Another GOLD light - shocker!! There were actually two of these awful lights on my main floor.
I have always had a hard time going to a lighting store and looking around and thinking WOW that is the light I have To Have! I just never like what I see - unless it is like $1000 and in the Restoration Hardware catalog - and that's just NOT gonna fly!!
I also DON'T like having things - that "Everyone Else" has. I like being DIFFERENT! ☺️. So having unique stuff in my home FITS me... (It just does)..
So, after a year and a half of looking and looking for the perfect fixtures for my hallways, I was at Hobby Lobby and came across this rustic lantern. It is just a lantern that you would put a candle in and set it on the floor. I just fell in love with it immediately. I thought THIS is IT! This would look awesome in my hallway! FINALLY!
Oh - I want to mention that I got this on sale for 50% off - so it was only $28!! BOOM!!
So, after a year and a half of looking and looking for the perfect fixtures for my hallways, I was at Hobby Lobby and came across this rustic lantern. It is just a lantern that you would put a candle in and set it on the floor. I just fell in love with it immediately. I thought THIS is IT! This would look awesome in my hallway! FINALLY!
BUT, how am I going to do this...???
I first started by taking this hideous light down... (DO NOT FORGET TO TURN OFF THE BREAKER IN THE FUSE BOX FIRST)!!!
After I got it down, I started examining it and realized it was just held together by screws... SO I got my screwdriver out and started unscrewing the fixture... I got the glass off of it and when I did that, I realized that I could just "dangle" it down into the lantern. And that I did not need to purchase a NEW light to hang down inside it - SCORE!!
So I got my handy hubby and his ENGINEER-BRAIN to help me make this work!! He told me it was do-able, so I went to work painting it!!
Went to my go-to spray paint Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze.... and painted the chain, the base of the light and the cap. (Don't forget to tape off the wires and where the light bulbs go.)
We unscrewed one side of the lanterns rope and looped it through the large EYE screw that I purchased at Lowes. Once we got the rope through the EYE screw, (which we had to take the screw off the lantern to do) we made a large knot.... AND before we we tightened it, we intertwined the light and chain through the knot.
***I wanted to add, that I replaced the white plastic candle columns with new ones that I bought in a 2 pack from Lowes. I measured them and we cut them very gently with a fine tooth mini saw. I want to ENFORCE this, DO NOT USE a compound mitre saw to cut plastic, or anything with quick heavy force!!! It will crack, explode, etc... I learned this the hard way!!!!
My husband then got up on the ladder and hung it up.
I LOVE the rustic look and the fact that no-one else has a light like this. I also love that this entire fixture only cost me around $40 - total! Since I used the existing light I already had, a can of paint I already had and a pack of new plastic candle covers (which you get in the lighting section of Lowes). So for both fixtures I spent $80! You CANNOT buy a SINGLE light for that!
You can make lights out of about ANYTHING!! Seriously! I have found that out by just experimenting with items I bring home...
***If you do not have any experience with installing lighting - enlist the help of someone that knows what they are doing... Fires and electric shock are NO JOKE! Luckily Mr. Not too Shabby knows how to do pretty much everything around the house!
Do you have a project where you have used an unconventional item for something else like this one? If so, post below in the comments! I would love to see it! Help inspire me and other readers who love chic decor, but have a shabby budget...
Check out my next post... On how I turned a huge garage lantern into a cool bathroom light fixture for $6! And re-decorated my whole bathroom for about $100! Faucets, fixtures, decor and all!
I first started by taking this hideous light down... (DO NOT FORGET TO TURN OFF THE BREAKER IN THE FUSE BOX FIRST)!!!
After I got it down, I started examining it and realized it was just held together by screws... SO I got my screwdriver out and started unscrewing the fixture... I got the glass off of it and when I did that, I realized that I could just "dangle" it down into the lantern. And that I did not need to purchase a NEW light to hang down inside it - SCORE!!
So I got my handy hubby and his ENGINEER-BRAIN to help me make this work!! He told me it was do-able, so I went to work painting it!!
Went to my go-to spray paint Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze.... and painted the chain, the base of the light and the cap. (Don't forget to tape off the wires and where the light bulbs go.)
We unscrewed one side of the lanterns rope and looped it through the large EYE screw that I purchased at Lowes. Once we got the rope through the EYE screw, (which we had to take the screw off the lantern to do) we made a large knot.... AND before we we tightened it, we intertwined the light and chain through the knot.
***I wanted to add, that I replaced the white plastic candle columns with new ones that I bought in a 2 pack from Lowes. I measured them and we cut them very gently with a fine tooth mini saw. I want to ENFORCE this, DO NOT USE a compound mitre saw to cut plastic, or anything with quick heavy force!!! It will crack, explode, etc... I learned this the hard way!!!!
My husband then got up on the ladder and hung it up.
I LOVE the rustic look and the fact that no-one else has a light like this. I also love that this entire fixture only cost me around $40 - total! Since I used the existing light I already had, a can of paint I already had and a pack of new plastic candle covers (which you get in the lighting section of Lowes). So for both fixtures I spent $80! You CANNOT buy a SINGLE light for that!
You can make lights out of about ANYTHING!! Seriously! I have found that out by just experimenting with items I bring home...
***If you do not have any experience with installing lighting - enlist the help of someone that knows what they are doing... Fires and electric shock are NO JOKE! Luckily Mr. Not too Shabby knows how to do pretty much everything around the house!
Do you have a project where you have used an unconventional item for something else like this one? If so, post below in the comments! I would love to see it! Help inspire me and other readers who love chic decor, but have a shabby budget...
Check out my next post... On how I turned a huge garage lantern into a cool bathroom light fixture for $6! And re-decorated my whole bathroom for about $100! Faucets, fixtures, decor and all!
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