How to inexpensively repurpose a builder grade mini pendant light with industrial style.
Happy Monday, friends! I have about three projects going on at once today. I’ve hit total beast mode to knock out several things that have just been sitting and waiting on me to finish. You’ll see a couple of them later this week.
I realized it’s been a while since I posted a builder grade light re-do. If you are new to following my DIY insanity, I’ve made it my mission to personalize every builder grade basic light fixture in our house…at least the downstairs for now.
My style isn’t for everyone, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with simple lighting. But for our home, the hubby and I wanted something with more interest, and the one I’m sharing with y’all today is definitely not your average cookie-cutter suburban light fixture. I know there are other bloggers out there who have shared their versions of industrial style lights, so it’s nothing new under the sun. But I’m stoked to have one for myself!
I have a mixture of styles that I love- farmhouse, French country, industrial- and I try to keep them balanced and working together in our space. (Do you find yourself in that struggle too? I blame Pinterest.)
 Since I had most of the materials I needed already hanging out in our garage and four light fixtures still left to makeover in our kitchen, I decided to go for it with our bar pendant lights. And this one was super easy!
If you want to try it out for yourself, here are the materials I used:
- Builder grade mini pendant light fixture
- Oil rubbed bronze spray paint (affiliate)
- Sisal rope- 3/8 inch
- High temp hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Metal lamp guard (affiliate)
Since I had two fixtures, the total ended up being just under $10 for each light.
Here’s what we were dealing with before. Nice, simple, but just not us.
I had a can of leftover (and my favorite) Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint and primer. So I taped off the electrical parts on the fixtures and sprayed two coats.
Even though I planned to wrap them in rope, I went ahead and sprayed the rods too just in case any peeked through.
I let the light fixtures dry for a full 24 hours before the next step.
Then, using high temp hot glue, I wrapped the sisal rope tightly around the downrods of the pendant lights. It was tedious but worth it!
Each light took about 30-40 minutes to wrap. The beginning is a little tricky to get started. Hold the rope in place for the first few wraps around the downrod, and apply about a dime size of hot glue for each wrap around.
I held the end in place until the last bit of glue was completely cool.
The lamp guards screwed right in place above the bulb and that was it! I used Edison bulbs to give it a more vintage look too. They give off a yellowy light that I’m okay with in person, but it doesn’t translate very well to photos. They are rustic industrial fabulosity though. 🙂
And they remind me a lot of Restoration Hardware’s version but without the $119 price tag.
They look pretty darn smashing with our giant chalkboard and vintage gallery wall…
…and our breakfast nook’s clock wall too.
Tomorrow, I’ll be sharing a knock-your-socks-off fall recipe. If you follow me on
Instagram, you might have already seen a sneak peek of the epic main ingedient. 😉  I just pulled it out of the oven and oh…my..heavens.
If you liked this post, check out these other light fixture DIYs too. (Just click the image to find the project details.)
Blessings,
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Wow. Crazy good up-cycle! Pinning that one and the other ones in your post. Love it. Would love to have you link up with us at The DIY’ers! http://biggerthanthethreeofus.com/the-diyers-16/
I’ll head over there and link up! Thanks, Ashley!
Love not only your light fixtures, but also the wall decorations behind. Where did you find all those goodies, like the giant key? I’m glad you mentioned the color of the spraypaint, cause it’s just the color I need to spray a few things around here. My husband loves industrial/steampunk and I love Pinterest too! Now, if I can just get him to help me paint the living room!
Thank you! I’m so glad you like it! That spray paint really is great and eliminates a step since the primer is mixed in. I found the giant key on the clearance aisle of Target. The metal EAT letters are from Target too. The other keys are from Hobby Lobby and I found the clocks from all over- mostly from Garden Ridge if I recall.
Great update! Thank you so much for sharing at the Twirl & Take a Bow Party! Have an awesome week!
Leslie
House on the Way
Thank you! Same to you!
Another fabulous update! Love the rope {hope your fingers didn’t get too burned}!
~ Ashley
Thanks, Ashley! I managed to escape this project unscathed. I can’t say the same for the chandelier I did about a month ago though. 🙂
I love your style. I blame Pinterest too! These look amazing!
Thank you, Shambray! That’s a huge compliment! It’s always a love/hate relationship with Pinterest, isn’t it? So many gorgeous things- it’s hard to pick what defines “you”.