As I mentioned here, my house has some truly horrendous light fixtures, but the absolute worst of them was the big brown monster above our dining table. I've changed many a light fixture in my day, so this really shouldn't have been an issue...just buy a new one (I DIE over this beauty), take the old one down and set it on fire, hang the new one. Done. Alas, the best laid plans of mice and men and all that:
The fixture was off center from where we have our table, so we would need to swag a new fixture and the ones I was eyeing weren't swag-able.
This isn't our forever home; we'll probably end up moving or building in the next couple years, so I'm trying not to spend a ton of money on updates.
Google must have sensed my displeasure with the big brown monster (and resulting wrinkles from scowling at it) and sent me the most serendipitous side bar ad:
Lightbulb - I could take our woven pendant baskets from our island and stagger and swag them over the dining table - all problems solved! To create your own woven pendant chandelier:
You will need:
A pendant light cord kit or ceiling spider light, depending on how many baskets you plan to hang
Cord covers (optional)
1. Hire a licensed electrician to take down your existing figure and install your ceiling spider light
2. Attach a pendant shade to each of the spider's legs. I used zip ties pulled REALLY tight to hold them on, but I think most shades are a little more conducive to use with a cord kit.
3. Determine the placement of each of your pendants. I started with the middle pendant, swagged it to the center of my table to the desired height (~36" above the table) and taped it in place on the ceiling. From there, I played around with the spacing and height of the other two until I was happy with how they looked together. Don't forget to mark the final location of each piece of tape!
4. Drill a hole in the ceiling for each mark from step 3; be sure to use an anchor if you're not drilling into a stud.
5. Attach your hooks to the ceiling and swag your pendants on them at the desired heights.
6. Optional: cover the cords with a cord cover. I gathered any extra cord length in the loop between the hooks and fixture and zip tied it together before attaching the cord cover. (DIY cord covers coming your way soon!)
And that's all she wrote - six (fairly) easy steps to an on-trend woven pendant chandelier! The hardest part of this project was finding all the materials to execute my idea, and you don't even have to worry about that since I already did it for you. Let me know if you try this out in your own house - I'd love to see how the project turns out!
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