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Girl Gets Electric (A Simple DIY Pendant Fixture)

March 14, 2012

Dottir & Sonur’s online shop melts me to the core. I discovered its first line of home decor via Decor8, and quickly became infatuated with the products. Lots of origami happiness, and vibrant colors too. Their pendant creation “Lightlace” has a charming, clean-lined design, and a lightweight appearance that wouldn’t overpower any space (and it’s a style I see more and more, most recently at Land of Nod with the Charm Pendant. It’s something that landed itself on my pinterest boards, where I gawked at it a lot, and then brainstormed ways to run new electrical wire into my bathroom because the image proves it it all: Lightlace looks downright phenom against subway tile.

Beaded Pendant: Lightlace, by Dottir & Sonur

Cuteness aside, the original design runs a little out of my price range. Adorned with sweet colorful beads, it’s priced at €139.00, which I’m pretty sure exchanges to about $215 USD before shipping. And the only USA vendor is out of Mississippi, a state that I’ve never toured through (at Amelia, for anyone more local to the Oxford, MS area), so the odds of me coming across it on any upcoming trips and burying it in my suitcase are slim-ish.

So I decided to pull inspiration from their design, and make something suited for my own home. The inspired piece required a little customization and reinterpretation for my space and style, and I kept the main materials simple:

  • A 15′ outdoor extension cord (I chose white, $9)
  • A porcelain socket adapter kit ($6)
  • A bag of wooden beads ($3.50 thanks to a 40% JoAnn’s coupon)
  • Light bulb (I already owned a West Elm Edison Bulb that I purchased awhile ago but never used, it ran me about $15)
  • A plug-in switch to operate the light on/off without having to plug and unplug the cord (obviously optional, I had one in my electrical stash)
  • Swag hook (free for me, I actually believe that I removed it from the living room not long after I moved in)
  • A 15' Outdoor Extension Cord.
  • Brand new socket.
  • Wooden beads for the pendant lamp.

To start pendant development, I eliminated the female end of the extension cord with a quick snip-snip of the wire cutters.

Cutting the female end off the extension cord.

This exposed the three wires the encasement was securing: the two electrical wires that correlate back to the tines on the male end of the cord (the uncut end that plugs into the wall), and the green grounding wire. With a razor blade, I scored and removed the white encasement, exposing about 1″ of each of the three wires.

Exposed wires from the extension cord.

The green ground wasn’t necessary since it didn’t have a place in the socket, so I cut it low with the wire cutters, while the white and black cords were dissected free with a wire stripper.

Stripped wires.

Before I attached the socket and wire together, I did two things: spray painted the exterior of the socket a soft matte white (it was an unfinished porcelain straight out of the packaging), and threaded wooden beads over the exposed wires (18 beads to be exact, about 1/2 of the package so that it wasn’t bead-heavy).

Pendant assembled with wooden beads, a socket, and an extension cord.

Unlike the inspirational Lightlace, I decided to keep the beads natural wood so as not to not overpowering the corner of the living room; there’s a lot going on in there already when you factor in the  orange color block mantle art, rainbow bookshelf, and multicolored ottomans. Also unlike the photo displayed on Dottir & Sonur, I decided to hang the pendant straight down from the ceiling instead of draping the beads gently; the ceiling in the living room, at 10′, seemed too tall, and the wire wasn’t quite long enough to allow the pendant to hang as low and looped as I envisioned it to (just about 1′ short).

Improvising, I hung it simply on a swag hook from the ceiling after measuring and planning its placement. The 15′ extension cord was just enough to allow the plug end to drape back down to the wall and to the outlet.

Installing the swag hook.

I also added a white hook to the edge of the wall to capture the cord and redirect it smoothly down to the plug. You can barely see that second hook, even in person, and it makes the cord just a little less obnoxious and more organized. Benefit? I can move that pendant up as far as I want, and down another 10″ if I want. Real life lighting wiggle room. (Truth: I usually opt for hardwiring everywhere, every time, this is new territory for me).

Swag hook leads to another hook that redirects the wire to the plug.

Replacing one of the driftwood lamps with this drop down pendant really brightened up this little nook that’s otherwise filled with books, art, a dozen maps that are rolled and tucked into the corner, and my yes-it’s-still-installed-and-strong trial floating shelf.

Finished pendant light.

Up close, prettiness.

Pretty beaded pendant.

From another angle, you can see the cord clear as day, which yes, does annoy me, but with the summer months nearing, a new curtain will be installed, and during the day when the sunroom door is exposed, it’ll be pulled into the corner, concealing the white cord in the process.

Finished pendant light (but exposed cord).

And one more, at night, for fun:

Ooh, a little night lighting.

P.S. Pete whipped up fixes for two big issues in our home over the last week: Repairing our oh-so-squeaky hardwood floors, and clearing a mortar-clogged drain. Check both posts out on dadand.com!

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Decor  / DIY  / Lighting

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. I've been a freelancer writer for 10+ years and you can find my work on popular home and garden sites, like HGTV.com. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note.

17 Comments


Elisa
March 14, 2012 at 9:03 am
Reply

Brilliance!! I never would have thought of turning an extension cord into a light..



    Emily
    March 14, 2012 at 9:34 am

    Truth: I tried it with lamp cord first and it was a bit too flimsy. The heavier cord worked much better!

Bri @ The Modern Parsonage
March 14, 2012 at 9:16 am
Reply

Missouri or Mississippi? Missouri is MO, MS is Mississippi :) I wouldn’t care except that I live in Missouri and I can find their stuff here, I’d be elated!

-Bri (MO transplant via NY)



    Emily
    March 14, 2012 at 9:31 am

    Ahh!!! My 2nd grade teacher would slap me on the wrist. Thanks for the correction, Bri!

Kelly @ DTTDidc
March 14, 2012 at 11:40 am
Reply

You did a great job of re-interpreting the original light fixture. And you also did a great job with all the electrical stuff! I really like the look of a hanging pendant light in a spot where you would expect to see a table lamp. It’s so much more interesting, and it’s nice to have the table or shelf space for other things.



    Emily
    March 14, 2012 at 12:17 pm

    Thanks Kelly! I really like where I ended up hanging the pendant. There were many other places I considered, like over my bedside table or in our guest room, but it felt most fitting where it landed. Glad you like!

Rita@thissortaoldlife
March 14, 2012 at 8:42 pm
Reply

Really like the simplicity of this idea. I’ve been looking for vintage lights for our kitchen, but your post has me thinking in another direction now–making our own light. The beads look awesome–such a simple thing, but makes a huge difference.



    Emily
    March 14, 2012 at 9:14 pm

    Glad you like, Rita! Good luck if you try and make your own light!

Staci @ My Friend Staci
March 15, 2012 at 11:12 am
Reply

This looks just great. The natural wood finish on the beads is perfect for your living room. Since you have the second hook there, you *could * do the drape-y thing if you wanted to!



    Emily
    March 15, 2012 at 11:19 am

    True! The single swag hook is actually generous enough in size to allow me to loop the cord up and around one more time if I wanted to raise the light at any point. In the end, the drapiness would feel really good in a room with lower ceilings or if I could figure out how to anchor it looping about 5′ off the floor instead of off the ceiling. Does that even make sense? I’m thinking off a bracket or something. I couldn’t figure it out, but I’m still noodling it in my head.

Erin @ The Great Indoors
March 19, 2012 at 6:33 pm
Reply

I like it! Hope you’re enjoying it, and thanks for linking up to the Winter Pinterest Challenge!

Erin @ The Great Indoors



    Emily
    March 19, 2012 at 6:35 pm

    Thanks Erin! Fun link-up par-tay. I’m loving the light daily, it’s perfect for the space.

Callie
June 16, 2012 at 1:25 am
Reply

Ah, this is the post about the hanging light! I should have posted about the sisal-wrap here instead of on the door knob post. Although now that I look at this hanging light again I don’t know if the sisal wrap would go with the beads, and the beads are pretty cool themselves! I like that you turned an extension cord into a light cord, to0 – v. inventive!



    Emily
    June 16, 2012 at 10:15 pm

    Hi Callie! Thanks for the nice comment – the sisal would actually be a great accent on the pendant had there not been beads. I also really love the gold leaf liner you referenced on the other post (http://pudel-design.blogspot.de/2012/05/diy-bubble-chandelier-from-ikea.html). Thanks for sharing!

Mazie
November 16, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Reply

Just found you and am inspired! I notice you have the adorable and comfy Pier 1 Orbit Chair – as do I.

Actually I have two and both of them have lost their bottoms- each just gave out after several years of supporting my not very heavy hubby. Funny for us both- but no real harm done. Except that the chairs are currently useless!

So many people have recommended the curb but I just can’t give them up. Other than ripped along one bottom edge they are both pristine.

I’ve looked into re-weaving and it’s 3 times the cost of the chair. I’m currently trying to patch/fix one of them by weaving and supporting the broken section with waxed string. It’s SO ugly, but I figure I’ll drape a sheep skin over it and no one will be the wiser.

Still I hate to lose that happy little shape the bottom and top make and would like to do something different for the other. Do you have any suggestions for something better for that second chair?

Thanks for any thoughts on the matter!

M



    Emily
    November 16, 2012 at 12:09 pm

    Orbit chair, you say! I love that thing. Mine was a garage sale find (a steal at $15) and with the exception of a few of the edges starting to break, it’s holding up pretty well. Can’t say we sit in it as much as on the couch, but I love how it looks.

    How amazing that reweaving would be so expensive! I could see trying to make a leather seat at a replacement base, almost like a taut hammock. It might be possible with a single piece of leather, and maybe a little more manageable if it were thick woven straps.

    Would love to see what you come up with if something works well, I agree that trying to repair it would be better than putting it on a curb!

Mazie
November 16, 2012 at 6:02 pm
Reply

Orbit. Oh yeah! I got mine on sale, but you scored a deep discount.

I like your leather idea- a lot. Modern Fabrics sells remnants so giving it a try should be low risk.

I’ll definitely keep you posted. Got to finish our kitchen reno first- but with a solution/your idea the chair has moved up on my list.

Love your site! And thanks so much for your thoughts and speedy reply.

M



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  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

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