Homemade Lighting

1) Materials for Homemade Wall Sconce

2) Wall sconce lit

3) Wall sconce not lit

 

 

 

2 of 4 DIY Wall Sconce, unlit, Wall #1

2 of 4 DIY wall sconces, unlit, wall #2

1) Materials for Homemade Wall Sconce

2) Wall sconce lit

3) Wall sconce not lit

I completed my long-awaited project today, one I've been mulling over for months. Home lighting wasn't something I thought about much-- just put a couple of lamps where needed. But living in a smaller space, and one which is unique (the geodesic thing), lighting became important. I discovered that the inside of my home looks different during different lighting conditions: overcast outside or bright sunshine, where lights were placed and which lights were on and when they were on, all gave subtle differences to my home's atmosphere.

Right before we moved, I spray painted my cheap tourchier lamps (with reading lamp attached) to a dark brushed bronze, in order to more closely match my new decor that I was already pondering. The spray paint job looked pretty bad, though, but it wasn't as stand-out as the crappy 'silver' color of the original 'metal' (cheap lamps, remember). Quite a few paint nicks were made during the move, but I had more important things to worry about than missing paint or some minor denting. So I put the lamps in the location for best lighting (to my mind), and that was that.

As I've been going through the process of trying to get "settled in," I've become highly irritated at the lack of floor space, and how quickly the floor disappears. I've been interested in "vertical storage" for quite some time, but now it's a necessity! And let me tell you, nothing is made for vertical spaces with living in a geodesic house; one in which, 5  feet up from the floor, the angled roof starts on some of the walls.

I got to thinking, "I need to have wall sconces." I checked the store, but didn't find anything to my flavor... or budget. There were some nice ones, but I wanted four matching sconces, slightly "generic" looking so that as my decorating tastes change I don't have to redo it all, and oh yeah, there's that bit that I didn't want to have to run wire and new switches! Now try to find something "classic" looking, can be mounted on the wall, with the light dispersion aimed upward (I need light dispersed because of how sensitive my eyes are), and not have to run wires. Zip. Nada. Zero. Nothing.

Creativity is often born out of necessity (or boredom, but I'm pretty much never bored because there's always a million things to create, or think about creating). Thus I began thinking. . . perhaps I can just detach the base of the lamp and mount the lamp to the wall? Nope, won't work, because ______________. Then I started searching online, and in stores when my energy level allowed for it-- the thing I love to do that I call "Idea Shopping." It's where you spot something from the "bathroom" section and use it in the kitchen to hold tea bags (which I've done), or just other "out of the box" thinking. I never like "normal," but living in a geodesic house has challenged even my creativity!

To make a long story shorter, I finally figured out I'd have to make a lamp, and that I'd have to get new material instead of being able to "re-purpose" something I already have-- a sticky point for me. I has some problem figuring out how to adapt the "DIY hanging pendant" fixture (plug-in) to be the way I wanted it (light going upward, not shining down). Thanks to the hardware store and huge craft store in town, I was able to get all that I needed. The pictures show my... "prototype."

Here's the deal, in case you're interested.

I bought the "DIY hanging pendant" fixture (times 4), fancy shelf brackets (they were more the size I needed than the ones I had already and had planned on using), also times four [pictured], and four plain linen lamp shades [pictured] at the hardware store. At the craft store I found the wood boxes [pictured], 3 unfinished and 1 that was in some horrible orange thing that had been a display product-- there were only those four, so no screw-ups allowed! I already had the Tacky Glue (this is AWESOME glue, and beats hot glue any day of the week for just about any application; on a side note, I used the tacky glue to repair a heavy ceramic lid that is my coffee filter holder's top, which I dropped and broke-- that was over a decade ago and I'm still using it... and dropping it, but no further breaking!). I already had the roll of cork and paint and stuff. The only other things I needed to get was near the end of my project, which were screws and washers to attach the box to the bracket; the box was needed to support the pendant lamp and shade.

If it weren't for the fact the one box was orange, I probably would have left them 'plain,' but there was no getting that orange off and the wood is just thin craft wood so sanding it off wasn't an option. I used that funky looking knife to cut the corners back on the wider part of the wood boxes in order for it to fit the lamp shade supportively-- I still need to find a way to secure it better, but for now it will have to do.

Because of the acoustics of living in surround sound (which is what a geodesic does), I used cork for a neutral "decorative" touch over the wood, as well as for its sound-absorbing properties. It is my hope that once all the lights are up, there will be less sound bouncing around. I am also considering filling the boxes (they're hollow, and there's plenty of room below the lamp portion) with wine bottle corks (re-purposing!) in an attempt to dampen sounds. It may or may not work, and even if it does work, the difference might be negligible, but even that might be noticed by my sensitive ears.

Okay, so there's really no way for me to explain the boring detail of putting the thing together, so just enjoy the pictures. I do have a unique, live hanging plant hanging on the lamp pictured, and today will be getting the other three put up. I waited for Hubby to give his "approval" before putting screw holes in the dry wall.

Speaking of which, in case you were wondering, I also ended up purchasing "stud solvers" or something like that. It is a screw anchor that gets screwed into the wall, and I bought the higher "weight bearing" kind. I put those into the wall, after measuring and the "eyeballing" the best placement for the lamp.

When I get all the lamps up, I'll get a picture that shows how they all look together. But I'll also have to do some house cleaning before that can happen!

Enjoy!

~Cedeham~

First Post

Life is the greatest teacher, and experience will continue banging you on the head until you learn your lesson. The good part about all this is each person can share experiences, and maybe that will lead to less head banging, which means less bumps and bruises for those who pay attention.

This blog will contain my experiences and a whole bunch of information. I am not responsible for action you take because of reading this; always use common sense and give credit where it is due.

A couple of notes:

Always give credit where it is due, and if you're not sure to whom exactly to give it, don't assume the credit. There are billions of people on the planet, so likely there's not a lot of support for "intellectual property rights," but I am very strong on this issue: I'll give credit to whom it is due, even if it's only as much as, "I read somewhere." I hope you'll do the same.

"Recycling" is not the same as "Reusing/Repurposing/Upcycling," as some are sure to point out the technicalities. "Recycling" means you take something to a center where they use energy of some sort to make the item into something else, typically on the cell-level (I read this somewhere, but don't recall where because I read A LOT!). The latter terms are when you use your own energy to creatively use an item, whether by "refilling a water bottle until it's gross" or changing the item to be something else, typically on a functional level. I do both, as I believe it's the responsible thing to do. I'm not a "tree-hugger" or environmentalist, but I am for "Being Responsible" in all areas of one's life. Besides, the whole "Reuse/Repurpose/Upcycle" thing is cost-efficient, and I'm all about that!

Growing up poor gives you quite a perspective on life, especially what constitutes "need" and "want." Over time, if one does not remain poor, those meanings and perspectives can change or be lost. While time is passing, and I am far from my very humble beginnings, I never want to lose the perspective that being in poverty gave me. One of Life's many lessons I hope to retain.

That's enough blabber for now. At some point, I hope to organize the various things that I've learned and post "ideas" (I have a million ideas, but usually fail to follow through on them, for one reason or another), because they shouldn't necessarily go undocumented.

Enjoy the reading! :)

~Cedeham
p.s.

"Cedeham" is an acronym from my primary occupation, which is Chief Executive Domestic Engineer of Household Affairs and Management. Yup, that's right, I'm a big boss... and maybe those not in the know will begin to appreciate the finer aspects to being "just a housewife/mother."