Chandelier for the Living Room

Hey!! I'm back from NYC after a whirlwind trip at BHG .. more details later, but I participated in a DIY challenge (voting next week!) and the stylemaker event. It was SO great to meet many of you in person!!

Today, I'm sharing an update on our living room! Our new chandelier ..

It has gold dipped, exposed bulbs similar to a sputnik light. Inspired by the Modo chandelier, by Jason Miller for Roll and Hill, at DWR, we made our own with basic lamp parts, found on this site. 

The process was fairly simple (if you're familiar with lamp construction ..) with a few semi tricky details. Since we currently have a few projects going on - I didn't get pics of every step, but here's an overview.

- We were originally thinking of using all brass, but it was way too much money .. so we opted to spray paint. Plus, I loved the idea of black against the white ceiling with gold accents on the bulbs.

- For the lamp clusters (brass in center of photo above) we purchased ones with pre drilled top and bottom holes. For our desired placement, we measured and drilled the side holes, and used a tap and die set so that they would have a threaded opening.

We borrowed some wire from David's Dad (an Electrician) and David wired the light. Having thin wire that can easily push through all of the rods is crucial!

We taped off the wire and sockets (cutting circles out of painters tape) and gave it a few light coats of gray primer and then black satin paint.

We found a smaller vase cap in our lamp parts hoard - it fits perfectly! Also, due to our ceiling, we can't run wiring .. so we will have to hide the wiring around the beams and run it to the wall. We didn't have time to find the perfect solution, so it's currently not connected (we did test the wiring prior to painting though, it lights up!).

I love the contrast with the ceiling!

Total cost was about $50 for the parts and $50 for the bulbs ..

Thanks to those who voted on instagram for our faux mantel color! As you can see, black won! My first instinct was white (obviously .. since I paint so many things white) but with the white walls/ceiling and light furniture .. I thought black would add some needed contrast (plus I like how it picks up the black accents in the room). For now, we're leaving the brick as is (I'd love to paint it, but David is anti .. so since it's irreversible, it will stay as it for now) I'm thinking lighter accents above will help offset the black against the brick.

I'll be back soon to give a few more updates about my week and our living room!!