If you need decorating bang for your buck, start with lighting. Wiring a light can be a fun DIY project. If you come upon the right vintage fixture, you can have it refurbished, or possibly tackle the job yourself. This is how to wire a light, in this case a vintage hanging lamp in a foyer.
Find your replacement fixture. This thrift store find so it didn’t come with instructions or all the fittings we needed. Before taking it apart, hold it up to the ceiling to determine the length of the lamp cord and hanging chain that you need, if you are replacing them. You can see this had a very short chain to start.
Disassemble the fixture to re-wire it. Lay the pieces out on a flat surface in the order you take them off, so it will be easy to reassemble again. We could have spray painted it at this point, but we liked the finish on this one.
Thread the lamp cord down through the hanging chain and all the way through the stem of the fixture. For this type, use wire strippers (inexpensive and available at hardware stores) to slit the plastic about 2″ to separate the leads and gently strip the ends of the lamp cord. Strip both the top and the bottom ends now, and strip just about 1/4″ from both leads on either end.
Use wire nuts (you can probably use the ones that came with the original fixture) to connect the ends of the lamp cord to the electrical wires connected to the light bulbs.
Reassemble the fixture. Remember, you shouldn’t end up with spare parts on this step.
Turn off the power and remove your existing light fixture. Grab your honey or a friend for this next step. While one person holds the fixture, the other person connects the one wire from the fixture to one wire from the electrical box. Tighten these again with wire nuts. Do the same thing to the remaining two wires. Then screw the fixture in to the coupler and adjust so the fixture collar sits flush against the ceiling. It’s time to put the light bulbs in, turn the breaker back on, and enjoy your thriftiness.
There you go. A $10 garage sale or thrift store find can replace a broken fixture without breaking the bank. No electrician required, but please be careful on ladders.
photo credits © HeartWork Organizing
0 comments:
Post a Comment