DIY Farmhouse Style Light Fixture

Have you ever been shopping online and found something so adorable that you just absolutely fell in love with it? But then you look at the price and go, woah, ya that ain’t happen? You try to forget you ever saw it but it’s just too beautiful to forget! At this point, I usually start entertaining the idea of sneaking it onto my credit card and hoping my husband won’t notice. In the end, you can usually find me trying to figure out a way to replicate all my expensive finds because I’m too stubborn to accept defeat. Well, this happened to me again recently. Feast your eyes upon this beautiful light fixture!

I saw this darling light fixture on Wayfair.com and instantly fell in love with it. Price Tag $100.00, ya I wish. I was super bummed because it matched the style of my bathroom perfectly. While I sat there looking at the picture and imagining it hanging beautifully in my bathroom. I felt like there was something so familiar about it, I had seen something like it before if I could just put my finger on it.

Then it hit me! it looked like a brooder light like the ones for baby chicks. After my AHA moment, I knew that I could definitely find a way to make this light. I ran down to the hardware store and grabbed a brooder light for $11.00 and one of those cheap globe lights for like $7.00. Score! Project total so far $18.00 things were looking up.

I ended up making two of these lovely light fixtures. One for our upstairs bathroom and one for our half-bath downstairs. On my first attempt at making this light, I tried to figure out a way to add a glass globe like the one I saw on Wayfair but it just wasn’t working. So I ditched that idea and just kept it simple for the second light and I actually like it better without it.

 

 

Supply List

• Brooder Light
• Glass Globe Light
• (3) Washers
• JB Weld
• Sandpaper 150 grit
• Drill
• Drill bit 13/64
• Rust-Oleum Spray paint Black OR  Multi- color Brown & Espresso
• Cinnamon
• (3) 8-32 x 1 1/4″Machine screws
• (3) 8-32 Hex Nuts

1)I Started by disassembling the brooder light. It came apart pretty fast, I unscrewed the porcelain light socket first and pulled them apart. Then there were two little screws for the electrical wires that needed to be removed and that was it.

2)I opened up the Globe light and pulled out the metal light base. This is the only part of the light you will need. After removing the insulation I stuffed some paper towel into the light socket so I wouldn’t get any spray paint inside.

3)I loved the cute round screws that were on the light on Wayfair. So I bought a couple small washers to fit the screws that came with the light. I applied JB weld around the base of the screw and then centered the washer onto the screw before letting it dry.

4)I didn’t really like where the existing holes were on the light base. So I filled them in with JB weld and drilled some new holes. After the JB weld was dry I sanded until it was flush with the surface.

5)To help the paint stick I used 150 grit sandpaper to roughen the surfaces of all the pieces. Peanut butter M&M’s are also crucial for the success of this project! Do you love those as much as I do? 

6)Time for some paint. I used Rust-Oleum textured black paint for my upstairs bathroom. For the half-bath, I decided to go the old rusty metal route. I used a couple different colors of spray paint to get this effect.

7)I started by spraying a coat of satin Rust-Oleum paint in the color espresso. This color on its own is not a very cute color, however, the purpose of doing this is to add color variation to help with the metal effect.

8)Here is where the magic happens! When the first coat was dry I held a can of Rust-Oleum brown textured spray paint about 14″ away and lightly dusted all the pieces. I love this paint it looks so much like metal its crazy! I have used it for a couple different projects and it still amazes me because it is an outdoor paint it also holds up really well for cleaning. 

9)While the paint was still wet I sprinkled a little cinnamon over all the pieces to add the rusty effect. After that, I went back over it with the textured paint really lightly again to blend in the cinnamon and to adhere it to the fixture preventing it from wiping off as easily. I used JB weld to glue the thumb screws into the new holes on the light base.

10) To attach the light base and brooder lamp shade together I held them snug and drilled two holes.

11) I used two 8-32 x 1 1/4″ machine screws and two 8-32 hex nuts to secure the light base to the brooder lamp. 12)To install the light we needed to be able to reach the installation screws with a screwdriver. To make sure the holes were in the right place I used a small bit to drill a hole from the backside of the light fixture. These holes need to line up with the skinny part of the keyhole because that is where the screws will be in the end. Then I flipped it over and made the holes big enough to fit my screwdriver through.

13)In order for the wires to connect properly, the braided wire needs to be a 1/8″  longer than the solid wire. This photo from The Family Handyman provides a good illustration.

14)The easiest way my Hubby found to install this light fixture was to screw the screws into the electrical box part of the way and then slide the light fixture onto the screws. Then he turned the light fixture until he could see the screws through the new holes we just drilled.

15)The only thing left to do was to tighten the screws.

Well, there you have it a simple farmhouse style light for a fraction of the cost. Who would have ever thought that a brooder light would make such a cute light fixture? Not bad for using things you can find at a local hardware store or even around your own house.

I think the rusty one is my favorite. Which one is your favorite?

SHARE IT!

I would love to see your lovely light fixture. Share it on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @cedarlanefarmhouse