I’m on a post project high. I just dusted off a seriously old “to do” list and drew a big fat line through “hang light over stairs.” Actually, the idea for this project predates us even having stairs since I bought the supplies and went so far as to make a prototype before we bought this house almost three years ago. And now that I think about it, this spot for a light didn’t exist when we bought the house. The ceiling was sloped and lower before we added a closet to the master bedroom. But that’s another story. Today’s tale is about finally making and hanging this light I dreamed up back in the Bush administration. (That’s how you know it’s been a while–totally different president!)
Why yes, it is exactly what it looks like: a whole bunch of Christmas ornaments tied to a hanging light fixture with embroidery floss. You’ve seen such things before, I’m sure. There were lots of bubble chandeliers in blogs and magazines back when I planned mine (e.g., this). My project timelines often mean that I’m several years behind on trends. I’m thinking I’ll let my plan for a tone-on-tone chevron wall ripen to spoilage before I get it done.
But back to the light. Please forgive my lack of process pictures and just visualize it going something like this: (1) Divine a contraption using a laundry drying rack and the shade of another lamp, allowing me to sit down and string ornaments at eye level. (2) Tie first ornament to a ring on that shade contraption. (3) Tie second ornament to that ring on the shade contraption… (87) Tie last ornament on. (88) Slip light fixture up through the ring, leaving the lightbulb in the middle of the ornament bunch. (89) Cinch strings together just below the ring and double cable tie them to the hanging light cord. (90) Cut strings off the ring, freeing the completed light. (91 – optional) Allow toddler to thoroughly tangle completed light. (92) Install and untangle.
Of course the final step ended up taking as much if not more time than actually stringing the globes on. Installation required one of those huge convertible ladders that can be set on stairs. And it required some of my dad’s time, which he continues to give very very generously, as well as some patience and independence from the toddler set (which is a little more hit or miss).
This is the lopsided tangled mess upon initial installation, before I spent forever untangling it (which was an oddly pleasant task).
And here it is, all untangled (though I finally gave up before I could achieve the overall shape I wanted).
And from below.
I’m pretty happy with how it turned out and I’m very happy with where it ended up. This three sided niche over our stairs is perfect; it just begs for a statement light. Perhaps one that states “I’m a super cool light, but a bit too much for the main living space, especially since my opalescent sheen causes me to cast a slightly pinkish glow.” Sadly true. But the light also throws off some interesting shadows that the close niche walls are tailor made for showcasing. And while the light fixture itself is not visible from our living room, a bit of the shadow action is; just enough of a teaser to compell guests to “need to use the restroom” upstairs.
I think the total cost of this project was around $50, split roughly in thirds between ornaments (super clearance at Michael’s), light fixture, and lightbulb. Yes, bulb. We decided to spring for a $16 LED bulb because (1) it will apparently outlive us, so we won’t need to worry about changing the bulb in this tough-to-reach light; and (2) it doesn’t get hot. At all. Completely comfortable to wrap your hand around it after it’s been on for an hour. I know, I did just that since we wanted to know exactly how not hot it was before deciding if I needed to make a barrier between the bulb and the glass (plastic/acrylic?) globes. Nope, we decided to let them all nestle up together, but no string touches the bulb or the part of light fixture where the bulb screws in.
So there you have it; done and done. Moving on to other trends of yore. Maybe I’ll stencil a morrocan/trellis pattern on something using chalkboard paint. Or is that still too current?