Hey there! Often I feel that when a space is designed the importance of the light fixture may be overlooked. Each fixture in our home was the basic builders grade, in other words BORING! This was no exception in this cool industrial teen bedroom. I mean, I guess if you wanna be nitpicky about it, the existing light did serve its purpose, it did provide the space with ample lighting, it was just an eyesore. But in my home, looks are pretty much as important to me as functionality, (insert my Hubby rolling his eyes at me!) so this room was screaming for a new light! See for yourselves. 

This light fixture was pretty simple to make and cost roughly $40! It all began with an old electrical spool laying around in my garage. I thought it would make a unique ceiling medallion for a new light fixture. I just needed to find the perfect element of stainless steel to incorporate into this design to go with the rest of the room. After wandering through many of the local thrift stores for inspiration, I came across this utensil caddie from IKEA at Goodwill for only $1.99! That was it! Goodwill only had 1, so I made the trip down to IKEA to purchase 4 more.

Our trip to IKEA was successful. Not only did I get the additional utensil holders I needed, but I also picked up the actual electrical fixtures there as well! They are packaged for about $7 a piece, but my Mom found 4 in the As-Is section as we were about to check out. So, I did end up purchasing one at full price and the others ranged from $1-$3 a piece.

A drill press was used to drill holes in the bottom of the utensil holders large enough to allow the new fixture to screw into place.

Then we inserted the electrical fixture through the hole in the utensil holder and tighten the ring to hold in place.

Then we marked where we wanted the 5 fixtures to hang from the electrical spool piece.

Once all 5 positions were marked we chose a drill bit that was a little larger than the electrical cord and drilled each hole.

Once the holes had all been drilled, we set the spool piece on top of a small table making sure that the side of the spool that would be facing the ceiling was face down. With the right side of the spool up (or the side that would be showing once the fixture was hanging) we could string each light fixture through the holes. 

Then we were able to tie knots on each cord (on the top side of the spool, the side that would face the ceiling) to secure them to the spool piece. We hung them at random lengths so it wouldn’t be too symmetrical.  

We used a stud finder to locate the nearest ceiling rafter to the light box. You can see where the existing light was hanging. We shifted the new light to the left a little bit so it would be centered over the bed, instead of being centered directly in the middle of the room. Two cleats were then attached to the ceiling with drywall screws.

Then the light was positioned into place, and secured to the cleats with 3 screws into each cleat. Then all the wiring was connected and the wires were tucked on top of the spool out of sight.

Look how cool this fixture looks when my teen gets to lay down on his bed.

This fixture is the perfect touch to this industrial teen bedroom. I love how it compliments the built in desk and shelving unit. To see the full tutorial from our original post with more detailed instructions click here. You can also a tour of this cool industrial teen bedroom here.