$15 Thrift Store Chandelier To Upscale Custom Fixture

I saw this light at my local thrift store two weeks in a row. I've been wanting to replace my standard builder grade dining light since we moved in two years ago but what I really wanted was $600 online. I do not pay full price for anything! I saw this the first week at Deseret Industries for $15 and I looked at it but moved on. When I got home I stewed over it some more. I went back the next week and it was still there for $15. Not bad at all for a light so not a big loss if I couldn't end up doing anything with it.

The shade was dented and very dirty so it needed to be replaced. I took off the adhesive corners and pulled the shade off. I had in my mind to initially wrap it with some thin jute rope. I bought some 1/8" jute rope at Hobby Lobby and bought all 10 rolls they had. Each roll was 9' and I thought plenty to do what I had in mind.

It wasn't enough...I ended up ordering 700ft of rope from Amazon

I first started wrapping the frame to cover the white wire and glue from the shade. I did not use any glue, just simply tied a knot in the corner and wrapped until I ran out or got to the end and tied another knot.

Next, I started to wrap the whole frame top to bottom in a 4 loop pattern. Four full loops up and down and then four wraps on the bottom only to give me some spacing and repeated four full loops up and down and wrap four wraps on the bottom only, all the way around the shade.

Here is the front view of the wrapping - notice the even spacing all the way by doing the short wraps on the bottom.

Top view of the pattern.

Last step was the basket weaving. I originally only planned to wrap it around until my oldest came home from scout camp and had the brilliant idea to basket weave it. He showed me some of his work and I was inspired. That is what I did - I did the standard over and under starting at the top weaving and pulling the rope through all the way across and around the shade.

My $15 chandelier looks like something you would buy at Anthropology or Serena and Lily or Pottery Barn! 700 ft of 1/4" natural jute rope and a lot of time wrapping, unwrapping, wrapping, unwrapping again and wrapping again to weaving, unweaving, weaving, unweaving, and finally weaving it until it was finished! The whole process took me about 6 hours to figure it out with the size and length of rope I needed and how I wanted it weaved. Next time, if there is a next time, it won't take so long.

This sat in my office for almost a year before I could actually find someone to hang it. I almost sold it until my father in law came to visit and said he could put it up for me. It was a bugger to hang because I have 10' ceilings and this is pretty heavy with all that rope.

What do you think? Does it look like something out of a Pottery Barn magazine?

Thank you for checking out my project! Keep on creating!