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DIY Cage Pendant Light

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Back in December, I was in Colorado visiting family and found the most amazing shop called Urban Home +Design by Old Glory Antiques in Centennial. My Mom frequents this shop and I couldn't wait to spend some quality time there.  While we were there we found these fabulous old metal baskets that I immediately thought would make some stunning cage pendant lights for my kitchen.  The other day I showed a sneak peak of the final project and promised I would have the tutorial up later this week. Today, I have the tutorial on how to make your very own DIY cage pendant light…

Now when you begin this process you can go several different routes when it comes to creating your own light fixture.  You can by lamp kits at your local hardware store for one. Buy all of the components and build your own.  I found in my research that I was having a hard time finding the components for the type of pendant light that I was looking for.  In my search I made my way to West Elm and found that they have a pendant cord that was the exact look I was going for and decided to go that route.  Is it the cheapest route? No, but for my vision for the project it was the best choice.

Here is what you will need…

To begin you need to drill a hole into the bottom of your basket.  For this project my SWEET brother-in-law came over and helped.  He is BRILLIANT when it comes to anything around the home.  He used the step drill to drill the hole in the metal at the bottom of the basket…

The step drill in a fabulous tool to help you slowly and carefully create the proper size whole that you will need.  We also drilled it in a box to minimize metal shavings flying all over the garage.

 

It was amazing how slick the step drill was.  As you can see the edges were pretty rough so he filed down the edges with a round metal file…

Place the clamp connector into the hole and secure…

 

Cut the plug off the pendant light and feed the cable through the clamp.  Secure the clamp and voila… you have yourself your very own cage pendant light.

Now I don't plan on posting about how to hardwire this to your electrical system, because quite frankly I am not an electrician.  I would recommend that you have someone who knows what they are doing hard wire your lights into your system.  I will post some suggestions on how to place your light or lights soon.  I made a set of three lights in order to create a fun pendant cluster to put over my kitchen table.

Aren't they fun?  Thank you so much to my brother-in-law for all the help.  You're amazing!!

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  6. Carol says

    I believe you can make a swag lamp out of it as well instead of having to do all the electrical work. I’ve been looking into doing this (I can’t put it in the ceiling since I live in an apartment) and from what I have learned you buy the lighting kit and chain (you can also cover the chain in fabric) and a screw in hook. Then assemble per instructions of the light kit, fit the light with chain to where you want it to hang and plug it in. I haven’t found the “shade” I liked yet, but I love the metal basket!

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  9. Abbie (Five days...5 ways) says

    These are absolutely fantastic, Heather! SUCH a cool idea and props to your bro-in-law for helping out! : )

    I would be thrilled if you would link this up at my Feature Friday Free-for-All, which will get going a little later on this evening!

    Would love to have you by for a visit!

    ~Abbie (www.fivedaysfiveways.com)

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  12. Sierra says

    Oh my gosh that light is gorgeous!! Great job! I just tried submitting the note below on your Contact section but the CAPTCHA code is faulty – I put in the code correctly multiple times and it did not work. Thought I would let you know. Thanks. Anyway, here’s my note below. Hope you don’t mind that I’m pasting it in the comment section! 🙂

    My name is Sierra and I’m a reader of your blog and I just love your creativity! I was wondering if you ever allow guest posts or do guest swaps?

    If you do I would love to guest post and if this is a possibility please let me know. My blog is http://www.oceandreams4sierra.com if you want to get an idea of my writing style visit my guest posts under my Featured section. Thanks so much and enjoy your weekend!

    ~Sierra

    Reply

  14. marion dawn fusselman says

    what a coincidence…i was decorating a home in mexico and i purchased plastic cages for the same purpose of lighting over the kitchen sink. your idea is something i’ll do in my next project down south…dawn

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  16. Jim says

    Grand Brass has the mcgill cages, sockets, antique style bulbs, and twisted wire. I purchased all the items needed and saved hundreds of dollars. I had some questions before ordering and the knowledgeable staff was able to help me. I would highly recommend. https://www.grandbrass.com

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  17. Jodi Goodman says

    This is the cutest thing! I am redoing my kitchen and looking for a vintage/industrial feel with plenty of light source. You are very clever and thanks for sharing!

    Reply

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