DIY Light Fixtures For The Kitchen

We are making changes to our kitchen slowly and as the budget allows. We are always working with a tight budget so I am constantly trying to come up with creative ways to get what we want without spending a ton of money to get it. I have to keep my motto going strong – You can have pretty spaces without breaking the bank. It just takes a little extra creativity and elbow grease to get you there. These DIY Light Fixtures are my favorite addition to the kitchen so far and today, I am going to show you how we made them work.

I love repurposed projects in the home. I think when you can take something that isn’t being used anymore and recreate it into something functional and pretty again, you can add so much character and charm to your home.

When I spotted these pieces at a yard sale for $1 each, I knew right away that they would be our DIY light fixtures in the kitchen.

We have a bar in our kitchen that has a faux beam above it. It is the perfect spot for a DIY light fixture. I thought it would be a great way to add some visual interest in our bland kitchen too. Since this post, we have painted our cabinets, added new countertops, changed out hardware, added a backsplash and so much more. See it all in the post HERE. 

{Affiliate links are used in this post. You can read my disclosure HERE.}

*Side note: Looking at these before pictures of the kitchen makes me so happy that we took the plunge and gave this space a makeover. 😉

This project had a lot of steps so this post is going to be a little longer. I used to have it split up into two posts, but after giving my site a makeover, decided to put it all in one post so people searching for it had it all in one place. 

Supplies Needed For These DIY Light Fixtures:

Amazing Galvanized Pieces For Fixtures (I don’t know what these are called, but you can find them in antique stores, yard sales and maybe online.)

Drill

Lamp Kit (Depending on what you are using for the fixture, will determine what you need for the kit. I linked many HERE.)

Electrical Wire (Hire a professional to do this part and tell you what you need.)

Plumbing Pipe and Flanges  (Again, sizes and fittings you need will depend on what your needs are.)

 

I took step-by-step photos of how we made these work.

The first thing we did was drill a bigger hole in the center of the top of the fixtures so we could fit the lamp parts in them. 

This is how we put the “fixture” part together.

Then, we put that fixture in the hole we drilled and secured it with a nut.

I wanted these fixtures to hang from the beam so we used the pipes and flanges to make that happen. 

I didn’t want the pipes to be silver so I spray painted them black.

To fit the pipes on the top of the light fixtures, we set the spray painted flange on top of the fixture and used a black permanent marker to mark the holes we needed to drill. The fixture was full of holes but of course they didn’t match up perfectly for the flange.

We attached the flange with bolts and nuts.

Now that we had DIY light fixtures, we needed to figure out how to attach them to the beam in the kitchen.  

I wanted the make the beam in our kitchen look more substantial and wood toned. So, we bought wood boards to cover the beam. Not only was this going to give me the wood look I wanted, but it also made it easier to hide the wiring for the DIY light fixtures.

We first stained the boards a dark color.

The wood was the easy part. Now, it was time for the electrical (hire a professional for this part). My dad is a professional so we had him help up with this. Since we have light switches by the bar, we were able to tie the wiring for the fixtures into those. Phew.

After a few holes added to the wall, we were ready to fish the wires through and start making this all come together.

Once we got the wires through, we nailed our stained boards to the sides of the beam.

Then, we secured the other flanges to the board that was going to be on the bottom.

After that, we attached all the wiring in the right places and fit the wires into the box we were creating around the beam. 

Now, it was time to screw the galvanized pieces back on and then add more nails to the bottom board to make it flush.

Viola! We have custom, DIY light fixtures in our kitchen!

And, they even work! 🙂 

This project alone made us decide to tackle the entire kitchen and give it a HUGE makeover. You can see the transformation HERE. 

Do you like adding repurposed items to your home? What is your favorite piece?

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If you liked this DIY Light Fixtures post, check out the other ways we updated the kitchen ON A BUDGET!

DIY Tile Backsplash For Rookies

Do It Yourself Kitchen Makeover

Corbels For The Kitchen Island