Restoration Hardware Inspired Industrial Pendant Light...Uncaged

Some call it cheap, but frugal sounds so much more complimentary. I am quite stubborn when it comes to parting with my money. I also like the challenge of finding something that I really like and then figuring out how to do it myself. Sometimes it causes more undue stress in my life than necessary, but most times it is well worth the effort. When I needed to find something to replace the bare bulb ceiling light in my son's office/closet, I wanted something that was a little vintage-esque.

I was inspired by Restoration Hardware's Cage Filament Pendant light in aged steel for $129

Restoration Hardware Cage Filament Pendant

Cage lights were
commonly used in the 1930's in workshops. Most of the supplies were found at 1000bulbs.com. I provided links below.

This is what you'll need:

1. Metal Lamp Guard
2. Socket 
3. Edison Bulb (Lowes and Home Depot also sell these now)
4. Antique twisted wire
5. Ceiling canopy if you are going to have it hardwired but you could make this a plug-in lamp with this antique style plug-in.
6. Oil rubbed bronzed hammered spray paint in brown 
7. Wire strippers and electrical tape

Supplies should end up being around $35-40, depending on shipping cost. I ended up spending a little more because I bent the nickle socket and had to buy a porcelain keyless socket adaptor at Home Depot. I ended up liking the porcelain socket better because it has a metal ring on the top. I was able to loop the wire around the ring, therefore the wiring is less likely to come apart.

I don't claim to be an expert electrician so I won't go into the nitty gritty details on wiring and installation. But I can give you these links on how to put it together and how to install it. 

The wire cage from comes in black, but it looks a lot more like the inspiration photo once it is primed and spray painted. I chose Rust-oleum's Hammered Metal spray paint in dark bronze.

 

I also lightly brushed on a metallic craft paint to give it some more dimension. Once it is all put together, the cage simply tightens onto the socket with a couple of screws and washers.

So much better than a standard bare bulb ceiling light!

  There are also several Etsy shops that sell these lights, if you don't want to make it yourself.

 You may also like:

Curtain rods made from plumbing parts

I linked this up to:

 Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Night Special 

Common Ground: Vintage Inspiration Giveaway