So about a year ago I had this crazy idea to replace the sad, broken lamp in my living room with something a little more my style. Something a little more boho, a little more funky, a little more me. I looked and looked and looked online and while I found some ridiculously awesome ones on Etsy and amazon, they were either WAAAAY more than I wanted to spend or they just weren’t quite right.
I sent out a call on my Facebook to have my friends and family keep their eyes peeled at flea markets and thrift stores in case someone else found my perfect light. But nothing came up. I just couldn’t find exactly what I wanted. Then I remembered that I make stuff. I mean, what was stopping me from making my perfect light.
So I explained what I wanted to my husband, who looked at me like I had lost my mind, but agreed to help me find all the pieces. So we headed to our local Goodwill. Wouldn’t you know it, first trip out we found (and by we, I mean he) what appeared to be the perfect basket. It was about 2 1/2 feet tall and 12″ across and the perfect dark, grayish, brownish wood tones. So for only $5.99 the basket came home with me.
Then it was time to find the guts. You know the part that actually produces the light. If I didn’t live in the middles of nowhere I would have gone to my local Ikea and picked up a cord kit, but that just wasn’t an option. So off to Home Depot I went.
This is where my mind got a little blown. See I was under the impression that I needed to find a pre-made cord with lightbulb holder thing on the end and plugs on the other side and a switch of some sort in the middle. While they do sell these (and this is the lamp kit I bought) I learned that you can make your own from all those pieces so you can get a cord the exact length you need, with a switch exactly where you want it, in whatever color you want it to be in!! Mind blown! I also bought a harp for it, because otherwise how would I have kept my basket attached to my light!!?!?
Anyway, I took a regular serrated kitchen knife (because I’m lazy and the kitchen is closer than the shop) and used it to gently saw the bottom off of my basket. I paid close attention to how the basket was constructed along the bottom edge so that as I sawed away I wasn’t compromising the integrity of the basket itself.
Once the bottom was cut off and the mess (oh the mess!!) was cleaned up I set about putting it all together. I started by wedging the harp up in my basket and using a tiny bit of hot glue to hold it in place.
Then I fished the cord through the top of the harp, connected the wires to the bulb socket and bingo, bango I had a light! Now I was prepared for my idea to fail, because let’s be real, not every idea is a brilliant one. But this one, it was the best one I’ve had in a really, really long time. In fact this has become my husbands favorite piece in our ENTIRE house. And that’s saying something.
