Guest Post - Pinterest Inspired Bathroom Lighting

Today's guest post comes from Bethany in North Carolina. Her husband is my cousin!  He does amazing wood work which you'll see in the form of a bathroom vanity in this post and they are always doing awesome DIY projects.  If you'd like more information about him or products visit http://thewoodstudio.us/.  Now on to the post!

Guest post by Bethany:

We are in the middle of a huge bathroom remodel, and I have been debating every, single detail over the past couple months.  I’ve had this DIY light tutorial on my Pinterest board for a while, and after purchasing some standard pendant lights, I decided to dive in and make these to go in the new bathroom/vanity area.

Now, I am REALLY not electrically skilled, but using the tutorial I got through this with almost no help from my (very talented) husband.  Using the hand pipe cutter was a workout for all the cuts, but it is easy and safe, compared to me using power tools.  Really all there was to it was cutting the copper and putting it together, stringing the light cord through, and drilling the wood to attach the copper with the tube straps.  I did stain the wood before putting it together, but that is totally optional (and easy when there is a wood shop in your backyard J).

My husband hard-wired these lights for us, but the light kit came equipped to just plug in and turn on/off with the switch in-line on the cord.

Originally found at Camille Styles

Cost:  Before I decided to make the lights myself, the simple pendant lights I had bought were $20 for the cord kit, and $12 for the shade.  I thought I had a SCREAMING deal there at $32 per light.  Though they were pretty boring looking…

The cost for my copper pendant goes as follows:

Cord set (you can buy these to hang pendant lights, got mine at World Market) - $12.99 each

1/2” copper pipe (5 ft piece made 2 lights) - $7.75

½” copper elbows (2 per light at 75cents each) - $3.00

½” copper tube straps (2 per light, bought a 5 pack) - $2.30

Some things we had on hand:

Wood screws

4” x 12” piece of wood (cut to two pieces)

Light bulbs

Pipe cutter (you can buy these for about $7)

So all in all, we spent just under $40 on both lights and they are WAY more custom and interesting than the $64 in pendants I returned.  Fair enough, my husband having a wood shop made the project easier, but still an easy DIY project.

I LOVE the custom, rustic look of these lights, and I feel pretty good about making them myself.  The ability to swing the light side to side and raise and lower the cord length is a great feature.  Without a doubt, this project gets a PIN! I was intimidated when I read the instructions, but it is a totally doable DIY project.

I hope you enjoyed this guest post by Bethany.  If you or anyone you know has some Pinterest projects they'd like to share please email me at jcalero1015@yahoo.com.

Up next....a wedding shower with Pinterest inspired elements!