A Shining Light: DIY

A Shining Light: DIY is a tale about Country Fox’s journey to evolve their house. With the Wall Art Project complete, Country Fox began to focus on the main light fixture. While it was a nice fan, it just didn’t fit the room.

BEFORE

Back in 2009, this room was the living room. The room was fully carpeted and at this time a lighted ceiling fan made sense. But as time moves on and construction has continued, the living room moved. The carpet was removed, and hard wood put in its place. It became the dining room. Earlier this year we added some lovely antique stained-glass windows.

The light fixture has been waiting. We have spent years looking for just the right light. We have searched in person and on the internet. While several lights would have worked, they just weren’t perfect. So, we waited.

In the summer of 2020, we replaced the lights over our kitchen island. Once that lighting DIY was done, we started to see all the possibilities for the dining room. We went through our inventory of assorted goods and saw what was available.

We had a wooden form that we purchased from an excursion to Nomadic Trading Company. It was filthy. And desperately needed cleaned.

Some soapy water, a little Goo-Gone and some elbow grease helped the wooden form shine. Another item that needed some TLC was the wooden beam. Jason and Bruce measured, cut, stained and drilled holes for the lights.

We brought out the pulley we purchased for this project. Bruce found some more rope and an insulator in his shed. We were ready to begin.

DURING

First, down came the ceiling fan. Now for the moment of truth. We were unsure of what the ceiling structure was going to look like. The new lighting structure was going to be heavy, and it was possibly going to need some reinforcement.

Once the fan base was off, it was clear that no reinforcement would be needed. If it had been required, Jason would have to climb into the attic space to place the reinforcements. This would have been difficult and time consuming.

Once it was clear that no reinforcements were needed, the project came together very quickly. Jason drilled a hole through the wooden form. The wooden form was attached to the ceiling.

The next step was super easy. The metal link and pulley were attached.

Now for the tricky part: using the rope to attach the beam. We measured the rope and cut it to length. We attached the rope to one end. While I held the beam, Jason fed the rope over the pulley and attached the rope to the other side. After a few tries, we balanced and secured the light.

A Shining Light: DIY Now on Display

It may have taken years to accomplish, but it was definitely worth the wait. Our new dining room light is the perfect addition to our dining room.