You Light Up My Life!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful Momma! She lights up my life! She will probably argue with me but I know it's true – I get my craftiness and love of creating from her. I also get my perfectionism from her, which can sometimes be a great thing!

What else? Hmmmm.... My thick, curly hair; the reason song lyrics are a part of my regular thought patterns; my desire to please; and appreciation of all things old. In fact, a lot of why Liz Hill & Co. is successful is because to her!

So, here's to you, Momma! Happy Birthday! I hope this "New Year" brings you loads of joy, health & happiness! I love you!

{{{BIG HUGS}}}

You light up my life! You give me hope to carry on! You light up my days and fill my *heart* with song! ~LeAnne Rimes (with a small change to the lyrics)

Today we really are talking about lighting!

Lighting is one of the most important elements of home design. And no matter what your design style, today's post is designed to help you customize the lighting in your space. It may take a little effort, but I promise – it's worth it!

Many homes today have recessed lighting (sometimes called can lights) that use regular standard-base bulbs but sit above the ceiling line. They are great for flooding a specific area with light and fit nearly every design style since they are fairly generic.

But their generic nature is exactly why I wanted to change mine out! I really wanted a pendant light over my kitchen sink so I did a little research and today I'm going to share with you how to turn that generic can light into a statement piece that complements your home.

In your local home improvement store's lighting department, look for a can light conversion kit. The conversion kit creates a dropped pendant light out of a recessed feature. It comes with a base similar to a light bulb that goes directly into the ceiling fixture. This connects to the wiring that is dropped down to the new light bulb base that can be raised or lowered to meet your needs. You'll have your choice of nickel, oil-rubbed bronze or white (I believe). The best part is that the switch that controlled your can light still works with the new pendant light and there's no wiring or electrical work involved!

The kit brands I've seen have a variety of coordinating globes that fit on them. But to make this a little more DIY and a little more personal, I want to show you our idea for customizing the new light.

We like the idea of using old potato chip or saltine cans for the shade/globe but you could also use an old egg basket or even a half bushel basket. What you use will determine whether to make it upside down or right side up. It will also determine whether you use a flood light (like the one that was already in ours) or change to an Edison bulb or low-energy bulb.

For a basket like this, we would turn it upside down and use a low-energy bulb to minimize heat.

To retrofit your "shade", you'll need to measure the opening of your drop-down light's opening and cut a hole that diameter in the center of your item. For our can, we cut the hole in the lid so the can could sit right side up and show off the beautiful graphics. We then cut the bottom out of the can and smoothed the edges.

Viola!

We hope you'll be brave and try this can light conversion! It adds so much character and interest to an otherwise boring fixture. And it still provides bright light!

What are you junkin' for this week?

Liz