Romantic DIY Cottage Style Bedroom Chandelier

Ok, so you know that old saying that one things leads to another?

Yeah.

Well it seems like there's a lot of that going on around here right now.

And most of it's happening in my bedroom.

As I try to infuse a little more romance into my traditional cottage style design.



To be honest, the madness started in my tiny ensuite bathroom about a year ago, when we installed a new vanity.

Which I promptly made over.

That's really when the design changes began percolating in my head.

Although, it wasn't until a few months ago, when I made a new ball fringe valance for the one and only window in the bathroom that things took off.

That single swap led to another vanity makeover, that triggered the need for new fabric on my old shuttered cabinets.


The installation of a cottage style door for the bathroom...one that's still in process.

And finally the addition of the new to me king size headboard I shared last week.

As if all this wasn't enough, on Mother's Day, my husband decided that we should replace the old glass shower doors with new ones.

Then, in the midst of this chaos and mini construction, on Saturday night, while sitting in my newly headboarded boudoir, I decided that the room was so charming, that the only thing that could make it even better...was a chandelier.

For years, we'd just had a Tiffany style, green and white, mosaic fixture that sat close to the ceiling. We're both tall and the ceiling in our 1920's charmer is not, so we settled for something practical.


And demure.

Truth be told, a few years ago when there was a collective cry to ditch the dome lamps, I wasn't moved. I really liked mine and it fit the house.

However, now that I had this new headboard and a new door (which I can't wait to share), I suddenly needed a bedroom chandelier. Except, I had to find one that would fit in our tight, low space and I didn't want to pay several hundred dollars for it.

Enter Mr. Wonderful. I merely mentioned my idea to him on Sunday morning and he said, let's go get one. So off we went and found this model.


A plain black, basic 5 light chandy. It was nothing to write home about, but it was the perfect size for the room, the perfect height for us and the perfect price, since it was clearance.

I wasn't thrilled. I mean, it wasn't exactly the vintage style, crystal chandelier of my dreams, but I decided to take it home, paint it white and settle for simple.

And that's the direction our plan was moving in, until my husband pulled an old chandelier he'd found at the curb years ago, out of the garage.


It was a gorgeous piece, but even with his fabulous engineering and electrical skills, it was way too far gone. He'd kept it for me, in case I wanted to use some of the crystals.

Staring at it though, he had a brainstorm and suggested that we take the flowers from the old fixture, clean them up, and add them to the new one.

Which led me to suggest that we then add the crystals back on the flowers...and so a new plan was born.


Now, before I share how we did it, I must tell you that this was not one of my normal, easy DIYs. I never would've have been able to complete this makeover on my own.

My husband could build his own house and, like I said, he has decades of electrical experience. So I get it that this is not going to be a project that everyone can or should accomplish without a pro.

Instead, my motivation in sharing the steps is hopefully to inspire you to look at a simple light fixture or chandelier around your own home, or one your find in a store or thrift shop, and perhaps transform it in your own creative way.

Add some beads, swap out a lampshade, change the color. The possibilities are endless once you put your thinking cap on.

And with that...here we go!

As I said, we started with some very humble beginnings.


A utilitarian piece that had almost nothing in common with the romantic cottage style model I'd had my eye on online.

And in order to make our way there, we needed to take this one completely apart. And I mean completely.

You see the goal was to replace that black cup with the flower petals from the other chandelier. So it had to be removed, along with the black cylinder that was too large for the flowers to fit over them.


That meant we needed to dismantle each arm and remove all the wires that powered them, so we could slip both the cup and the cylinder off and the petals on.


While Mr. Fix It worked on that job, I worked on cleaning up the flowers from the old chandelier.

The nicest thing I can say about them is that they were a disgusting mess.


It didn't take much to revive them though.

A little soap, water and elbow grease and they were as good as new. And quite fancy.


By the time I had dried them, Mr. Exquisitely Unremarkable was ready to put them on the new light. He just layered them, one on top of the other and then slid the black tube over the top.

Then he threaded the wires back up through the arms and swapped out the black chain with a white one.

He also replaced the main black power cord with a white lamp wire that we picked up for about four bucks.


And we were ready for paint.


We decided to go with a chalk spray paint, since all the other choices were way too stark.

The chalk paint had a softer hue and I knew that it would have a chippier look and let some of the black peek through for an aged appearance.


It also dried very quickly and it didn't have that awful spray paint smell that lingered for days.

Twenty four hours later, it was virtually gone.


That's when I got to have some fun with those crystals.

They were just as nasty as the flowers, sticky, cloudy and covered in grease, so the first order of business was to wash them.


Scrub them with soap and water and shine them with vinegar.

Once they were clean and dry, I was able to sort through them to find ones that weren't chipped and had metal ring hooks.

Teardrop Chandelier Crystals

Since they were originally on the flowers, I just popped them through the predrilled holes and we were ready to hang that sucker up.


Again, that was all my husband.

I didn't even enter the room, until it looked like this.


Quite a change, huh?

I was actually a little breathless at the sight of my new bedroom.

Completely swept off my feet.

By my dreamy new chandelier.


And the guy who made it for me.

And what could be more romantic than that?

🤍

What's hanging in your room?

Happy Decorating, Friends!