how i made industrial lights for the bar

When I started designing the basement man cave area, now called “Still  N° 22”  I was looking for some sort of cool looking industrial lighting for above the bar.  I’m just like you, when I need inspiration, the first place I go for ideas is Pinterest!  I found I that kept pinning similar designs, similar to this!

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Most of these come with a hefty price tag, it does not matter if they are reproductions or the real deal.  Those of you that know me, know that I would rather think of a way to make something then to pay a bunch of money for it!  My creative juices came alive!  How can I make my own industrial lights?  There has to be a way!  And there is!  

Make your own:

I started by buying these clamp lights.  They are super inexpensive and you can get them here for like $10.  (Much better than the other price tags I was finding)  First I removed the clamp, it’s connected with a bracket held by a nut and bolt, again – simple to remove.  Mike saved it – he thinks he has a good idea for it later…….(I would have tossed it)!

I hung them by the cord (that was handy) and spray painted the outside of the clamp light black (you could use any color).   Initially I taped off the base (ours were white – but I ended up painting them black too – I don’t know what I was thinking).  I also painted the canopy kit we needed to make them into hanging ceiling lights.  You can buy them here.  

Next comes the electrical hook up.  ***NOTE***  If you are not experienced with this process – hire a professional!!  Lucky for me, Mike knows how to do this part.  Before we go on, I do have a funny story to share with you about Mike and electrical work!  Years ago he was about to hang a light fixture for my mom.  He was up on the ladder (maybe it was a chair – we’re all about safety) hands above his head, about to connect the wires.  Do you have the vision in your head?  Mom kept asking him, “are you sure we don’t need to shut off the electricity?!!!”  Mike’s response, “no, as long as the switch is off I’m fine.”  Back to the scene – Mike on chair, hands above head, , wires in each hand……….just as he connects the wires we all hear a buzzing noise coming from Mike.   With a look of panic and fear on Mike’s face………he quickly realizes his cell phone is on vibrate and he has an call coming in!  I wish I had a picture of the look on his face, it was priceless!!! 

Back to our new industrial bar lights – no shocking phone calls this time, but I always remind him of it!   Mike and I determined the how low the industrial bar lights would be hung and cut the cord to the length.  Let me tell you – this-was-not-an-easy-decision!  As with most of our projects it involved a little loud discussion!  Mike didn’t want them hung so low that if he were sitting on a bar stool behind the bar they would be in the way of his TV view.  Seriously, how often will this happen?  Most of his TV viewing will be done from his MAN CHAIR! And besides, if we hung then where Mike wanted them hung we could have installed can lights!  (I won this discussion).

I like how these turned out so much, I may even make some for the kitchen island!