Vintage Wicker Chandelier Tutorial

I shared with you earlier this week our screened porch as part of Takin’ It Outside Week.

Today, I thought I would share with you how I put together the chandelier.

First, I was lucky to find this enormous wicker shade at a vintage shop locally. However, I think a wicker basket or bowl could be used as well. For that matter, as you have seen on Pinterest, almost anything could be turned into a chandelier with this method.

I went to the local hardware store and picked up a phenolic keyless socket.

This is what it looks like – you simply unscrew the top.

And this is what you find inside. The screws are where you attach the wires.

I bought this lamp cord set at Home Depot – the key element being it had a plug and already stripped ends.

String the wire through the shade before attaching the light bulb electronics.

There are two exposed wires – unscrew the screws, wrap each wire around them and then screw it back down. This is relatively easy because you don’t have to do a “color wire matchup” and figure where to put which wire where. Two screws, two wires - it just works out. It is a little frustrating to get the wire wrapped all the way around. Of course, follow all the directions on the packaging – I am not an electronics expert by any means!

Once the wires are attached, re-attach the top sleeve and test your light bulb to make sure everything works correctly before going any further.

At this point, I threaded in the rope piece as well and tied a knot to keep it from sliding through. I worked things so that, as much as possible, the weight was on the rope.

Then I began wrapping, wrapping, wrapping and wrapping the rope around the wire. I did not use glue, I just kept holding it tight.

I used a screw hook into the beam and hung the rope and began experimenting with height.

Once I was happy with the height, I pulled the wire up to top of the beam where I had another screw hook to hold it in place. I attached the plug to an extension cord which I ran across the top of the beam. There is a plug in the ceiling at the other end of the beam since I did plan to install a chandelier at some point.

There are probably a limited number of times where hiding the cord on top of beam would be an option.

In other situations, I would still attach the cord to the extension cord and keep wrapping the rope all the way around. I would use a decorative knot where the plugs meet and maybe adding a few others so it was in a pattern. You also may be able to get the wire kit in a longer length to accommodate your space.

It could still be attached to the ceiling with an eye hook and then swooped over to the wall, attached to another eye hook and run down a wall to a plug.

So that is how I put together and it is now one of my favorite things in the space.

What about you – have you ever wired your own chandelier?

Oh, and last chance if you would like to send me a link or photos to your favorite outdoor space in the comments or in an email at laura@findinghomeonline.com. I will be featuring some projects on next week.

I am sharing at

Thanks so much!