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  • Free Standard Delivery
  • Friendly, Knowledgeable Support Team
  • Order Before 1pm For Next Day Delivery*
  • Free express delivery on UK orders over £200

6 Steps to Creating Your Own Unique Lighting Masterpiece

You have a great eye for design and love to create, but it can be hard to know where to start when designing your own lighting… how does a ceiling rose work alongside a bulb holder or a light cage with fabric cable? Our create your own lighting masterclass is here to help.

This six-step guide will show you how to start piecing together your own original lighting combinations that will be the envy of anyone who sees them.

Anything you create using our products will be truly unique to you because we don’t sell on the high street and most products are manufactured exclusively for Dowsing & Reynolds. If you decide you’re not quite ready to start from scratch and make your own – we do have a create your own light section to guide you through the process.

Things you’ll need to choose and buy…

Step 1. Choose your ceiling rose

tarnished copper one point ceiling rose against white background
tarnished copper ceiling rose
smoked gold one point ceiling rose and smoked gold five point ceiling rose against white background
smoked gold ceiling rose
black one point ceiling rose and black five point ceiling rose against white background
black ceiling rose
Brewer's Brass ceiling rose close up
brewer’s brass ceiling rose

Ceiling roses are the part of the light fitting that attaches to the ceiling – choose something stylish from our range to replace the often standard white plastic ones you may have inherited – this small detail will make all the difference to your finished light. If you want to make a statement here, choose a ceiling rose in a contrasting material and colour to your ceiling, if you want the focus to be solely on the light itself, choose one of a similar shade to blend in.

Step 2: Choose your fabric lighting cable

white twisted fabric cable for lighting against white background
white twisted fabric cable
black and white fabric cable against white background
mint humbug fabric cable
chalkboard black fabric cable against white background
chalkboard black fabric cable
burgundy red wine fabric cable for lighting against white background
red wine fabric cable
Glamour steel grey fabric cable for lighting against white background
glamour steel grey fabric cable
Old grey jumper weave fabric cable for lighting against white background
grey jumper fabric cable

The fabric lighting cable will be quite visible and is an integral part of your finished light design. Depending on your style, you could either match the cable to blend with your room’s décor or if your room has a monochrome theme you might want to go for a pop of colour here to really draw attention to your lighting creation.

Step 3: Choose your bulb holder (light fitting)

closeup of raw brass ribbed bulb holder against grey background
E27 ribbed bulb holder – raw brass
antique black e27 ribbed bulb holder against grey background
E27 ribbed bulb holder – antique black
closeup of smoked gold threaded e27 bulb holder against grey background
E27 threaded bulb holder – smoked gold
antique black threaded e27 bulb holder against grey background
E27 threaded bulb holder – antique black
raw brass e27 ribbed bulb holder against grey background
E27 ribbed bulb holder – raw brass
closeup of antique black e27 light bulb holder against grey background
E27 ribbed bulb holder – antique black
smoked gold threaded e27 bulb holder against grey background
E27 threaded bulb holder – smoked gold
closeup of antique black e27 light bulb holder against grey background
E27 threaded bulb holder – antique black

The bulb holder secures the light bulb in place and attaches to the fabric cable wire. There are a couple of things to consider before choosing your fitting:

  1. Will you be using a lampshade – if so you’ll need to choose a threaded bulb holder
  2. Do you want a decorative bulb that hangs bare – if so use a plain bulb holder
  3. Do you want a screw or bayonet light fitting – this is purely personal choice.

Step 4: Choose a light bulb

The light bulb you choose can really add impact to your finished light – the one you opt for really depends on the style you want to achieve and what appeals to you visually. We have spiral, loop, squirrel cage filaments plus a couple of chandelier small screw bulbs in small ball and tail whip styles.

All our bulbs create a beautiful ambience for your room – the old fashioned style filaments glowing with warm light just like the Thomas Edison originals.

Aurora Decorative LED Bulb against black background
aurora opal LED bulb
pear squirrel cage filament vintage bulbs against black background
pear squirrel cage filament bulb
radio valve spiral light bulbs against black background
radio valve light bulb
Nova Decorative LED Bulb against black background
nova opal light bulb

Step 5: Choose a light cage


The light cage attaches around the bulb holder (with two small screws) to add the finishing touch to your light. The cage you choose will again depend on your style and what you find appealing – they’re all in the industrial style so really it’s just a case of choosing what you like. You have options of domed, balloon, drop, wire, diamond or industrial vintage light cages.

assam geometric cage against white background
small geometric cage light shade – assam
hibiscus geometric cage light shade large against white background
large geometric cage light shade – hibiscus

They also come in a few colours, if you like a muted or toned palette go for raw steel or black but if you have a bolder, contrasting look go for a splash of colour with American Mustard Yellow or for the very daring, Lipstick Red.

That’s all the bits you’ll need to order from us – next you’ll need to get an electrician to put your light together and hang it for you.

Things you’ll need an electrician to do…

Step 6: Assemble and hang your light

Ask an electrician to fix the bulb holder to one end of your fabric wire cable and thread the other through the ceiling rose. Hold it up against the ceiling to make sure you get the right length for your light to hang. Once you’re happy, they can wire the light in and fix the ceiling rose.

Then get them to fix on the wire light cage and insert the bulb. Voila, you have your own unique light – send us a picture of your finished creation.

Endless lighting options…

If you’ve now got the bug for having something you won’t find in everyone else’s home, unleash your creativity to make side or table lamps using a cage, fabric wire, bulb holder and plug – we have some transparent ones that add an extra level of style flair.

If it’s ceiling lights that you’re really into, and you have either a large room or high ceiling, try using a multi-point ceiling rose to hang three wires from with three light bulb holders each holding a stunning vintage bulb. Mix and match light bulb sizes and filament styles for an enviable and truly stunning centrepiece to your room.

Handily, we’ve now added a customise a light section to our website. Here you’ll have the option to create your own table lamp, ceiling pendant or custom chandelier. You can even choose to have it assembled before we post it out.

Avatar for Tony

Written by: Tony

Tony's into answering questions... his specialist subject... industrial and vintage lighting. His chair isn't big, black or leather, but he won't let that stop him. If you have a question or query about any of our products, Tony is your man.

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*Except where products are made to order. Such products are clearly marked that they have a longer lead time.