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
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
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)
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:
- Will you be using a lampshade – if so you’ll need to choose a threaded bulb holder
- Do you want a decorative bulb that hangs bare – if so use a plain bulb holder
- 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.
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.
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.
