Steampunkin'

And we're back with a little update! Steampunk and industrial chic have been around as home decorating trends for a while now, and because we have pipe (shelf) dreams for our library due to the fact that simple wooden book shelves simply cannot handle our massive load of books I hopped onto the train to Steampunk Town and updated our lighting.

This is Florida and so getting rid of the ceiling fan was unfortunately not an option. That little bit of air movement makes such a difference 90% of the year Ill happily put up with its slightly tacky look. An easy and affordable update to any ceiling fan light, however, is the addition of better looking shades. Both, the orange and the blue box offer a wide variety of smaller shades you could use but I went and ordered light cages through Amazon.com (here). I only needed three but ordering the set of four only sets you back $20 (instead of $25 for three). Now I have a spare ...or an extra for another project!

First step is to unscrew your existing lamp shades. 

(Make sure the light is turned off and maybe even go so far as to turn off the electricity entirely. I only turned the lights back on for photos, not while I was working on it. Be SAFE. Always!)

Next you realize that your cage is too large to screw directly to the light bulb socket. 

And of course it appears to be too narrow to fit over the entire socket. 

Not so fast!

If you unscrew the screws on the neck of the cage and bend it apart ever so gently, it will actually snap right over the wide part and clamp onto it well enough that you don't have to worry about anything.

Crisis averted!

Rinse and repeat three times, and then stand back and admire your handiwork! Careful, this is much brighter than before which is great for the room but not so great for looking directly at it.

Even though it was bright I did notice that the light bulb sockets were a bright white sticking out like a sore thumb so I simply painted them with a bit of black acrylic craft paint.

Fabulous! I really like it!

And what I really like is that it is quirky and farm-y and industrial-y and not frilly and girly.

So the kitchen sink light got a quick update as well, courtesy of the blue box store and a sale on their cage light shades (On sale right now for $15).

Tada!