How to Hang a Chandelier (For Renters)

Ever since I moved to New York, one of my favorite things to do is create things for our apartment. I love adding dramatic things that change the whole vibe of the room– and nothing is more dramatic than a chandelier.

A couple months back we moved from a teeny tiny apartment around the corner to the one we’re in now. Since I think we’ll be in this apartment for a couple years, it’s been SO fun to be more aggressive with the decorating. For my bedroom, I really wanted to find a chandelier. 🙂

Here’s my new bedroom in the apartment. I think it’s about 3 times the size of my previous bedroom… And it has TWO windows that go outside instead of a window into my roommate’s bedroom. (See how to make this headboard and my old apartment bedroom. :))

I’ve been looking for a chandelier for a while, so when Lamps.com reached out to see if I wanted to check out any of their items, I jumped at the chance. Lamps.com has a really cute selection of mini-chandeliers to choose from at affordable prices. Because my room has darker tones in it, I went with the black chandelier.

Chandelier #1, Chandelier #2, Chandelier #3

Normally you’re supposed to mount these lights in actual light fixtures, but my dad showed me how to convert these types of lights into lights that you can plug into the wall. To do the project I did, here’s what you need:

-Chandelier
–Plug (I got mine in the hardware store, but you can get them on Amazon.)
-Fabric to cover cord
–Swag hook
-Drill
-Hot glue gun

To start, all of the ceiling-mounted lights come with a cord that you can convert into a plug. I called my dad many times while doing this, but it’s super simple. Trust me. 🙂 So first, you take the cord and make sure there’s a little plastic stripped off of the cord on the very ends. Then, take the metal parts and wrap them around the screws in whatever type of plug you get. (Make sure they don’t touch!) And then close the plastic part of the plug.

Next, take the fabric you want to cover the cord and tear it into strips.

Tie one fabric strip into a knot and slip it to the top of the chandelier’s cord. Then add a dot of glue and start wrapping!

One special little tip, if you measure the length that you want your chandelier to hang down from the ceiling, you can make a loop of the third wire so that it holds all the weight of the chandelier. Then you continue wrapping until you’ve got the whole cord wrapped.

I chose to wrap the cord in white so that it would blend in a bit more with the ceiling.

Next it’s time to decide where you want to hang the chandelier and drill a hole so that you can hang the swag hooks.

These are the swag hooks I got. The coolest things about these hooks are that once you have to move, you can just untwist the hook and fill in the hole with a little spackle. You will lose half of the hook, but no one will ever know you’ve hung something there!

To get the cord to hang properly on the other ceiling, I placed a tiny hook on the opposite wall to hold the cord in place.

I’m pretty tickled with the light (and drama!) that the chandelier adds to the room! 🙂