Ceiling Fan to Pendant DIY

Hello,

Today I am going to share a quick and simple change recently made to my bedroom in my rental apartment. As mentioned before it has been many years since this place has seen some love and I intend to be the one who changes that.

This all came about because I was disgusted at staring at this nasty, old, no blades, ceiling fan. I knew it had to go. worst of all it is dead center of the room and hangs above my bed. Can you say ew?

So I went wandering around the local thrift stores, Reuse stores and hardware stores just to check out my options. I quickly decided that I wanted a pendant style light as it is a focal point in the room and not just a flat ceiling light. After a quick walk around a local Habitat for Humanity store I spotted a pendant cable with no lamp shade but knew it was perfect as it allows me to change up the shade at little to no cost when ever I feel like changing that focal point. And for $6.00 I was sold!

So I came home and took one last look at this ugly beast and said 'lets do this!'

I started by finding the tools needed such as a Phillips head screw driver and a plastic garbage bag (to cover the old light)

I covered the entire ceiling fan fixture with a garbage bag to allow any dust to not go everywhere. I also moved my bed which was under it so I didn't have any dust or anything fall on it.

After that I went and switched off the breaker to the entire apartment minus the fridge just to be safe as I really don't trust the labels on my breaker box. I then grabbed a chair and got a closer look as what I was removing. I started with the top screws on the side which removed the plate cover. I disconnected the cables and took out the screws from the light bracket. It left me with no light (YAY) and just this.

The circle plate is not needed for the new light so it also got removed with a screw driver. There were way to many signs of spiders on the light so I came in prepared after removing the plate with my trusty vacuum and all was good.

I then grabbed the new light and decided on the length. I had to strip the wire as it was twice as long as I needed so grabbed my wire stripper and cut it to length. The next part was pretty simple. Connect the white to white and the black to red. The green wire in the new fixture is the ground and is tied around the little green screw on the light bracket.

Before I attached the light base to the ceiling I flipped the breaker back on and put a light bulb in just to test it. And it worked! I mounted the base of the light to the ceiling and attached the screw covers to the blots that come out of the light base. I can now see the layers and layers of paint that surround the base of the light. I am going to check out different ceiling medallions to try and cover with. otherwise I will sand it down and paint the ceiling with a new, fresh coat of paint.

I dug a light shade out of the closet and I think it will work for now. Either way its much, much better then the old ceiling fan with no blades. Hope you enjoy! If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them below. :)

-Altered Apartment

Welcome!

Hello Everyone,

This is going to just be a quick Hello post from my self. I am a 26 year old living in the metropolis that is Toronto and have a passion for anything art or DIY related. After having some luck with previous projects and friends telling me to start this to share with others, I decided why not right? So without further ado Welcome to Altered Apartment.

I am going to be sharing different ways you can improve the comfort and function of your apartment or other tiny space (rental or owned). I like to spruce up the place and make it feel more 'home-y'. All alterations to the unit its self (floors, paint, light fixtures, etc...) have all been approved by my landlord (or more like encouraged). The apartment needs some love. Its been a while. And enter myself. A handy self taught DIYer who loves a challenge and adding character to any place.

Feel free to comment or leave any questions regarding any posts. They are always appreciated. I hope you enjoy the Altered Apartment. Have a great day!

<3 Altered Apartment