Our family room makeover is almost finished and oh how I would love to buy the new industrial bulb lantern style lights that Pottery Barn but it’s just not in the budget right now so yesterday I made a trip to home depot and purchased a make a lamp kit by Westinghouse for $5. I had a few lanterns that I bought at Pier One last fall on clearance and I wanted to see if I could manage to put a bulb in it.
The directions are fairly easy on the package, however, I am not an electrician and have never put lamp guts together so I took me a little bit to figure it out, mainly because I didn’t wrap the wire clockwise to begin with! Note that on that back of the package if you try this 
. If you are hesitant, buy a $5 clamp light in the electrical department at home depot and unscrew the lamp cover and you will have the same thing BUT you won’t be able to feed the wire through a small hole. You can definitely finagle it though.
The lantern was originally an off white color but I sprayed it with black spray paint to coordinate with the drapery hardware & rocking chair. You will need to drill a hole in the top or bottom of your lantern in order to feed the lamp wire through. Luckily, the cover is removable & it already had a hole! Those are the no-sew burlap drapes I made and the planks on the wall. I am really glad that project is done!
I love the new Edison style bulbs that Home Depot sells so that is what I used. Our DIY bulb lantern looks fabulous in our family room. I still need to finagle the cord with a cord cover but the light comes on & doesn’t smell like it’s on fire so I think I did it right .
Bella says
Love the lantern! And I snorted when you said it didn't smell like it was on fire!
Can't wait to see the family room reveal.
Jackie says
Love this project. It looks amazing. I need some sconces for my living room. This may be my inspiration 🙂
Sarah Reynolds says
fantastic! i'm a lantern addict. this would definitely be fun to try!
Danielle says
The lantern looks fantastic. I really love those bulbs, too!
Erin says
Love this! I have an older home with plaster walls and there are a few places I'd love to put wall sconces, but don't want to try to install electricity – this is a great solution … and frugal! I wonder if the cheapo lanterns from IKEA would work with this….
Carrie @ lovely etc. says
Love this – so inventive and it looks great!
Katie says
I love this! Thanks for sharing! I just need to figure out where I need one of these. 🙂
Rachael@LovelyCraftyHome says
Great idea, thanks for sharing! Hope to see you at my weekend linky party 🙂
Lori @ Lori May Interiors says
Jessica, that is fabulous! I'm so impressed with your electrician skills! Great job!
Maury Kilgo says
Great idea! These are so expensive in the stores!
Ashley@AttemptsAtDomestication says
I love this! Definitely going to have to try it in our house!
Jen Lossing says
What a clever idea. This looks so cool. Great job!
Andrea @ Decorating Cents says
Very good idea.
Debra from Bungalow says
That's a great idea and I am lovin those Edison style light bulbs.
Renewed Upon a Dream says
This looks so great! I'm impressed, great job!
Anonymous says
I love it! Where did you find the hanger for the lantern?
Jessica Bruno says
@anonymous You didn't leave an email to send you back a response so hopefully you get this . The hanger is a plant hanger from Home Depot 🙂