Do you have a hallway light that bothers you? Over the years we have lived in a few houses that had hallway lights that some may refer to as “boob lights”. They didn’t really bother me till this house.
My favorite spot on the couch literally looks down the hallway and stares at one. That boob light had to go, yet I was having trouble finding another light that served the same purpose. I needed a light that did not hang low. The kids would swap at it going down the hallway-plus it would block my picture collage wall, so pendants weren’t an option. Every fixed light that I searched for looked highly similar to the one I was trying to replace. My option was to find something and turn it into a DIY project. I did just that.
I had collected an old chicken feeder shortly after moving into this house. While we were painting the living room, I decided it was time to switch out the light and I would try to use the chicken feeder to create my new light. It would be the perfect shallow light, similar size, and it had a much cooler look.
We had a couple of light cords from Ikea that weren’t being used. Using some of Matt’s electrical expertise, we were able to utilize the wiring and junction box from the old light to power our new light while holding it securely to the ceiling.
The next step was to measure the spacing of the screws from the junction box in the ceiling to the base of the chicken feeder. Once we had measured the correct width apart, we drilled holes into the bottom of the feeder, so that it could be attached to the junction box. (The sharpie markings are unrelated to the measurements)
After drilling those holes, we drilled more holes to create room for zip ties and the light cord to go through the chicken feeder and hold the new lights securely in place.
Once we had the lights securely in place, Matt attached the electrical cords to the old ones in the ceiling while properly insulating and attaching the light to the junction box . If you are not experienced with electrical work, you should hire this part out or find a friend who is experienced.
We placed LED light bulbs in the light sockets and powered it up. At first glance, the lights were too harsh and bright-especially for the hallway. We decided we wanted some sort of filter or diffuser. Going to the hardware store, we found a scrap piece of plastic used for common fluorescent light fixtures. The full 2×4 sheets were only $6. They charged us $2 for the scraps. Using utility scissors we cut a circle the size of our chicken feeder and stuck it in over the light bulbs. The wire grate held it in place.
It was perfect. It hid the light bulbs and acted like a soft filter. With this new light we have light, yet it doesn’t block my photo wall and it’s not an eye sore while I sit on the couch.
I love the little added creative touch this light has added to our home. All those small little tweaks that make a home your own, are so fun. It makes my heart smile. If we are honest, this picture below is how my view on the couch looks pretty often.
I’ll take that view. Kids are so fun.
What do you think of our new little light?
Have you ever made a light fixture before? What’s something you have repurposed for a fun design element in your home?
Sometimes dreaming big can be pricey, right? Even for the DIY creator, dreams take some dollar bills.
I came up with an idea to let the kids have fun with it, while we are in the transition phase of our room. Why not let the kids paint one of our favorite Bible verses on it? Kids handwriting is the best. Plus, I don’t need to worry about sanding down the stroke marks when we are ready for a change. I will literally just brick over the artwork, when the time comes. It sounded perfect and now we all love it so much….I may never want to brick. Here is how we created our kid’s wall art:
I printed the words off the computer with the actual amount of words I wanted on each line, so the kids could get an idea of spacing. I used a yard stick and level to draw lines on the wall. I then taped the printout onto the wall and let the kids start copying.
My boys alternated line by line who was in “charge” of that line. I wanted both of their handiwork on the wall. Reagan wanted to get in on the fun, so we adapted and let her add some hearts. Her touch completed the piece.
After the words/hearts were in pencil on the wall, we used simple craft acrylic paint to paint over the words. My oldest was able to hold the bottle and paint on his own. My younger two liked me standing there holding the bottle while they steadied themselves on the wall with one hand and painted with the other.
They did an amazing job! We did space this project out over two days so they didn’t get burned out. The pencil writing was the first day and the painting was on day two. They were so proud and excited to be painting on the wall. My oldest was a little more timid at first saying I could do a better job and he was struggling with it not being perfect. It was a beautiful teaching moment, and I just adore kids hand writing. I wanted it in all the little imperfections and quirks. That is what made it beautiful.
The wall was really dirty after pencil being smeared all over, as you can see in this picture below. I came back once the kids were all done and erased my pencil lines and as much of the smears as I could. What I could not get up with an eraser a Mr. Clean sponge was able to erase. Since we are covering these walls up someday, there was not pressure on if we were ruining them. We literally can’t.
We had so much fun creating this little focal point. What a fun way to get some truth on our walls as well. It is now one of the first things you see when you walk in our house. It’s perfect.
I may never want to brick. My little artists won’t be young forever, but I love capturing their art with where they are…whenever I can.
Oh, my pallet wall.
We started with this thin wall. For as long as we have been in this house (a year now), I have wanted to pallet that wall. It’s small and broken up with the fireplace. It’s the perfect wall to turn into a fun accent wall. I’m not sure what the previous owners had in that little wall nook. It’s always been an awkward space for us. This pallet wall would fix that issue as well-we covered it up!
He then used our Ryobi Brad Nailer to build studs in the nook. This gave us something to place nails into to attach the pallet boards.
If you are just joining in with this project, click over to 
When we were ready to start, I simply picked a board to start with and used my brad nailer to attach it to the wall. We used four nails per a board. It was one nail per corner.
The only place where we didn’t put a nail in every corner was where we were covering up the open nook space. We attached the nails, so they would go into the studs that Matt had built.
Filling in the wall kind of felt like piecing a puzzle together. We didn’t want all of our ends to meet up together, so we intentionally would start a row placing a board in the middle of the seem of two boards in the row above. This little step created small spaces that needed filled with boards cut to a particular size (as shown below). In this scenario, we would mark a board where it needed cut and use our Ryobi 
We intentionally picked a chipped board to be placed where the electrical outlet cord would be coming out. It worked perfectly to have the cord discreetly come out and have the wall still look rustic.
After our longer rows were complete, we stood back and admired. It was so exciting and looked so good. One thing I will say about 
I love how the wall came out! If you too are covering a hole or wanting an outlet, this next step is for you. We let our wall sit for a few weeks while life happened. Matt did attach some 2×4’s to mount the electrical outlet and serve as the mount for the mantel that we would eventually create.
My wall looks rustic and completely natural doesn’t it!? Let me fill you in on a little secret. There were a couple rows, where I ran out of various shades of different colored boards so two colors ended up being next to each other. It didn’t look right. So I poured a little stain on a cloth and ran it over a few boards to break up the color. You wouldn’t be able to tell unless I pointed them out to you.
Do you have those moments where you realize how pathetically weak you are? Maybe you encourage your kids to eat their chicken and finish their carrots, so they can be strong. You might hope those words are true for you too and you consider yourself relatively in shape. Then something happens (like a slap in the face) showing you how totally not strong you actually are?
With the help from my friends at Ryobi, I found the simplest way to get this wood! Don’t mess with the nails. Use the 
We sliced the wood right off the crossbar posts with our saw. We lost some wood by this technique, but we saved so much time and energy. We’d run the saw up one side and then down the other to free the pallet boards from the side posts. Then we’d go back and make cuts on each side of the center crossbar.
We ended up with a huge stack of pallet wood that was about half the size in length as a normal pallet. It was so quick. Since we were cutting boards so fast, they didn’t have the straightest ends. We used our 
Once we had a bunch of wood with straight ends we were ready to get creating. What was at one time the worst job on earth became such a breeze and FUN.
We did our wall from start to finish all in one Saturday with breaks, meals, and caring for four kids. If you have a pallet wood project you want to conquer, use this saw. You wont be sorry.
This wall is in what we call our snow room. It’s the best room in the house to watch the snow fall. Now that temps are lowering, leaves are falling, and jackets are needed, snow will not be that far off. I can’t wait to sit in this room and watch the fluffy white stuff come down. This pallet wall makes the room feel so warm and welcoming!