My Hobby Room Chandelier

There is a random "bonus"-type room upstairs in our house.   There is no closet and the only windows are skylights so it is not a functional bedroom.  I have been intending for this room to be used as a hobby/craft room, but to be honest, it has been nothing but a junk room until about a month ago.

Here is the "BEFORE" photo from the listing online:

When we moved in, we did paint this room the same color as Emma's room, and I made an oyster shell chandelier to replace the existing light fixture.  I collected oyster shells on the beach at Oak Island and on our trip to Edisto Beach, SC the summer of 2012.  I then drilled holes into the tops and bottoms of each shell.

I used craft wire to attach the shells to each other forming strands about 7 or 8 shells long.

I found an old brass chandelier at the Habitat Restore for ~ $30, and I spray painted it white.

Once I had made enough shell strands, I started attaching each to the top ring of the chandelier with wire.



This was a tedious process trying to work all the way around the chandelier without overlapping strands.  It is not perfect, but this is at the top of the fixture so I didn't worry too much about it.



Once all of the strands were attached at the top, I then tried to figure out a solution for how to get the strands to stand out away from the chandelier in the middle.  I decided on fishing line.  It doesn't look that professional, but again, it is at the ceiling, and it is in a hobby room.

I wound the clear fishing line around each light socket going around the chandelier.





After the fishing line was secure, I draped each shell strand over the line and attached the strands to the bottom ring of the chandelier with more wire.



Here she is…



We had an electrician come and hang the chandelier since it was an older fixture.  Here you can see it hanging in the Hobby Room.









The room is not completely finished.  We are actually considering putting a tv and a futon sofa in the empty corner where the old yellow chair is.  This would give the kids one more space to hang out if they all have friends over at the same time. It's something to consider since no one (not even the parents) have a television in their rooms.

So far this is how the room looks though.

This is walking into the room from the upstairs hallway. I got the framed picture for $4 at Goodwill.



We have the old table that JC's great grandfather made in the middle of the room for projects, and we have a desk with the recovered chair that I blogged about HERE.




So far I am happy with this room's progress.  It still has a lot more potential though.