DIY Scandi Chandelier

In light of my chandelier DIY blowing up on Instagram and TikTok (pun not intended), I came to the conclusion that a written tutorial was in order!

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A post shared by Jessica Small | DIY & Home (@fromgrittopearl)

Allow me to give a little back story of how this idea came about. I feel like it’s important for everyone to know I didn’t actually come up with the design of this chandelier.

It all came to me when I was hunting for a statement piece to hang in my newly revamped dining room.

I came across a website that held all the light fixtures of my dreams. One particular chandelier caught my attention but cost $1200!!!

Being on a tight budget, I knew there was no way I could afford to display it in my home. Rather than give up and move on, I began to look closely at how it was structured.

From there, I gathered all of my intel to put a plan together. I was able to come up with all the materials I would need to make the chandelier myself for under $30!! Huge price difference, wouldn’t you say?

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A post shared by Jessica Small | DIY & Home (@fromgrittopearl)

I cut back on the cost by thrifting the drum shade, bought the cheapest cord kit I could find, cut my wood slats out of scrap wood, manipulated a quilting hoop, and then hot glued it all together!

Because of the high demand for a proper tutorial, I decided to make a second chandelier and document the entire process.

I did things a little different this time around. My goal was to give you accessibility to all the materials and keep it as economic\quick\easy as possible. The cost of materials fall under $60 (not including my glue gun upgrade).

You could easily substitute and tweak this “recipe” to suit your needs. There are so many different ways, shapes, and forms this chandelier could be made. Get creative and have fun with the process!!

INSTRUCTIONS

Be advised, measurements are based on the size of your materials. The idea of this tutorial is to give you an idea.

I will help you figure out how to get the perfect length for your slats below. There is probably a basic math formula that could be applied but my brain is challenged in that area… so you’ll have to deal with my way! : )

Material List:

• Drum shade. Mine is 17” diameter and 12” height

• Slats. I decided to use 5 gallon paint stir sticks for the sake of ease. Mine ended up being 14.25″H x .75″W

• Quilting Hoop. I chose a 23” hoop because it was the largest I could get my hands on

• Hot glue. Feel free to use any bonding agent you desire

• Cord Kit. Make sure it can be attached to your drum shade

• Table Saw and safety pusher

• Miter Saw

• Tape Measurer

• A platform to elevate your shade During the construction process. I used a 1.5” thick wood board

The first step is to take the inner, connected section of the quilting hoop and divide it in half using a table saw.

I fully expected it to be a difficult feat but it was, surprisingly, doable!

Next, you’ll want to figure out how long to make your slats. Mount the shade to your platform and then lay one of your hoops to center the shade.

Since my shade is 17” and hoop 23”, I calculated that I’ll need around 3” of spacing between the hoop and shade. It ended up being a little over…3.25” to be exact.

I went ahead and made myself 4 spacers to keep my shade visually centered in case it got bumped out of place.

Once centered, measure the distance from the top of the shade to the outside of the hoop. This showed I would need a max of 14.25” in length for my slat.

To be sure this length would work, I cut myself a slat to test on each quarter of the diameter.

For my slats, I chose to use 5 gallon paint stir sticks. I ordered 45 sticks for $15 in total. They had more than enough length and width for my project.

The nice thing about these particular stir sticks is that they came in a wrapped pack of three. I kept them in a wrapper while cutting for optimal efficiency!

Now that you have your slats cut and ready to go, its time for the assembly! This part took me under an hour to accomplish the first time but I ran into a minor issue the second time around.

I’ll explain more toward the end of this post. A valuable lesson I learned is that it’s smart to “dry-fit” your slats before gluing. The purpose of this is to avoid running into odd gaps toward the end of the project.

I wanted to stabilize the shade before starting so I glued a slat onto each quarter. I figured it would allow me to easily flip the shade to do the other half. This step can be altered.

I don’t believe there is ever a wrong way to do something as long as it gets done. Do what makes sense to you. I’ve had followers use various methods of this step with the same outcome!

Next, I gently flipped the shade to add the other hoop and more slats (as shown).

You keep up this cycle until finish!

Yes, I am showing all the steps for visual learners such as myself!

At this point, I realized I didn’t have enough room to continue the pattern. Had a mini panic attack. Walked away for a few hours. Ate a nice meal. Came back to face it! Breaks and food always do the trick.

Plan B involved pulling up some of the slats and slightly shifting apart to fill in more space. It wasn’t a fun repair but it ended up doing the trick!

Once finished, add your cord kit and admire your work!

Moral of the story: If you can’t buy, DIY!!!

Hope this chandelier tutorial was helpful and inspiring. I am open to editing any wording that doesn‘t make sense.

You could also visit my Instagram highlight labeled “Chandelier” for additional footage.

Leave me feedback in the comments!