Pier 1 has battery powered paper lanterns....I just use those.

Well - if your lanterns will be close to an overhead light, there's an item called "Pull Chain Socket Adapter" by Westinghouse that you can screw into the place where the bulb usually goes, and it gives you a plug outlet. (And there's an area below that where you can also put a bulb.)

I bought one last Christmas at Hobby Lobby for $2.99, but haven't used it yet, so I can't say how well it works, but just wanted to let you know that such a thing exists... Presumably the usual rules about how many cords you should plug in to one outlet apply.

Ikea makes long white plastic cord holders that stick to the wall and you push the cord inside. My apt doesn't have much hard-wired lighting so I use the cord holders all over. It's a couple bucks for a bag of them.

that's a tricky one...

its might be easier to just play them up and cover the cord in a fun patterned or colored fabric. Depends on what else you have going on in the space, though.

LovelyDark has a good idea if you have a light fixture. We used one of the adapters she is talking about when we needed a socket in our attic. Seems to work great (but I'm not sure if you can plug multiple ones in it.)

Can't tell you know to do it, but I know that you can drill a hole in your ceiling and re-route the wires that way. It's a pretty basic thing for an electrician or handy husband!

i think it goes with out saying that the cords are going to show if you want to light up the lanterns. these look like they have been hung with fishing line. maybe paint the cord the same color as the ceiling and then when it turns and goes down the wall paint it the wall color?

Maybe you could do an arc lamp similar to this for the actual light source and surround it with colorful lanterns that you do not light? (Or choose the battery-operated lanterns to surround the lamp and just light those from time to time.)

Too tacky?

If you mounted the lanterns high enough (sort of like in the nursery on Under the Sycamore - http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2009/06/30/entering-the-girl-world-the-nursery/) you'd be able to avoid seeing cords going up to the ceiling. You could potentially even mount a surge protector to the ceiling for them to plug into and only have a single cord going down the wall.

If you wanted them to hang a little lower you could probably arrange the lanterns the same way they are in the link, but mount them to a lightweight frame and suspend the frame from the ceiling.

I have paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling on my older daughter's bedroom but they are not lighted. If you are looking to hang them in the middle of the room without cords showing, re-wiring seems inevitable (or battery-operated idea sounds good though how do you reach it?).

Bookmarking this thread to see if other ideas pop up - I am curious too!

Grace Hester Designs
http://www.gracehesterdesigns.etsy.com

Photoshop?

Other than that, I like the fabric idea. Cover each cord up to the ceiling and across to the corner, then route them all through a conduit like they have at Ikea, painted to match your walls. That's assuming you're going to plug them in and not hardwire them.

it would be best to hang one from a center room light socket..then hang the others around it from fishing line (those will obviously not be lit)...i think this would look really cool actually.

Flatwire low-voltage, but you need a handyperson to hook up the terminator ends in the lanterns, then you paint over flatwire.

Solar powered garden lights would be an option . . . the only problem would be having to manually turn each one on, but there are alot of options. Some actually come as lanterns (see link below) or you could get cheap garden spikes at any hardware store, and just take the light out of the casing and adjust on your own. It's similar to the "Home Made Sun Jars" project on Instructables. There's tons of hardware to choose from, so you could look around til you found your favorite options.

http://www.batteryoperatedcandles.net/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=29496&Category_Code=outdoor&gdftrk=gdfV2875_a_7c73_a_7c172_a_7c29496

http://www.instructables.com/id/Home-made-Sun-Jar/

Well if none of the above ideas work, maybe there's a way to just make the cords nice to look at instead of an eyesore. Tidy cords painted in pretty colours that complement your walls and lanterns instead of trying to blend in? Perhaps the cords could be braided loosely once they all meet and head down the wall or something. The idea is to make them look like they're visible on purpose- part of 'the look'. Just a thought.

I thought there was some kind of tape you could use to tape the cords along the wall and then you paint it the wall color. Haven't found said tape so I'm wondering if I just made it up...

I love the braided cord idea mentioned above, particularly in a kid's room. Lamps have cords, its reality. As long as they aren't too messy or tangled I say embrace the wonders of electricity and claim your cords.

hmmm...those are cute hexagonal tables. I like the cut on the sides/legs

This looks like paper lanterns hung w/ fishing wire, so that it's invisible.

To get power to your lanterns, you could consider this product, but you'll still have to know how to wire your power cord to a lightbulb outlet.

www.flatwireready.com

This product is a flat power cord that you can apparently paint over. If you're handy, you could probably figure out a way to use this product to achieve the look you're going for. I have never used it but saw it on a tv talk show once and it looked interesting.

I would spray paint them a complimentary or matching colour and braid them so they look like an intentional part of your design.

LOL! I like @jillandmo's suggestion. :)

Just Photoshop them out.

i agree!

I've been trying to figure out this same thing for our guest room (already have awesome shades just don't want to pay for professional install or ugly visible cords so I looked around and found these. A caveat I haven't tried them yet but for 5 bucks if they work they sound like a great solution especially if you're doing a bunch of lanterns

http://www.partybrights.com/product/LED10/Battery-powered-led-light-make-any-paper-lantern-battery-operated.html

KarltonKelly ~ no I don't know who makes those :-(

I hope someone can tell us.

could they possibly be handmade??

If you do not want to light the lanterns, you can hang them with illusion cord (invisible plastic cord, same as the one used to make necklaces or fishing), from little ceiling hook nails (they come in pretty small sizes so they are practically invisible).

If your lanterns will be anywhere near a window, try solar. There are cordless, solar-charged paper lanterns available thru Amazon. I believe you could hang these with monofilament for a look similar to your inspiration photo.

The lamps in the photo are just for decoration and the photo! They don't even turn on--no bulb, no cord.

Not sure about the cords, but I have a quick question about the curtains.

Where can I get them or the fabric? LOVE IT!

If your cords and ceiling are white, you should be fine for that part. Perhaps consolidate them using hooks from the ceiling and perhaps white twist ties. Along the wall, since it's another color, you could feed the cords through a 2" or 3" PVC pipe from the hardware store. This pipe is rigid and can be cut to length at the store. You can paint this pipe easier than several slender strands of cords. You can figure out a creative way to attach it to the wall, or, whatever works in your situation.

Forget the cords! Instead of using a hanging light kit, illuminate the lanterns using small spotlights discreetly positioned behind the furniture. Three possibilities:
1. A plug-in AC incansedcent would be easy to try out and move around, although that option might get hot enough to injure unwary guests/pets/kids and be hard to hide safely.
2. Using 10W spotlights (think landscaping lighting that is wired into a power converter) you could rig up something theatrical for about $50 and hide the cords down low.
3. Place a solar-powered LED spotlights in a nearby window to shine on the lanterns for around $20 each.

We have two Chinese paper umbrellas hanging over the light fixtures in our nursery. It softens the glare, but they get full of spiders and dust and when you throw a ball in the room, they get knocked around. So it isn't really practical.

I had considered drilling a hole in the cieling and another near the outlet. This way I could thread the cord behind the wall. I'm glad I decided against it. It's amazing how rarely I notice the white cord running down the corner of my yellow walls. I just tacked the cord the cord to the wall near the molding. If you do hang them near a window you can run the cord along the window casements and let your curtains hide it.

Attach individual battery powered LEDs with on/off switches (sold here: http://www.sivallighting.com/led-floralytes-withonoffswitchpackageof10.aspx) to the inside of the lanterns, then hang with clear heavy gauge fishing wire, and voila! No cords.

Just rewire it yourself. Is there an attic above the room you want them in? If so, it would be really easy to run them through the ceiling. All you'd need is a drill with a large drill bit.

Other than that, you could braid them together, for a playful yet industrial look. You could build a corner box of wood and run them through, then paint the wood the wall color. Battery powered is a GREAT idea, although it will probably be let powerful, and LED, so it won't have that warm feel of an incandescent light.

Good luck!