A common apartment renter's dilemma may be right above your head: ugly ceiling light shades, seemingly passed out to every landlord across the land. Every rental I've moved into has been equipped with these square or circle glass travesties against decor. I set out to replace our ceiling shade with something more modern...
Here's the old and tired hardware store buy-3-for-1 special we had in our bathroom. My girlfriend and I couldn't find a vintage ceiling shade we liked at the time (although we later found one for our living room with a beautiful midcentury starburst pattern), so we looked to eBay and found this dealer (note: no longer available) with a selection of moderately priced shades in our budget.
The hardware includes this important extension and connection piece pictured above, which allows for the shade to screw into your existing overhead lighting fixture. It also allows the the woven plastic sheeting form to avoid any contact with the bulbs (the CFL's we use are low heat anyhow).
On a side note, while installing this, I dropped the CFL bulb I had pulled out to straighten. It dropped into the tub and somehow didn't shatter. N:Vision bulbs are apparently built with mercury contained in a diamond shell...I was relieved I did not have to face my first CFL mercury emergency cleanup.
Seriously, this was a quick and easy change which made all the difference in our bathroom without having to fool around with the electrical. Here's a close up of the light lit up, and a wider angle view of the ceiling shade off. We liked the results so much, we're bidding on another one!
(Images: Gregory Han)
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Gregory--I'm totally stealing this idea for the kitchen!
that looks amazing!! i think i'm going to try it too.
Now... what to do with the old one?
what to do with the old one? save it for when you move out :-D you can't leave those great lights in the apartment!
I have four of those discount shades and they make me sick!
Brilliant!
And thanks for using CFL's!
I bought several of these from the same seller about a year ago. Really affordable ( even if you Buy Now 'em like I did) and great quality. I get compliments all the time. Love 'em!
Love that! I'm going to have to get one, too -- when I switched out my lightbulbs, I couldn't bear to put the hideous one back up again, so I've been doing bare bulbs instead.
P.S. What do people do with CFLs in apartments? Leave them? Take them with? I've replaced a couple of bulbs already and it adds up, especially the big round mirror ones in the bathroom.
I have terrible tiny light fixtures that are the same in every room of my rental and will be difficult to update. While my rooms are not tiny, each has been wired with only 1 CFL 60watt bulb, leaving my apartment generally dim on all levels.
The FIRST thing I do whenever I move into a new apartment is to replace those square fixtures with nicer vintage ones from the flea market. I take them with me when I move if they're really incredible, but usually I can find them for a few bucks and I feel like some sort of home decor vigilante by leaving them for the next person, fighting crimes against decor, one apartment light fixture at a time...
Im having this exact problem right now. To hell with those awful glass fixtures! These are perfect, but holy cow, did you see the shipping cost!? $25!!! That's half the cost of the fixture itself. I think I'll find a cheaper solution elsewhere. It'd be perfect, but $75 for these is just too much.
Thank you for addressing this! I can't tell you how many cheapo fixes I've tried over the years. My favourite involved examination table paper and thumbtacks, but I think I was lucky it didn't burst into flames.
awesome! thanks!! i totally have this problem as well.
Ooooh! Me want! FYI...I just saw that someone did a best offer on the little one for $20 and it was accepted!
I have a ceiling-mounted fixture with two light sockets. would this work for that?
Forever the bane of every Apartment I've ever lived in.
This needs to be a "Project"/ Class Assignment for a Product Design/ Industrial Design classes at ALL DESIGN schools.
(HINT - HINT!)
Once I used a Japanese Rice Paper Box Lantern (the collapsible type) and "hacked" that as a modification.
I'm working on an IKEA hack now- so I can't reveal it as of yet.
Stay tuned.....
caitlin: I'm using this on a two-socket overhead fixture. The unit actually comes with a three socket fixture if you feel up to the task of rewiring.
I like those original square shades compared to the 'new' Boob Lights that my entire rental house is adorned with.
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImage/75b3df1b-86d2-46ed-83da-20c2ffa83e85_300.jpg
UPDATE: It's Mine, all Mine!!!! They accepted my best offer for the medium size one at $20.
Very nice.
I made this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Large-ceiling-lamp/ two years ago. It's OK but a bit messy, though not as ugly as the square shade above. Some use the words 'romantic'.
I'm looking for a large ceiling shade to replace my 120 x 80 cm bag. Maybe the Stone from Almalight, but I'm wary of price and availability.
Agreed, revolution9. I have boobs all over my ceilings and it drives me crazy.
Yes, revolution9, these are pervasive and ugly and horribly manufactured. Yuck! we're trying to banish these from our home. There are only two more to give the boot to.
What a transformation! Congratulations on a great improvement.
I too have the "nipple" light fixtures everywhere and they are ugly! I think its funny that you call the "boob" fixtures!
Oh my goodness! What a great idea. (1) I live in an apartment with those gross fixtures. (2) My bedroom is so very very close to that color. I've got to try it! 100% inspired.
I wish my apartment had ceiling fixtures! I can't remember the last place I lived that did.
omg, those are perfect!!
thanks, gregory!
Thanks for the update romeoandjewels! The seller just accepted my $20 offer for one of the medium ones. Woohoo!!
Enjoy your fixture!!!
They must have just gotten a flurry of orders - I just noticed they dropped their Buy It Now prices on all the lamps! And dropped their shipping to $19.99 from $24.99!
You're welcome, DottieLove! Since it's local, I hope to receive it by Friday. Enjoy yours too!
what paint color is that????
OMG! I already got the shades - craaaazy! And while I had a ruler out yestersday and looked at how big 24" is - I was shocked when I received a giant box at work today. It's HUUUUUGE. If you need a small shade - definitely go with the small, not a medium.
Thank you thank you thank you! The only other AT post I recall that addresses changing the light fixtures involved rewiring, which I am so not willing to do in my 100-year-old rental (complete with paint-encrusted light fixtures!).
I received my second new shade this morning which I ordered right after posting about this. They deliver FAST!
Dang. That's awesome! Makes me wish our landlord hadn't installed these not awful but not so great new hanging light fixtures in our apartment. I like them, sorta, but my god are they ever obtrusive and bright. They're fairly low-hanging, too, so I'm always running into them when doing things like standing on the bed to change the sheets. Might have to investigate the possibilities of replacing them when we go to install a projector screen...
i'm kinda bummed that they can't combine shipping and they don't offer pick-up. i'm finding it a bit difficult to pay $40 to ship two light fixtures from Orange County to LA. :(
I'm a little late in responding to this post, but I have the same exact problem! This looks like a fantastic solution. Thanks for sharing!
Goodnightdean - Once you see the boxes (they're HUGE - barely fit in my car) and the fact that they come overnight - the shipping totally seems worth it. The box is more than two feet across...
So, does anyone have any ideas for what to do with all those book ceiling lights? Will these shades work with those as well? Or are we stuck with re-wiring....ugh! I was in Home Depot the other day and these literally come in packs of 2. They should be banned.
ps - I'm on the East Coast, and am devastated to here that the boob light is a nationwide plague.
FF
I would like to find a new shade for the ceiling light, but I just want something that goes on as this one does, not something that requires wiring. How can I tell whether or not a fixture will go over the existing light fixture, as this one does?
Gregory, you rock.
I ordered one of these for my kitchen, and it should be arriving any day now. Can't wait to install it! Thanks for the info!
Ew, yes. I had boob fixtures all over my house when I bought it. Including some brass ones with yellowy smoked glass. Puke. The most annoying thing about them is that they were clearly brand new and were put in to spruce the place up before selling it.
I didn't have any money whatsoever, having just bought a new house and all, so I bought square glass ceiling fixtures for $3 each at Home Depot. Most of them are still up three years later. Sure, they're boring, but they look a lot more in place in my 1893 house than the freakin '80s boobs did.
Anyone know cool shades for old "just the bulb" and pullchain fixture? I need a cover for it.
Thanks
Can anyone tell me what happened to this ebay seller?
I love these!
I think they are still around. I purchased a light from them back in April. Here is the link to their store.http://myworld.ebay.com/concepts4living
It's posts like this that makes Gregory one of my favorite poster here on AT. I love your work man!
Anyone know if this dealer is still selling these? This particular shade is no longer showing up on their eBay account.
Are those just shadow boxes that you have on your bathroom wall? I love the idea and would like to try it.
Hi,
I checked the ebay store and they're not selling anymore. Does anyone know where I can source a similar shade? Thanks!
Lampshades that have an opening to be topped with a finial also fit these fixtures perfect. Look around for a drum shade that has its three supports dropped from the top of the shade about an inch - if the supports are flush with the shade, it just hangs below the fixture and doesn't cover the bulbs.
Take the glass plate off, hang onto the "finial" and then just put the lampshade on and screw the finial back on. Looks like a much more expensive piece. Now, you have to find the right shade.
I have these fixtures all over my house and have invested about $40 and found 2nd hand lampshades and changed them all out.
And as long as it's not in a place that you look up, into the light, you never see the bulbs.
-Jenny
Must testify that I too have just moved into a 5-"boob light" apartment. What a shame that our building has a million-dollar all Knoll lobby with fantastic Knoll furniture and lightning but cheap ugly boob lights in newly rehabbed apartments. Beautiful glass tile back splash in kitchen, etc., but cheap boob/nipple lights everywhere--go figure. Boob fixtures are ugly as sin--really. AT should continue to do entire articles on replacing "boob lights" as it as become a plague!
I desperately need this shade or anything similar that just screws in. I tried the dealer on ebay but it seems they may be out of business! Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. I'm so tired of the old glass "plate" we have - same as the picture above. Please help!!!