A common apartment renter's dilemma is right above our heads: ugly ceiling light shades that seemed to have been passed out to every landlord in all of greater Los Angeles. Every darn rental I've moved into has these square or circle glass travesties against decor. So 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 on eBay and found this dealer with a selection of moderately priced shades in our budget.
The hardware includes this important extension and connection piece, 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 an quick, easy change that made all the difference in our bathroom without any fooling around with any electrical tasks. Here's a close up of it lit up and a wider angle view of the ceiling shade off. We liked the results so much, we're bidding on another one!

Gregory--I'm totally stealing this idea for the kitchen!
view laure's profile
that looks amazing!! i think i'm going to try it too.
view jamie*'s profile
Now... what to do with the old one?
view jick's profile
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!
view kittyj's profile
I have four of those discount shades and they make me sick!
view Lady J's profile
Very pretty. And I like knowing about that extension piece that can be added onto the fixture.
view Fontessa's profile
Brilliant!
And thanks for using CFL's!
view bepsf's profile
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!
view Veruca's profile
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.
view happify's profile
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.
view jenny!'s profile
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...
view Angie in Montreal's profile
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.
view milom's profile
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.
view luna's profile
awesome! thanks!! i totally have this problem as well.
view jmw's profile
Ooooh! Me want! FYI...I just saw that someone did a best offer on the little one for $20 and it was accepted!
view romeoandjewels's profile
I have a ceiling-mounted fixture with two light sockets. would this work for that?
view caitlin's profile
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.....
view ManofSteel's profile
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.
view gregory's profile
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
view revolution9's profile
UPDATE: It's Mine, all Mine!!!! They accepted my best offer for the medium size one at $20.
view romeoandjewels's profile
Very nice.
view Gwen's profile
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.
view Jute Zak's profile
Agreed, revolution9. I have boobs all over my ceilings and it drives me crazy.
view imavunderbrah's profile
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.
view wig3000's profile
What a transformation! Congratulations on a great improvement.
view ebrown's profile
I too have the "nipple" light fixtures everywhere and they are ugly! I think its funny that you call the "boob" fixtures!
view SydneyBristow's profile
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.
view Zinzi's profile
I wish my apartment had ceiling fixtures! I can't remember the last place I lived that did.
view kostia's profile
omg, those are perfect!!
thanks, gregory!
view my little apartment's profile
Thanks for the update romeoandjewels! The seller just accepted my $20 offer for one of the medium ones. Woohoo!!
Enjoy your fixture!!!
view DottieLove's profile
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!
view romeoandjewels's profile
You're welcome, DottieLove! Since it's local, I hope to receive it by Friday. Enjoy yours too!
view romeoandjewels's profile
what paint color is that????
view mariegael's profile
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.
view romeoandjewels's profile
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!).
view squidlette's profile
I received my second new shade this morning which I ordered right after posting about this. They deliver FAST!
view gregory's profile
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...
view heatherly's profile
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. :(
view my little apartment's profile
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!
view suzy8track's profile
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...
view romeoandjewels's profile
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
view foreverfrida's profile
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?
view Andy's profile
Gregory, you rock.
view southof290's profile
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!
view suzy8track's profile
I followed the link to this posting from 4-17. I have overhead lighting in my apartment but it is with the shiny cheap brass or "brass" fitting where the globe (a frosted cheap and flattened sphere shape) screws in from the sides in 3 spots. I'm not at home to measure them now, but haven't seen a lot of options that aren't as ugly/boring/standard/did I forget to say ugly? as the ones in my rented apartment. Actually some are more horrific in an effort to look glamorous.
The bedroom and foyer/office are identical and a smaller one is in the kitchen. There is one in the bathroom as well, but it appears to have a vintage globe (whatever was considered ordinary in the 50s -guessing) on it. I'm sorry I didn't study it and am posting from work. Please, where can I find some stylish replacements, vintage or repro?
view K T G's profile
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.
view eeka's profile