I’m Putting a $17 Garden Tool in My Living Room for Chic Lighting (See How!)

Finding the right balance of lighting options for a living room can be a conundrum. It all depends on the size of your room, the style you’re after, and the vibe you want to create.

If you’re looking for a way to add some accent lighting without taking up valuable floor space, there’s an Instagram video that’s dominating feeds right now: It shows that it’s actually so easy to make a swing-arm sconce using a garden tool you can find for under $20 on Amazon.

“This might be the best lighting hack to date,” Becky from The Sorry Girls shared in a recent Instagram video. “Take a wall-mounted plant hanger and paint it a nicer color. Attach it to the wall, hang whatever pendant light you like from it, plug it in, and now you have your own fully customized swing-arm sconce.”

It’s absolutely ingenious! As for me, I’m already planning on converting a corner of my living room into a chic dining nook: A hanging pendant can make this space feel so much more bespoke and unique. 

“Definitely doing this in red,” one person wrote in the comment section of Becky’s video. Another added, “Oh, I have the [perfect] spot for this that I’ve been trying to figure out how to light!!”

There are various hinged plant hangers floating around online that you can use to re-create this lighting moment — but the model Becky used is so great because it features a long arm that’s angled upward. That gives you plenty of space to adjust the height of your pendant lamp and play around with styling.

This 32-inch plant hanger is just $16.99 on Amazon and can hold up to 30 pounds. You can also adjust the angle of the swing arm to further customize the light fixture.

And if you’re looking for pendant light inspiration, this one from Wayfair is so beautiful and comes with plenty of cord length (which is also decoratively wrapped in jute) to get that swag effect. 

This DIY could be ideal for spaces that do double duty; the arm could swing one way to provide light over a seating area, and then another way to shed light onto a dining table. 

The end result also just looks so artistic! No one will believe you when you say the swing arm was originally intended for bird feeders and hanging plants.

Give this DIY a shot the next time you’re grappling with an awkward dark corner — that once-gloomy area might become your new favorite spot in the house.