Farmhouse Industrial Metal Light: How We Installed a DIY Green Enamel Pendant Light

We created our own Farmhouse Industrial Metal light inspired by Ballards Designs. Here’s how we hung this DIY green enamel pendant light for our Farmhouse inspired kitchen.

I adore Ballard Designs and am always looking for ways to achieve their look, but sometimes their products are not within my budget.

I had dog-eared this pendant lighting from Ballard’s and put on my wish list.

The bright colors and industrial style truly caught my eye.

But not the price!

The shade alone is $49 and the lighting kit is a whopping $79!

$128 for one pendant light wasn’t going to fit in my budget and that didn’t even include shipping prices.

But I was in luck!

On our last visit home, my Father in law gave me a gorgeous, green enamel light cover that went to an old fixture that had been sitting in his garage.

This is the real deal, friend!

Trent’s parents owned a shop and these were the original industrial style lights that were hanging in the shop. 

How awesome is that rust against the white enamel? It truly sets off the white interior of the lamp.

I know some people want things pristine and perfect.

But this has character and a story and I love it!

They replaced all the lighting back in the 80s, but lucky for me, they kept the vintage shades!

No worries if you don’t have a sweet in law to gift you one of these! You can find similar enamel shades pretty inexpensively. Here’s one I found on Amazon. (affiliate link)

When we moved in, the kitchen had a hideous fluorescent light that we temporarily replaced with this one.

Honestly, I HATED it! It looked light a giant flying saucer and put off the worst lighting.

So this enamel light shade was a light bulb moment for me! (see what I did there?)

And since we are renovating our kitchen with a farmhouse style, I thought it would be a good idea to create my own industrial pendant light fixture over our kitchen island.

When we were gifted this rusty piece, I immediately knew where I wanted to put it.

Here’s how we installed this DIY green enamel pendant light!

Farmhouse Industrial Metal Light

(Some affiliate links are provided below. Full disclosure here.)

You can purchase single electric pendant lights for about $15 and with this pendant shade being free, I was able to get the look I wanted for $114 cheaper than the one on my wish list!

UPDATE: Ballard Design’s no longer offers the inspiration lights. You can check out what they are currently offering.

The first step you take is to hard wire the light kit directly to the junction box in the ceiling.

DIY TIP: I am not electrically inclined, so be sure to check out proper tutorials on how to wire a light kit or hire a licensed professional if you don’t feel confident doing this step.

When wiring the light, keep in mind cord length. You can trim this to any custom length. Most hanging lights over a kitchen counter hang a bit higher than, say, a dining room table.

For us, we eyeballed where it felt right. Since we are taller people, we wanted to be able to see without having a light at eye level.

Since the attachment comes with a screw on connector, you can attach whatever pendant light shades you are using.

Once you have the light wired, you simply unscrew the large “nut” from the light and install the shade.

And then screw the “nut” back in place.

It’s a tight fit so it definitely works as a great shade holder!

Look at that gorgeous vintage green enamel!

BOOM SHAKA LAKA!

We went from this:

To this:

All for just $15!

That’s a much more affordable price than antique lighting fixtures.

So don’t be afraid to think outside the box and try to find solutions for your vintage pieces.

This pendant fixture takes typical incandescent light bulbs.

So the lighting is now much softer and easier on the eyes than that flying saucer!

It’s the perfect farmhouse lighting for our updated kitchen.

That hint of vintage style and classic design works for this room.

You could even add dimmable bulbs to soften the look as needed.

And I love the casual look it gives for this room.

This would work great in an entryway or even in a laundry room.

I hope this gives you some inspiration if you are changing up your home decor and are looking for farmhouse industrial lighting.

For more details about our Kitchen Remodel, check out these diy projects:

FARMHOUSE KITCHEN REMODEL PART ONE – THE DEMOLITION

FARMHOUSE KITCHEN REMODEL PART TWO – TEARING DOWN THE WALL

THE COFFEE BAR – FARMHOUSE KITCHEN REMODEL PART THREE

FARMHOUSE KITCHEN REMODEL FINAL REVEAL!

PALLET LIGHT BOX FOR YOUR KITCHEN ISLAND