How to Fix a Lighting Dark Spot without Wiring.

 

Ah, modern technology.  It lets you fix things!  In this instance, I was able to fix a lighting dark spot without any wiring at all.  None!  Nice, right?!  And now, you can too with this nifty DIY tutorial.

(Fair warning: this situation is a direct example of the method from The $100 Room Glow-Up Guide in action.  Watch how it plays out.)

So, back by the back stair, the intersection where the dining room, said stair, the fancy giant wall organizer, and the pantry meet, whew, is a complete dark spot without a light fixture.  Why the flipper did not install some sort of light there, I dunno but, I suspect, as most flippers conclude, it was a cost-cutting thing.

 

Still over the moon in love with that doorway slat project to the left there.

Years this has plagued me.  Years.  It's dark there at night.  In a Chicago winter where it gets dark at like mid-afternoon?  Forget about it.  Dark.

Time to solve this once and for all, dammit.

And what's awesome about this little project is that it only ran me $9.  Yep.  Nine bucks.  What's extra awesome about this little project is that it's also renter-friendly too.  And, fully customizable any which way under the sun.

Biggest bonuses of all?  No wiring, there's light, no face planting into walls, and it was easy as pie.

 

Now sure, I had a few supplies on hand but they're affordable nonetheless.  What did I use?

• a thrift store lamp shade ($2)
• one battery-powered motion puck light* ($7)
• a nub of 3/4" diameter dowel* and a tiny piece of scrap wood
• extra grippy glue*
• magnets*
• peel and stick linen*
• craft cork*
• spray adhesive*
• wire*
• screw-in eye hook*
• beaded chain*
• black craft paint*

Truthfully, ya know, I have wee motion puck lights scattered about the house and they're remarkably handy.  I am a creature of the dark so you'll rarely find me flipping lights on in general.  Hence my love of dimmers.  (Add dimmer switches everywhere, please, then thank me later.)

Stick lil' motion puck lights inside cabinets and bam, light up those blacker than black holes.  The main stair, and basement stair?  Perfect.  

Righty-o, so it was a super easy leap to use one for this spiffy how to fix a lighting dark spot without wiring DIY party.

Let's start off with how to connect the motion puck light to the shade because in this case, it was an eye-twitch-inducing predicament.  Now granted, shades are different across the board, so you might need to get a little outside the box extra creative.  Or less so.

 

Because....to change the batteries, I needed to have access not only to the lil' puck but also the back cover.

What worked for me here was trimming a piece of 3/4" dowel and stuffing it into the socket bulb sleeve thingie inside the shade.  

 

Weird magnets for sure, leftover from the other lights around the house.

With some extra grippy glue, I made a T shape on top of it with the scrap wood to ensure the dowel didn't go with gravity.  Which.  I forgot to photograph.  My bad.

Yeah sorry, I forgot to get a shot of the T shape which would be at the bottom of the dowel here, opposite side of that weird magnet.

From there, it was just magnets; stick one onto the dowel end and one on the puck light, and voilá, easy to attach, holds in place, and easy to remove.  Yes, fist pump.  

Help your future self out too by limiting waste and use rechargeable batteries.*  Or, get a set of rechargeable puck lights* and change them out in a dang snap.  That's just plain chef's kiss right there.

With that finally settled, yeah it took me way too many contemplations of the whole arrangement, my brain is mushy, let's move onto the shade itself.

The shade?  Eh.  A bit too uh, beige for my tastes, so I scrounged up some a' that peel and stick linen stuff I used on my Ikea bathroom vanity hack.  Use whatever you want.  Decoupage.  Fabric.  Paint.  Glitter.  Sand.  Seriously, whatever you want.  Unleash your imagination; there is no incorrect answer.

The peel and stick, yeah, that made life extremely hassle-free and the result?  Instant and texture.  But, you do you, boo.

Once that was on, it seemed it needed a hair dressing up more as eh, ya know, still pretty beige boring bland but better than it was.  Took a strip of thin craft cork, sprayed it with the spray adhesive and squished that on.

Now yes, you could use a hot glue gun* for this but I wanted all over, even, thin adhesive coverage on my cork business with no lumpiness lumping through.

Looks pretty sharp nonetheless, yeah?

Back inside the shade, I cut a length of wire and wound it around the framing parts as something to hang the shade off of.   Wipes hands, and with that done, all that was left was installation.  

Just cut a length and twist it around inside for a way to hang off of.

Seriously.  I sh*t you not.  That's all it takes to fix a lighting dark spot, without wiring, using a random thrift store lamp shade and a dang puck light.  Like twenty minutes maybe.

Grant you, it needed further tweaking but I'll get to that in a sec.

Ok. 

So here, I trundled out the ladder, piled on, and measured for center in the ceiling area.  You don't have to do center.  Try off-center.  Do what feels right.

Next I twisted a tiny eye hook into the ceiling.  This whole contraption barely weighs a whisper so no need to whip out the big guns.

Then, with two short lengths of beaded chain I had on hand, I hung it up by connecting the two together.  Loop around the wire inside the shade and through the eye hook, click of the clasp, ah ha!

Ahhh haaa....ahhhh.....hm.  It needed something. 

Back downstairs with all my pieces, parts, supplies, and random bits, I found a tangled-up blob of a longer length of beaded chain and threw that in.  Like, pretty well just tossed it in as is.  Knotty mass and all.

And, it was actually perfect.  Subtle.  Small beaded swank.  Metallic shine.  A little extra wisp of razzle dazzle, as I wiggle in my chair while typing that.  Yep.

 

Eh, sorry for the weird colors here.  It's dark!  What can I say!

Right back upstairs and it was rehanging in seconds.  

Back to those tweaks I referred to earlier.

Later I took the puck light off and colored the whole white housing black with a Sharpie.  That helped but the inside was still drawing my eye.  Because, I am a shorty and can see right on up into the underside.

So, heh, trundle out the ladder yet again, took the whole contraption down, and painted the inside of the shade black with acrylic craft paint.  Because, black.  Why not.  It disappears.  No longer catches my eye.

 

There ya have it!  Fantastic, right?!  That beaded chain accent dripping down?  Ugh, love it.  Love it.

Now when I or the gigantic TFA Intern or he and I together cram through here the light flicks on, we're not blindly stumbling over each other in a cramped space (though he's so freakin' large, it's hard not to stumble over his always-everywhere gigantic mass), and then it shuts off on its own.  

(This was before I painted the inside black, just fyi.)

All automatic, all hands-free, no remotes to lose, break or fumble with, no muss no fuss no goofin' around.

So that my friends, is how to fix a lighting dark spot without wiring.  Cheap and easy and quick.  And stylish to boot.

What are you lighting up?

Take this energy and transform your own space.  I’ll show you how to do it for $100 or less.  Get The $100 Room Glow-Up Guide.

And btw, Pinterest without Flip Post is like DIY without tools. Technically possible, but why would you? Unlimited pinning.  Zero time suck.

*The motion puck lights, peel and stick linen, craft cork, beaded chain, rechargeable batteries, and rechargeable motion puck lights are Amazon affiliate links.  The dowels, magnets, spray adhesive, wire, eye hooks, and hot glue guns are Lowe's affiliate links.  The Loctite Extreme Glue is a Home Depot affiliate link.  And the craft paint is a Michaels affiliate link.  Mwah, thanks!  Please see the "boring stuff" tab for more info.