How to Swag a Light Fixture
Do you have a chandelier that is a little “off” in your dining room? Do you curse the electrician that didn’t bother to think about centering a hanging light fixture? Yeah, me too! I had this problem in our laundry room.
Granted, “most people” don’t hang chandeliers in their laundry room, but I wanted to do it. Except there was one problem. The confounded light fixture box was no where near centered on the room or the washer and dryer. Grrrr.
No worries, if you have enough wire and chain, you can simply swag your light fixture by installing a ceiling hook.
Materials:
- Flashlight
- Straight Pin
- Tape Measure
- Pencil
- Ceiling hook (screw in type)
Difficulty: Easy
How to Swag a Light Fixture Instructions:
The first and most important thing you have to do is locate the studs or ceiling joists.
Start by taking the flashlight and peeking beside the fixture box. Typically ceiling fixtures are mounted to a stud. But, some may have a brace installed (this is the case if the electrical box was installed with the intent of holding the weight of a ceiling fan or other heavy light fixture.)
In my case, the joist was right there (see photo above.) Locate the direction the joist runs, and then measure 16″ out from the joist on either side. This is a good location to start looking for another stud.
(I do have a stud finder, but half the time I can’t find the stud finder. Yes, I probably need a stud finder finder!) Next try rapping your knuckle on the ceiling around where the next stud should be. If it helps, close your eyes and feel for solid wood under the drywall as you knock. When you think you found that elusive stud, use the pin trick.
Insert a straight pin. If it goes all the way in, there is no stud there. If it goes in a little bit and then stops no matter how much you try to force it in, you found yourself a stud (let’s hope he’s a well mannered guy as well. Ha ha ha.)
Take your ceiling hook and screw it into the hole where your pin was. Pull down to test the strength.
Hang your chandelier onto the hook at the desired height.
Rewire your fixture to the electrical box (you can follow my tutorial for installing a light fixture if you need to.)
Voila! You now have a chandelier hanging exactly where you want it.
Do you like my adorable sunny yellow chandelier? Would you believe that she used to be a dated brass chandy? Do you have a Habitat ReStore near you? Check them out for inexpensive light fixtures.
See y’all later!
How can I swag a chandelier that doesn’t have a chain but one of those thin rods?
You’d have to replace the rods with chain.
Hi there! I’m looking for a modern simple hook like the one you used here, but every one I find is frilly! Can you share where you got it?
Hi
I love your how-to video with swag lights. The question I have is this……can I safely wire 2 chandeliers to one electrical box? I need 2 light fixtures and I have these awesome matching deco chandeliers (I can rewire them, no problem) but there’s only 1 box in the ceiling, which is already centered. Obviously, I don’t want to overload the receptacle. What do you think??
Thank you !
Lucy
Lucy, you can wire two light fixtures to the one box…BUT, you need to add up all the wattage used on that one circuit to answer the overload question. You also have to make sure that all connections are contained and sealed in the junction box. So, you probably need to wire the fixtures together and then attach it to the box. You might want to consult with an electrician just to be safe on this one.
Question…how is the weight of the chandelier supported? I’m trying to figure out a way to hang a swag light I made but I don’t think it’s smart to have the electrical wires be the support…and the swag chains are too 70’s childhood memory for me.
Heather, you can see the original chandelier in the last photo. It still has the chain around the wire. You are correct, you should never hang a light (unless it is very lightweight) from the wires.
Don’t hang by electrical wire, buy matching or complimenting chain!
I need to extend my swag light to 16′. How do I add more length? Change out the guts of the electrical wiring and chain?
Yes, you’ll need to re-wire with new wiring.
Thank you so much! Just finished reading the post and saved it.
Have a lovely weekend.