DIY: Plog-It Bracket Light Fixture
We figured a month of lighting wouldn't be complete without sharing at least one light-based DIY, so here we go!
It was the last day before the deadline for our very last round of CWTS. Chris and I had just pulled two near-all nighters trying to finish our basement. As we were on the homestretch of finishing the room, the staging was done and we thought we were ready to shoot, but something was missing. It was 4 PM on a Saturday and we decided last minute to make a light fixture to finish the space off. We headed over to SAM Design and picked up a Plog-it with the intent of making a cool bracket to hang it off of. Thankfully, they had just what we needed in stock.
Materials
- Plog-it or some type of rope light fixture
- 1x2 maple or other wood of choice
- Mitr saw saw
- Router table (optional)
- Clear coat +/- stain (We used satin oil based aerosol Varathane for a natural wood finish, no stain)
Decide on what shape you want to make your bracket. After sketching a few designs, we decided on a 90 Degree bracket with an angled support bracket. The plan was for the light cord to loop around the wood and hang down from the extended arm.
Given it was so last minute, we sort of eyeballed the measurements. We cut the wood to length and mitred the joint to make a 90 degree angle. Chris came up with some angles on the spot that worked, but doesn't remember what they are exactly! I'm sure you could figure out something similar from the pictures below though! They should add up to 90 degrees. And if anyone wants our exact measurements, just ask and we'll pop down to the basement and measure them up.
We decided to notch out the tip of the support arm to hold the fixture's cord in place. For this, we used a router table to cut a semi-circular groove.
Dry fit the pieces together to ensure a nice fit.
Next, we glued and brad nailed the bracket together. Start by squeezing a little wood glue between the joints and then tack them in place with a brad nailer. We nailed from the back and the bottom of the bracket so the nail holes would be the least noticeable. Wipe off any access glue and fill the nail holes with wood filler. Sand the entire bracket through three grits of sandpaper, easing the sharp edges/corners.
Now you're ready to finish the bracket. We opted for simply using a clear coat to match the clear maple finish of our Nelson Bench. You can also stain your wood any colour at this stage, but remember to always do stain tests first so you don't ruin your project!
Affix a D-ring (those rings used in picture framing) to the back of the bracket. If we had more time we would have recessed a keyhole hook in the back for a flush finish, but we had a ton of D-rings on hand already. We added bumpers on the bottom of our bracket so it wouldn't slip around the wall and scratch the paint. Finally, we popped a screw in the wall (using a drywall anchor) and hung that sucka!
At this point we started to get a little crazy...
Once you have your bracket installed, wrap your light cord around the wood however you want. We were going for a messy, loopy look so we just wrapped and knotted ours randomly.
Voila! There it is! Make sure when you take your final pictures you take off the sticker on the light. Something we forgot to do in the madness of the contest. Oops!
