DIY Convert Pendant Light To Plug-In Lamp

We hacked an EQ3 Metro ceiling pendant and turned it into a plug-in wall lamp for our bedroom. It was fairly easy and only took about 15 minutes; here's how we did it! 

DISCLAIMER: Electricity is dangerous and can kill you or burn down your house. If you are inexperienced or not comfortable with electrical work, do not proceed.

Supplies

Pendant lamp of your choosing. We chose the EQ3 Metro ceiling pendant light

2-Pole, 3 Wire Grounding Plug (if your fixture doesn't have a ground you can use this one)

Wire strippers

Phillips head screwdriver

Precision screwdriver set
First, carefully remove the base plate from the light fixture by loosening the plastic locking nut with a precision screwdriver.

Cut all the wires to the same length. Then strip the jacket from each wire to expose enough copper to wrap around the screws inside the plug. You may need to use snips to cut a bit of the fabric cord cover to expose enough wire.

Unscrew the plug on the outer jacket and open up the plug to expose the terminals.

Connect the each wire to the matching screw inside the plug: green to green (ground), black to gold (hot), and white to silver (neutral). It helps if you give the exposed copper strands a twist first to keep all the strands together as a single wire and then make a hook to loop around the screw posts. Also, orient your hook so it loops around the screw post in a clockwise fashion so that it stays wrapped when you tighten the screw down! You can use your micro screwdriver to help keep the copper wires tucked under the screw bases before you tighten the screws down. 

With a standard size screw driver, tighten the screws so the copper is tightly connected. Now double check that there's no copper wire from any of the three terminals touching wire or screw from another terminal or you'll get a short circuit and trip your breaker. Or burn your house down.

Close the plug and tighten the screw. Make sure you have enough outer jacket around the cord to extend into the clamp mechanism of the plug so the insulating jackets of the three inner wires aren't exposed.

And you're all set! Plug in that bad boy and see if it works!

You can hang this from your ceiling using a metal hook or 3M hook (which is what we did), or you can DIY your own bracket like this one we made for our studio!