It dawned on me today that I’ve never really shown you my kitchen makeover… except for a look at the kitchen island I purchased off Craigslist and gave an updo. I promise you next week I’ll show you the full room… but for now, well… frankly, there are dirty dishes in the sink and I don’t feel like washing them.   Honesty’s the best policy, right? So instead, I thought I’d show you one of my favorite parts of the room.

First… here’s a look at the BEFORE. This picture was snapped the day I first toured my house. It’s very builder-grade, but has tons of potential.

The power actual comes from the ceiling where that awesome (read with sarcasm) brass light is.  THEN, they apparently wanted more light over the sink… so they ran power down the wall to an equally awesome (really lay on the sarcasm) light was mounted behind that scalloped board.  I make an ick face every time I think about that whole arrangement. So glad it’s gone!

I’ve always LOVED mason-jars-turned-pendant-lights.  Like L.U.V. them. I had it in my mind that I could make one and there are TONS of how-to’s out there for a full run-down.  (Kara Paslay gives a great one here) Seems most people use a work with whatcha got approach, and I did the same. I knew I wanted one…. but I didn’t necessarily run out to get the supplies. Instead, I tucked the idea away for a rainy day.

<Enter rainy day>  Shopping at Lowes a while back I stumbled on an AWESOME find. I found a 3-Light Mini Pendant Light Kit for TEN. BUCKS.   $10!   Yup.   Ten.  And you want to hear something crazy?  I almost walked away from it. I know right!… nuts.  The problem was the light fixture was white, and at the time I had it in my mind that I wanted brushed nickel to match my cabinet hardware (more on that next week).  Here’s a link to the nickel finish light, available online. It’s regularly $50, so I really scored a deal.

SIDENOTE – For those of you with recessed lighting, you can still play along!  Check out this recessed light conversion kit to turn it into a pendant light!

So with my $10 Kit in hand, I skipped my happy hiney on home. ……and put it in the basement……. to collect dust……. for a few days weeks.  Hey – Just being honest!

Meanwhile, I shopped around in some local thrift stores until I found 3 jars that were similar shades of blue and had that awesome seeded glass detail that I love.  Finally…. I had it all!

Here’s where you have to forgive me. I don’t have in-progress pictures of this. I forgot. I’m sorry.   But in my defense – this was pre-blogging!

So the ceiling light, board above sink, and light mounted to board were removed, leaving me with a nice, tall space above the sink. Already SO much better!  I have a skylight in the kitchen so it allowed so much more light to shine on the counters after that board was gone.

The new pendant light kit was installed on the ceiling and I had lots of spackling, and painting to repair the wall and cabinets. But still…. SO worth it.

I had to rig the jars a bit to make them work. The lids that came with my jars were the old zinc lids with a porcelain cap. I was afraid to drill through them (and ruin them), so I just swapped them out for the modern day caps with the rubber seal ring. I wasn’t sure how well it would work, but so far – so great!

For the lids:

• Drill small holes in the top to allow ventilation when the light is on. You want the heat to be able to escape!
• Drill a larger hole for the pendant kit. I used a hole saw for this. Probably not the ideal way, but it worked! I already owned one, so I attached it to my dry and gave it a shot. The lids got hot, and I had to really hold them down to keep them from spinning, but I managed to crank three lids out before I lost my nerve (which was dwindling!).

Then… easy peasy…. Just attach the lids to the dangling pendant cords.  Screw in a bulb and then twist on your jar. DONE!

Check out the after… I hope you love them as much as I do!

(The pinwheel was made by my sister Christy for my other sister Karen’s baby shower this summer. I thought it was fun so I snagged it and brought it home. Makes me think of my nephew every time I see it!)

You’ll notice all of these photos are cleverly taken with the sink jusssst out of shot.   I told you – the dishes are dirty!

And in case you’re wondering, these three bulbs put out a LOT of light. I have no need for additional lighting in the kitchen at night. It’s not SUPER bright, but it’s plenty bright for me!

I better go do the dishes now so I can show you guys the rest of the kitchen. It’s amazing what painting the cabinets can do!