Installing New Brass Bowl Shade Light Fixture

Beau Wynja

Installing Pendant Lighting

If you want to create unique lighting, Color Cord Company is all for sharing fun ideas and step-by-step guides. In this blog, we’ll be teaching you how to use one of our hardware kits to install pendant lighting with your own brass shade. 

We’re using a large brass bowl as our shade, but you can use any found or bought object to design lighting with a personal touch. So take a look at our video and follow along with our instructions for a simple DIY pendant shade installation you can do in a single afternoon!

Tools & Materials

diy light pendant installation kit

To ensure installing pendant lighting using these instructions is easy, you’ll need to double-check that you have all the items from our ⅛ IPS pendant hardware kit, including:

If you don’t have a shade already, you should explore our options prior to starting your DIY light fixture change. We have shades in so many colors and materials, including Fabric, Metal, and Glass, that we guarantee you’ll find something that fits your aesthetic.

Instructions

The first part of installing pendant lighting is flipping over your shade and finding the center. If you’re using a found object, like our bowl, you’ll need to find the center, mark it with the center punch, and drill a hole all the way through. Start with the 9/64” bit and then widen the hole to the right diameter with the larger bit. With your shade ready to go, you can get into the details of wiring your DIY pendant shade.

1. Wiring Your Socket

  • Apply a piece of masking or electrical tape to your cord about an inch and a half away from the edge.
  • Strip the cloth covering and PVC housing to expose the conductor wires underneath.
  • Apply another piece of tape to prevent the cloth covering from sliding as you work.
  • Use the wire strippers to remove 3/8” of the conductor wire housing to expose the copper wires.
  • Repeat these steps on the other side of the cord but expose several inches, as this side will go up into the canopy and be wired to the junction box.

We do recommend soldering the end of your stranded copper wire while installing pendant lighting for a more secure contact point.

2. Threading Your Socket

threading socket cap and cover

The next step in this DIY light fixture change is threading your socket and cap.

  • Grab the 1” all thread and apply it to the top of the socket cap.
  • Tighten down the small set screw.
  • Loosen the larger set screw.
  • Take one silicone washer and the socket cover and thread it onto the cord.
  • Send the conductor wires through the all thread and socket cap.
  • Using your needle nose pliers, send the green ground wire into the hole and tighten down the set screw.
  • Grab the socket body and insert your black positive and white negative wires into the correct terminals.
  • Lock the socket together (you will NOT be able to unlock it once it’s locked). 
  • Slide the socket cover over the socket and then the silicone washer over the all thread.

3. Cord + Bowl

With your cord threaded and your shade ready, you can combine them into one piece to continue installing your pendant lighting.

  • Send the cord through the inside of the bowl, where the all-thread will come through the top, and the silicone washer is sandwiched between the bowl and socket.
  • Apply the silicone washer, metal washer, and knurled nut to the cord in that order and bring it down to and over the all thread.
  • Thread the knurled nut onto the all-thread until it feels secure.
  • Loosen the set screw to your female barrel cord grip and thread that onto the all-thread as far as it can go.
  • Secure the cord by tightening down the cord grip set screw.

4. Ceiling Installation

wiring a pendant light to the junction box

Everything is almost ready to go! The last step of installing your pendant lighting is hanging it!

  • Grab the single port canopy and remove the canopy screws and rotating mount.
  • Loosen the canopy set screw and feed the exposed ends of the cord through the canopy and tighten the set screw back down.

5. It’s wiring time!

  • Turn off your light switch and flip off the breaker to your junction box
  • Find the j-box screw holes and attach the rotating canopy mount with the canopy screws
  • Find the black, white, green, and sometimes bare copper ground wire in the junction box 
  • Connect these wires to the corresponding wire coming from your canopy
  • Twist each set together with the included wire nuts and secure with electrical tape
  • Push all the wires up into the junction box
  • Line up the canopy screw holes to the canopy mount and thread in the side screws

And you’re all done installing your pendant lighting! Screw in your favorite LED bulb, flip the breaker and light switch, and enjoy.

Lighting with Color Cord Company

bedroom wall sconce lighting

See? Installing pendant lighting is easy with a bit of guidance from our team! Whether you’re getting ready for a DIY pendant shade installation or you’re rewiring a wall sconce, we’re here with tons of videos and support. We also have all the products you could possibly need for any type of lighting project. Explore our entire store to find swag hooks, light bulbs, shades, cages, and AiO light fixtures to find the right fit for a change from boring to exciting DIY light fixtures.

Have questions about this DIY pendant shade installation? Reach out to our team for personalized support through our chat function or by phone at 800.409.1070.

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