As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I have this special talent for finding and falling in love with expensive things. I have a knack for it, really- if you need someone to come with you to a store to pinpoint the most expensive item (with price tags hidden, of course), I am your girl.
Strangely, I haven’t found much use for this gem of a talent.
This draw to expensive things, however, does inspire many of our projects around here. I show Adam the copper light that I’ve fallen for that is $600 (not exaggerating) and we start brainstorming a way to make a copper light for less.
Luckily, these OTTAVA pendant lights from IKEA have a great barn light-esque shape (and a $29.99 price tag… yep, that means that we spent $60 for both of our pendants!), just minus the copper shimmer I was hoping for. And so our copper barn light IKEA hack was born.
And, bonus, this little IKEA hack is the perfect metallic addition to our current Winter Whites series!
Want to make one too?
First get your OTTAVA light fixture out and separated into all of its parts. Using masking tape (or painters tape), cover all of the non-aluminum hardware. Similarly, tape off both the top and bottom 6″ of cord (so that the spray paint doesn’t splash onto the cord).
We ended up buying (and using) both antique and shiny copper spray paint- we used the rustic paint as a base/primer and sprayed the shiny copper spray paint on top (allowing it to dry overnight betweeen coats). However, I’m not certain that the base coat is necessary- I think that a couple coats of the shiny paint would probably suffice (but, just so you know, the two-coats-in-different-finishes is what we did, and that worked too).
Once all of the parts are sprayed (and allowed to dry for a day or two), reassemble and hang!
That’s it. One shiny, copper-y, barn light for a kitchen near you! Or, go for broke (err, $30 more bucks) and make a pair. Lovely!
Be sure to check out more Winter Whites goodness (a supercute upcycled baby coat) over at Delia Creates!
So pretty! Love the color
Thanks Jen! I love copper too… 🙂
Hello how did you make or find the matching drawer knobs/pulls 🙂 I too have very expensive taste but this darn budget…….
Haha- it’s the worst, right?
I found the pulls online. I remember the company was Canadian, but can’t remember the name. I will dig around to see if I can locate it for you, though. 😉
Kristin
I love the lights but they are $60 at Ikea so you got the price wrong :}
Hey Adrine- yeah, I’m not surprised that the price is different now (since IKEA changes around their prices sometimes and these were made several years back!). 😉
Oh they are beautiful! I also love the color!
(love the brick wall too)
Thanks so much Marisa! And I share your brick wall love (totally not my idea, but I LOVE it!). 🙂
I love your kitchen!
Thanks Jen!
Oh my. Girl, I admit: when I saw those lights in person, I just assumed hubby’s new job afforded some muy expensivo light fixtures. I cannot believe they are IKEA hacks. You would NEVER know it looking at them. They are gorgeous & the color is inspiring! You amaze me.
Thanks friend. Laughing at your adam’s job comment- nope, if you see something that looks expensive, we either DIYed it or found it on sale. 🙂 Can’t shake the budgeting… 🙂
girl, you’ve got this whole remodeling thing down! love the lights! my mom is thinking about a remodel so i just emailed her the links to your kitchen for some inspiration 🙂
you’re so funny, alicia! love it that your mom is maybe remodeling… too fun!
That is so stinkin’ smart. I’ve been wanting to update our pendant lights, but I just figured it would be more money than I wanted to spend. Spraypaint and Ikea? Genius.
Cheri, honestly, it was kind of a ‘we’ll try this and if it doesn’t work out, we’re only out $30″ kind of thing- haha. Luckily it worked. 🙂
Loving your bathroom updates, by the way!
oooh. love this. your new home is gorgeous. just gorgeous. I’m pinning this for our future (hopefully) home. 🙂
Thanks Delia! 🙂 We are so thankful to get to do things the way we want (get to/have to, since we ripped all of the old stuff out- haha). 🙂 It is super nice for all the people we have over, though! 🙂
WOW! I just assumed you bought the lights that way. This just confirms my belief that you can pretty much transform anything with a can of spray paint and a little patience. Nice job!
Nicole- YES! Though, I’m a little lacking in the patience department. 🙂
Really nice! And your kitchen is so pretty and clean…
Aww, thanks Kelly. Clean in this picture at least (currently, it’s recovering from a baby shower, so not quite as pristine- haha). 🙂
It’s so great what can be done with a little ol’ can o’ spray paint. I love classic copper in a kitchen, really pretty!
Isn’t it crazy? It makes me want to find other things to spray paint… hmmm… 🙂
I love your kitchen. The color scheme is fresh and new and I never thought to use copper accents. So fabulous!! The lights add just the right touch!
Thanks Melissa! And, honestly, I wasn’t sure about copper until I saw it all up. Good thing it turned out, right? 😉
I loved your comment about picking out THE most expensive things, I have always been accused of have champagne taste on a beer budget. It does allow for a lot of creativity though. I am not usually a fan of copper, it’s from growing up in the 60’s the whole copper and avacado thing… But I must say, the small touches you have put in look stunning and I really can’t picture anything else in their place, it goes perfect with the brick!
Haha- glad to share this trait with someone. Creativity inspiring, for sure. 🙂
And thanks for the copper love. 🙂
Beautiful lights (and kitchen) Thanks so much for the IKEA heads up!
Susan
Thanks Susan… gotta love Ikea (especially with some copper spray paint on hand). 🙂
Can you tell me where you found your bar stools? Awesome and love the copper pendants!
Thanks Kim! I got the barstools on overstock (we love them!).
I love these. I actually like yours much better! Thanks for the tip.
Thanks Kathleen! 🙂
Rustoleum is my all-time favorite product! I’m such a low-prep gal and it does wonders. I love your lamp re-vamp. So awesome!
Anneliese, thank you. Love the chance for drastic change (with minimal effort/investment) that spray paint provides! 🙂
Kirstin! This is awesome!! I’ve been spray painting light fixtures for many years, but I would’ve been scared to do copper and the lights for such a prominent place – yours turned out stunning! also, I have your same talent. never fails – the thing that I HAVE to have is five times more expensive than any alternative. Guess we probably shouldn’t ever go shopping together!!
haha, glad to find someone in the same boat. the good news is that my budget-crazy side is stronger/louder than my expensive-things-loving side. 🙂 it is a creative-endeavor generator, for sure, don’t you think??? 🙂
and, yep, I was super nervous about the copper. good thing it turned out to my liking…
Love your copper colored lights and your kitchen too! The lights doesn’t look like it’s DIYed “looks expensive”. Great idea! Thanks for sharing Kirstin!
Thanks so much Beckie! 🙂 Thanks for featuring us.
FAB U LOUS and that brick interior wall–LOVE!!!
I bought one of these (different style canopy) at a yard sale last summer for $5 and didn’t know where it came from. It’s missing one of the knurled nuts, which was replaced with a brass plain nut. Still trying to figure where it would go in an arts & crafts bungalow!
I bet you could get one a replacement from IKEA (they have given me all sorts of replacement parts now). 🙂 Good luck in your ‘spot finding.’ 🙂
Hello was wondering if the exposed bulbs bother you when they are lit? I am considering these lights for over my island. Thanks
Hey Debbie, is it going to be your only source of light? If so, I probably wouldn’t recommend them (they aren’t super bright). They’re perfect when paired with another light source, though (we have recessed lighting in the kitchen as well).
Hope that helps!
I absolutely love the kitchen, and I love the copper details.
I was wondering where you bought the copper drawer pulls and knobs from?
Thanks Christina! I need to check again, but I think we got the pulls from myknobs.com. I will update here if that isn’t the source…
Hope that helps!
I couldn’t help but notice the floors in your kitchen…can you tell me about them!??!
Hey Elizabeth- they’re reclaimed barn wood. We love them! We got them at Reclaimed Wood Denver- http://www.reclaimeddesignworks.com
Hope that helps! 🙂
Ugh I’m not nearly crafty enough for this! Wish I could just buy them in this colour!
Haha- that’d be nice right Jo?
Hi! Found you while doing a search for copper pendant lights!! Love this hack…
I know this post is old but I was interested in finding out where you got those school vintage looking chairs by the window…I love the mix of elements in your kitchen…we are in the middle of a remodel and I fell in love with a copper drum light for over the kitchen nook…but our pulls are nickel and I was worried it wouldn’t work…plus I have the same kitchen aid and in the same color and it all works so beautifully in your kitchen! Thanks for the inspiration (and confirmation)
Isis- it sounds like we have similar design taste!
I found those school chairs at a local thrift store for a couple dollars each (they’re even stamped on the bottom with the name of a local elementary school!). I wish I could give you a more replicate-able response. 😉
Good luck on your remodel! Sounds like it’s going to be gorgeous!
Hello
I know this is an older post but I had to ask how the paint finish held up on these lights. I looooooove them. We have very similar colours in our kitchen and I am currently searching for knobs but so far nada. I want square copper knobs.
Those particular lights from ikea are $60 here in Canada if i am lucky to find them in store. So it would be easier to convince hubs this project is viable if I could tell him the would last 🙂
Thank you!
Hey Veronica! We only lived in that house for 2 years, but the paint held up great for that time… Hope that helps!
Just stumbled across your blog (& love it!) from Pinterest. Question for you – is your brick wall ACTUALLY a brick wall or is it wallpaper? If it’s paper, would you mind sharing where you got it from?! Thanks!
It’s an actual brick wall- not wallpaper. 😉 Good luck in your search. 😉
This is so insane, I mean how you choose the excellent color for the light, what about now? it the color still stay on the light in 2020 or you repaint this?
Thank you! We sold the house years ago, so I have no idea how it’s held up over the years. Sorry that’s not more helpful@
Thanks for sharing this piece of information. I really enjoyed it. keep up the good work.
I found lots of interesting information here. Such a Great work. I like this blog. Thanks for sharing wonderful information.
These look amazing, I just cracked up laughing because I am exactly the same, if it’s expensive I’ll find it and fall in love with it. But I’ve just looked up the price of those lights in my country (Sweden) and they are nearly $50 US! I mean it’s still cheaper than the $800 light I just fell in love with but still, wanted to share the injustice 🙂
Corinne- we moved overseas this summer and I am always amazed at how much more we pay for things here than I did in Denver. Ugh! It’s the worst, right?