So I promised that I was going to talk about the wood bead pendant light from my fall tour on Monday. I love the warmth from the wood that it adds to our white kitchen.

This is such a simple project that spruces up a cheap metal pendant light. Since the light over our kitchen sink is a can light, I needed an extra step and use a can-light converter kit which you can skip if you have a regular ceiling light.

My wood bead pendant light inspiration

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Here are some handmade examples from Etsy that inspired me and that I originally wanted for our bathroom. I love their organic beauty and they could each be a statement piece in any room. Unfortunately, they aren’t for sale anymore.

These types of wood bead pendant lights go well with every decor, from farmhouse to contemporary industrial, modern, and boho.

The pendants pictured in the original design aren’t available anymore.

I have become so obsessed with the thought of having a wood bead pendant light fixture like this in my house. I have been incorporating more and more natural elements into our decor and I have always had a soft spot for light wood tones, note my light-colored wood flooring which I have had since 2000 and still love.

our kitchen before adding the wood bead pendant light

You all know my turquoise-colored pendant which we had over our kitchen sink for a while now. Don’t get me wrong, I still like it, it was just time for a change. This turquoise light is a lampshade attached to a can light converter because we have a can light over our kitchen sink as I mentioned earlier.

How to make a wood bead pendant light

This is not a beaded chandelier, it’s simply a pendant with large wooden beads threaded onto the electrical cord. Let me show you.

Materials used for wood bead pendant light

pendant of your choice
can light conversion kit (if you have a can light as I do)
pliers
electrical tape
screwdriver
wire cutter
electrical tape
wire connectors

example of DIY wooden bead garland made with wooden furniture legs

Similar black pendant lights that could be used for this tutorial

Wood bead pendant light instructions

DIYing a light might not be for everyone, I get that. Some of you might just say “I’m just buying it. I don’t need the hassle.” That reasoning sometimes applies to me too depending on the project. In this case, I’m glad I just made it myself because it is so simple.

I had looked for wood beads for a while and bought some small ones on Etsy which didn’t work out. Fast forward a couple of weeks to a trip to Pottery Barn when I came to a screeching halt at a bin with some strands of giant beads on major sale (not available anymore). I literally grabbed them and ran to the register.

And now I just couldn’t wait to make my own wood bead pendant light.

When I was at our local Target and saw the below Threshold pendants on sale for $12.98, I knew that I just had to give this DIY idea a try with that cheap pendant light.

black pendant used to make wood bead pendant light

As you can see the problem was that they were plug-in pendants. Not my favorite thing. Our kitchen pendant was a light that converts a can light to a pendant though as I mentioned already. So I had to be brave, take some risks again, and cut some electrical cords.

Step-by-step instructions if you need a standard pendant light

This entire tutorial is obviously a lot easier if you don’t need to change lighting kits to something else as I did. It is much simpler!

Unscrew the mounting bracket and cover.
Remove the electrical wire from the mounting parts.
Measure how long you want your pendant light to be.
Thread your beads onto the electrical wire so they rest on the pendant head according to the length measurements.
When you stacked them to your desired length and in a configuration that looks pleasing, attach the mounting parts again to the wire.
Install your light on the ceiling. (Don’t forget to turn the power off and make sure you attach the correct wires together. More tips on that are below.)

Step-by-step instructions if you need a can light converter pendant light

If you have similar issues as I do then let me show you what I did.

(No matter what type of pendant light or conversion kit you use, you have to take it apart to put the beads on)

chrome pendant that could also be used to make wood bead pendant light — This is my old can light conversion kit that the turquoise lampshade was attached to.

The one part screws in like a light bulb and is pretty cool if you ask me. This way you don’t need to remove the canned light in the ceiling and can just screw the pedant light into the light bulb socket instead.

So I took it all apart. With the goal to connect my pendant light electrical cord to the can light converter bulb socket.

can light conversion kit's bulb socket part opened up

It was pretty easy to take apart. I cut the plug off the pendants and exposed the copper wire. This is the step where you need to thread your beads on before putting the wiring together.

And then it was time to put the conversion kit and pendant together.

The pendant light from Target had the black and white cover on the electrical cord which I threaded through the can converter and then connected the electrical wire to the existing can light converter wires.

And then put the entire thing together by matching the right wires together. See the tips below to match the wires. Connect the wires with wire connectors and then wrapping the connections in electrical tape.

Screw your bulb socket into the can light and attach the cover plate. And done!

My #1 DIY lighting wiring tip

These wiring tips come in handy when installing the light or if you need to convert a pendant the way I did.

Make sure the two correct wires are put together, meaning HOT and neutral. These posts about color-coding of electrical wiring and about what the ribbed lead power cord is are very informative.

neutral = white wire
black = hot wire

But do you notice in the below photo they are both black? Hmmmmm! The conversion kit was colored black and white but the pendant light was not. The pendant wire was all black with one wire smooth and the other wire ribbed.

Ribbed wire = neutral
smooth wire = hot

Here is the tip: Connect the ribbed wire to your white wire because they are both neutral.
And connect the smooth wire to the black wire which is hot.

Either use electrical tape or wire connectors to secure the connections. Don’t forget this step!

When installing a light fixture make sure you turn the electricity off!

Finished DIY wood bead pendant light hanging in our kitchen

I used plain wooden stools and painted them. Check out the counter stool makeover tutorial.

DIY wood bead pendant light for kitchen or bathroom

And here is a current photo of our kitchen years later. I still love the wood bead pendant light but changed the rest of the kitchen a bit with my green kitchen cabinets, new counter stools, new Karndean vinyl plank flooring, vinyl-wrapped appliances, a DIY utensil rack, and a macrame towel holder.

wood bead pendant light hanging over green kitchen island

I don’t know what it is but I’m obsessed with the bead details on the pendant light.