ONE ROOM CHALLENGE WEEK 2: Dining Room Lighting via. The Pacific Standard | www.thepacificstandard.com

Today marks week 2 of the One Room Challenge (ORC.) You can read our plans and mood board shared in week one’s post here! Today we’re chatting about all things lighting, which happens to be one of my favorite tasks of this space. Lighting can be so transformative, especially when creating a mood for your space. As we mentioned here, we’re opting to achieve a relaxed California casual dining space for our home. Continue reading to see which products we’ve selected and how we’re utilizing a hanging pendant without electrical.

The One Room Challenge is hosted twice a year in spring and again in Fall and run for 6-weeks. I’m thrilled to be participating as a guest, and I look forward to starting this challenge and connecting with fellow bloggers! I’ll be posting each week to share our dining space's on-going progress while highlighting our weekly to-do list (more on that below)!

HOW TO: The Magic Puck Light Trick

If you’re a follower of home decor on Instagram, I’m sure you’ve read about the magic light trick before. Essentially this DIY light technique skips any electrical wiring and utilizes a remote-controlled puck light. Even before joining the ORC, I knew I wanted to try this short-cut. It’s a genius idea and really allows you to control where you place light sources in your space. This DIY is incredibly easy to recreate and only requires a few pieces that you can find at your local hardware store:

Remote Controlled Puck Light (make sure you have batteries!)
Gorilla Glue or similar stronghold adhesive
3/4-in x 3/4-in dia PVC Fitting
Super Glue

One of the main ways I see this DIY going south is if it is intended as the main light source. Remember, these are only puck-lights, so the end goal shouldn’t be to light your entire room. Since we have several can lights, our pendant's purpose is merely to create a mood and light the tablescape. Another tip to remember is to get a puck light with a remote! While a magic light used in a bedroom (task lighting) may be OK, a pendant or chandelier doesn’t work well without a remote. Trust me; you will not want to crawl on the table to push your puck light to turn it on and off.

This is as basic a DIY as it comes. Unscrew the back of the puck light, apply a thin layer of Gorilla glue around the top of the PVC piece, and attach to the back of the puck light (as pictured). Let the glue set completely before attempting to hang. Once dry, add required batteries, reattach back to the puck light, and screw into the light socket.

WOVEN DINING ROOM PENDANT

Going along with our California coastal decor theme, texture is everything! I love the look and feel of rattan/bamboo hanging pendants. I knew when it came to selecting a shade size, and I wanted to go big! Many of my initial favorites were well over $300, but I scored a great option for less than $40 from Ikea. The style is called the TORARED Pendant shade and is roughly 20” x 22”. It’s the perfect size to make a statement in the room and hangs proportionately in the space. Instead of using a standard hanging light, I wanted to opt for a woven pendant extension. I found this one for a steal on Amazon (as in less than $10!)

To make sure the puck light wasn’t visible, I tied a simple knot to hide the light.