Preston's Bedroom Update: DIY Herringbone Pendant

We are slowly but surely making progress on the tweaking of Preston's bedroom.  We started out with a plan, painted his dresser, and now I am tackling the lighting situation.

Preston's bedroom started out with the typical "boob light" prior to this project.  The bad blogger in me didn't snap a before picture, but it basically looked like this:

I decided we needed something a bit more appropriate for our growing boy {read into that however you wish...}

Back when we were working on my brother's apartment, we purchased a drum shade from IKEA that we were going to hang in the kitchen.  Since he was renting, the hubs didn't want to mess with the electrical, so we decided to nix it there and I figured I would save it for Preston's room instead.  WIN!

Although the site states that the shade is Gray, I find that it is more of a greige.  But it would still work in the space just fine.  However, since I decided to skip the bold pattern on the dresser and go for the simple, sophisticated hardware instead, I couldn't just hang up a boring ol' shade and call it done.  I still wanted to use the herringbone pattern that I had original found on Pinterest here from this fabulous blog here.

The supplies I used for this project were:

• Calculator
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Flexible Tape Measure
• Snow Fabric Paint Marker

The paint marker was intended to be used on fabric, and I selected something with a fine point for my pattern.  This was my first time painting fabric, so I made sure to test out the pen on a small scrap piece before getting started.

The reason I decided to paint the shade instead of cover it with fabric was because I wanted to save money on the yardage, I wanted a clean look and there is no diffuser to hide any fabric covering imperfections from the bottom, and the shade is not a perfect drum {it is angled}, so covering it would have been a challenge that probably would have left me frustrated and in tears....

However, since the drum shade was slanted, I needed to determine how to make even lines down the sides.  Using the tape measure, I measured around both the top and bottom, and then used my handy calculator to determine the distance to mark on the top and the bottom, to have the same number of lines.

Using the paperclips to hold the tape measure in place, I was able to mark the measurements and then use my ruler to draw straight lines from the top of the shade to the bottom.

The next step was to add marks for the connecting points.  I marked every inch down, all around the shade {44 total lines around, 12 total marks down}.

The rest was easy peasy.  I  just held the shade on my lap, used the pen, and traced the lines.  I found it was easier to connect the dots using a driver's license sized card, and my longer ruler for the top to bottom lines.

The paint absorbed and dried instantly.  When it was all finished, I had just run out of paint.  Whew, it was this close to not making it!

I am beyond in love with the outcome!  It is such a nice and happy surprise when you walk by Preston's bedroom now!

We used a regular ol' light kit {which I sprayed orb}, and it all came together magically!

Let's chat about the powers of a little pendant update!  Anyone else updating lighting in their home?  Or painting lamp shades?