Making Joy and Pretty Things

DIY Projects and Home Renovation

How to Make a Wood Bead Chandelier

· In: DIY and Crafts

Wood bead chandeliers add so much rustic style to any space but can be extremely expensive. See how I transformed a plain, budget-friendly IKEA chandelier into a farmhouse-style wood bead chandelier for our farmhouse girl’s nursery.

Hello, friends!

It feels like it’s been forever since we shared our farmhouse girls nursery reveal.  Well, maybe that’s because it has been forever and STILL no little girl has arrived.  I’m tired, uncomfortable, and generally annoyed.  But, at least I have this sweet room to look at 😉

The sitting area of our girl's farmhouse style nursery, with a rocking chair and pillows.
The crib in our girl's nursery, hanging wall art, and diy wood bead chandelier.
A crib, pink changing table and floating shelves, farmhouse style wall art, and diy wood bead chandelier in our baby girl's farmhouse nursery.
The nursery changing table - and upcycled dresser painted pink, the crib, and area run in our baby girl's farmhouse style nursery.
A peak into the closet in our baby girl's nursery, with shelves, wallpapered walls, and gray-painted shutter doors.
Another view of our girl's farmhouse style nursery - the closet, changing table and decorative shelves, and baby's crib.
A diy wood bead chandelier hangs over the baby's crib, and farmhouse style wall art hangs on the wall - a vintage window with a white floral hoop.
Learn how to make this easy diy wood bead chandelier with farmhouse style, perfect for a kids bedroom.

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How to Make a DIY Wood Bead Chandelier

If you remember back when I shared my design plan for the nursery, I was crushing on this wood bead chandelier that was wayyyy out of budget.

The inspiration for my diy wood bead chandelier - a similar wood bead chandelier from Pottery Barn.

But, I was determined to have a wood bead chandelier in our nursery.  It was just the absolute perfect addition to the space.

I’m so excited to show you exactly how I made this wood bead chandelier using a cheap chandelier from IKEA.  It was SO much easier than I originally thought it would be.  Honestly, the hardest part was coming up with a pattern for the beads and I’ve done that for you!

With a pattern already determined, you could really complete the entire chandelier in an afternoon 🙂

Supplies needed to make a DIY wood beaded chandelier:

Step 1: Paint the Chandelier Frame

First, you remove all of the crystals from the IKEA chandelier until you’re left with the metal base.  Next, tape off the openings for the lightbulbs!

Grab your chalky finish spray paint and go to town!  We used an entire can of spray paint to cover the chandelier.  Luckily, it covered really well!

Once the base is spray painted white, it’s on to the fun part – the beads!

Step 2: Get Read to Bead!

I’m going to list the pattern by bead size for each row or section of the chandelier.  I created this diagram below to color code each of the sections (enough sections for a full rainbow!).

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple lines are drawn over the rows of wood beads on this diy wood bead chandelier to show the different sections of wood beads you need to create.

For each section, I would pull out and cut a long piece of the steel wire.  I honestly never measured the wire, just put it up against the section where it was going to be placed to get a rough estimate of how much I needed.  Always better to overestimate!

At one of the ends of the steel wire, I rolled it into a loop so I could place the beads on the wire without them falling off.

A thin strand of wire, with a loop twisted at the end, ready to be beaded for the diy wood bead chandelier.

Follow These Bead Section Patterns:

Now, here is the pattern for each section!

RED: 6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-10-10-16-10-10-16-10-10-16-10-10-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6

ORANGE: 6-6-6-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-10-10-10-16-6-16-6-16-10-10-10-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-6-6-6

YELLOW: 6-6-6-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-16-6-6-16-6-6-16-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-6-6-6

This pattern is repeated twice.  After doing this pattern once, you stick the wire through the bolded 16mm bead from the orange section, and repeat the pattern on the other side.

Sections of wood beads hang from the chandelier, with a length of wire poking out.

GREEN: 6-6-6-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-16-6-16-6-16-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-6-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-16-10-16-10-16-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-6-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-16-10-16-10-16-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-6-6-6

BLUE: 6-6-6-6-6-10-10-6-6-16-16-6-16-16-6-16-16-6-6-10-10-6-6-6-6-6

PURPLE: 6-6-6-6-6-10-10-6-6-16-16-6-16-16-6-16-16-6-6-10-10-6-6-6-6-6

Step 3: Attach the Wood Bead Strands to the Chandelier

Once you have a row of beads strung onto the steel wire, it’s time to attach it to the metal IKEA chandelier base.  There are holes where they had connected the little crystal pieces that I used to attach the steel wire.

First, stick the steel wire up through the bottom of the hole.

A close up look at how to attach the strands of wood beads to the body of the chandelier.

Then, pull it through tightly and wrap around itself several times.

A close up look at how to secure the strands of wood beads to the chandelier body.
A close up look at how to thread the strands of wood beads onto the chandelier body, and anchor them using wire.

Then, stick the end back up through the hole.  This part was a little difficult so I used pliers to grip the end and pull completely through.

Using plyers to safely attach the strands of wood beads to the chandelier body.

Last, I trimmed the end of the steel wire and pushed the cut edge down so it wasn’t visible.

Repeat those steps for each of the sections of beads.

(Remember the yellow section is a bit different – see the yellow section details)

And, that’s it!!  Not too bad, right?!

A view of the DIY wood bead chandelier looking down over the baby's crib - rows of wood beads hang from a white framed chandelier.

I absolutely LOVE how it looks in her room.  It’s the perfect touch of farmhouse style!

A closeup look at the strands of wood beads hanging from a white-painted chandelier body.
Learn how to make this easy diy wood bead chandelier, with strands of wood beads hanging from an IKEA chandelier frame.
A close up look at strands of wood beads hanging on the IKEA chandelier.
This easy diy wood bead chandelier hangs in our little girl's farmhouse style nursery, over the baby's crib.
A closer look at the diy wood bead chandelier - this view shows where the strands of wood beads are attached to the chandelier body.

DIY Wood Bead Chandelier

Learn how to make this fun farmhouse style diy wood bead chandelier in just a few easy steps.

If you love farmhouse style, you'll love this DIY wood bead chandelier! Strands of wood beads hang on a budget-friendly painted IKEA chandelier frame. Learn how to make this farmhouse fixture!

Active Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours
Difficulty Easy

Materials

Instructions

Step 1: Paint the Chandelier Frame

  1. Remove all of the crystals from the chandelier until you’re left with the metal base.
  2. Tape off the openings for the lightbulbs.
  3. Spray paint the entire body of the chandelier with the white chalky finish spray paint. Let dry completely.

Step 2: Get Read to Bead!

  1. Create the strands of beads following the patterns below. (Note: they are color-coded in accordance with the picture below.)

Color-coded diagram shows how to make various strands of wood beads.

RED: 6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-10-10-16-10-10-16-10-10-16-10-10-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6

ORANGE: 6-6-6-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-10-10-10-16-6-16-6-16-10-10-10-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-6-6-6

YELLOW: 6-6-6-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-16-6-6-16-6-6-16-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-6-6-6

  • Note on YELLOW section: This pattern is repeated twice. After doing this pattern once, you stick the wire through the bolded 16mm bead from the orange section and repeat the pattern on the other side.

GREEN: 6-6-6-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-16-6-16-6-16-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-6-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-16-10-16-10-16-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-6-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-16-10-16-10-16-6-6-10-10-10-6-6-6-6-6

BLUE: 6-6-6-6-6-10-10-6-6-16-16-6-16-16-6-16-16-6-6-10-10-6-6-6-6-6

PURPLE: 6-6-6-6-6-10-10-6-6-16-16-6-16-16-6-16-16-6-6-10-10-6-6-6-6-6

Step 3: Attach the Wood Bead Strands to the Chandelier

  1. To attach the strands of wood beads to the chandelier, use the drilled holes where the crystals were previously attached.
  2. First, stick the steel wire up through the bottom of the hole.
  3. Then, pull it through tightly and wrap around itself several times.
  4. Then, stick the end back up through the hole. This part was a little difficult so I used pliers to grip the end and pull completely through.
  5. Last, I trimmed the end of the steel wire and pushed the cut edge down so it wasn’t visible.
  6. Repeat those steps for each of the sections of beads.
© Making Joy and Pretty Things
Project Type: DIY & Decor

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Easy DIY to make a wood bead chandelier! The perfect DIY craft to add farmhouse style to your home.

Remember to check out our full farmhouse nursery room makeover!

Wishing you a joyful day!

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Comments

  2. Lauren says

    I am IN LOVE with this and beaded chandelier’s I have been dreaming about one since I’ve seen yours.
    I am in the middle of a room re-do so I’m thinking down the road I may need to do exactly this!
    *all the heart eyes* Great job!

    Reply

  3. Lora says

    I’ve been looking forward to this tutorial — Pinning! And don’t be surprised if you see one in my home in the future haha!! 🙂

    Reply

  9. Alexandra says

    This is awesome! I have seen lots of the beaded chandeliers on Pinterest, and was contemplating making one myself. Love that you did this for the nursery! Pinning for later.
    Found you at the Pin Junkie Pin Party. I just started a new link up on my EyeLoveKnots blog, and would love if you came to link up with us! This month there is a giveaway for some sock yarn as requested in last month’s link up, but drop me a line and let me know what you’d like to see on future link ups 🙂

    Alexandra of EyeLoveKnots
    Super Crafty Sunday Link Up #2: http://eyeloveknots.blogspot.com/2018/02/super-crafty-sunday-link-up-2-crochet-n.html

    Reply

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