AS FEATURED ON ikeahackers.net !!!!
We really wanted to hang a Knappa light in our bathroom (see our bathroom pics/video here or our bathroom idea book here], but it’s a plug-in pendant, not a ceiling-mounted fixture. Not wanting to make another stop at a hardware store after our Ikea outing just to pick up some kind of ugly, overpriced pendant light kit, we looked around the shop to find a reasonably priced white ceiling mounted fixture whose parts we could plunder for our Knappa hack. Solution? The $9.99 in-store deal on the white Melodi light fixture!!
KNAPPA LOVES MELODI
MATERIALS
A good pair of wire cutters/pliers
Ikea Knappa Light [$39.99]
Ikea Melodi Light [$9.99]
METHOD
KNAPPA
Build the Ikea Knappa Light per the instructions included in the box.
[Not pictured] Using a pair of wire cutters, cut the three-pronged plug free from the rest of the white Knappa wire.
Self-Check: At this point, you will have reserved all of the Knappa product except the plug at the far end of the wire.
MELODI
Take a look at the way the wire from the Melodi light runs up through the rounded white plastic mounting cup and through a white metal mounting plate.
You will want to recreate this image using your Knappa light momentarily.
Carefully un-knot the white wire from the Melodi light fixture located behind the white metal plate at the top/ceiling mount portion of the light fixture.
Pull the wire/light fixture out of both the metal plate and the white plastic mounting cup and discard the rest of the wire/light fixture.
Self-Check: At this point, you will have reserved only the metal plate, the plastic cup, and the two plastic wire connectors from the Melodi Kit.
KNAPPA, MEET MELODI
Thread the now-plug-free Knappa wire up through the hole in the rounded/curved portion of the white plastic Melodi cup and out the open/cup side.
Thread the Knappa wire through the circle on the centre of the Melodi mounting plate.
Pull the wire to the desired height/length, or somewhere close, and, until you are ready to mount the light, knot the wire above the mounting plate at this point.
Trim any excess wire from above this knot.
Have an electrician install your light, or, un-knot the wire and use your pliers/wire cutters to expose the black and white connections inside the main wire.
Mount the Knappa Loves Melodi light fixture to your ceiling using the instructions included in the Melodi kit.
TA-DA! KNAPPA LOVES MELODI!
All of this electrical experimentation has inspired some kid-friendly electricity projects which we’ll publish here and over the summer at our sister site, Summer of Funner, so stay tuned!!!!
Hi there Roseanne,
I learn so much from what you post on this blog!
Georgia
So glad you’re enjoying it, Georgia!!!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing this!! Got the Knappa today, not realizing it was a plug-in.
Happy to help! It’s gonna look great!
Has anybody tried to spray paint this lamp to give it the silver look? Love this one, but too pricy: http://www.houzz.com/photos/10141912/Kardiel-Artichoke-Style-Lamp-Silver-Aluminum-189-Diameter-modern-pendant-lighting
I’m not sure. It’s plastic. So you’d probably just have to get a plastic friendly metallic spray paint…I”m not sure how that affects flammability, though….but you could use a cool/led lightbulb and not worry so much about heat transfer.
How does the mounting cup attach to the mounting plate of the Melodi? The instructions don’t even mention it and it doesn’t seem to keep in place. What did everyone else do?
Hi Itha!
The mounting cup just rests flush against the plate, it doesn’t actually attach to the plate. The suction of the rubber ring at the centre of the cup should hold the cup taut to the wire, and you just slide the cup up as close the plate as possible.
Oh thanks! I thought that ring in the cup was set in place and thought moving it would break it, I’ll carefully see if I can wedge it out now. Thanks again!