For my upcycle project, I created chandelier and matching tumbler glasses out of four, repurposed Jameson whiskey bottles.The aesthetic I wanted to capture was that of a traditional, quiet English/Irish pub. I wanted to embody the green/brown glass, deep red/walnut wooden textures, brass and copper fixtures, etc.. Everything that conveys the comfortable appeal of a pub in a refined yet aged aesthetic.
Image source: http://streckers.dk/project/old-english-pub/
It has been mentioned in a few other posts, so I suppose I can say it again: the hardest part was picking an upcycle concept and material. Once I had a few concepts on paper, the design started to flow pretty naturally. My design loop began with inspiration from a gift I had received from my uncle (prefers to remain unnamed for this post): Two glass whiskey tumblers he had fabricated from the bottom of a pair of Jameson bottles. I had initially decided to make a matching set from wine or whiskey bottles I had collected from the recycling bin and like share them as gifts to friends once I had fabricated them. However, what occurred to me was that the glasses were easy to make and did not account for the tops of the left over bottles. With this in mind, I ideated on what could be fabricated from the leftover top halves. Thus I found inspiration from a DIY instructional for a similar design concept, shown below. From this concept I made a few revisions, several in order to accomplish my aesthetic goals and others to make the design more robust for safety considerations.
Check out the step-by-step DIY here: http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/make-and-decorate/decorating/how-to-make-a-chandelier-from-old-wine-bottles
Surprisingly it actually took me longer to draft the design and specify the materials than it did to do all the fabrication. Below are the steps I followed to create the final product.
1) Cut the four bottles
2) Cut, drill and stain both the fixture boards
3) Make four light socket assemblies and fixture them into the bottles on the larger board.
4) Wire each socket through the bottle and board and attach the leads for the outlet plug.
5) Enjoy the final products!
Functional Goals:
- I am pleased that the lighting is both functional & safe-ish
- Minor changes would be require to mount the fixture indoors
Artistic Goals:
- Very pleased with how the overall aesthetic developed
- Captured the English pub aesthetic by utilizing brass hardware, stained wood and the deep, green Jameson bottles to make all the components look “aged”
Design Improvements for Future Iterations:
- Add trim pieces to hide the messy wiring when hung up
- Add a junction box to clean up and conceal the wiring connections
- If actually hung up, the leads would be strung out the top and connected to a switch
- Other bottle types and colors (jars/beer/wine bottles, clear/brown/blue etc.)
- Softer, less bright bulbs
As for the final product’s fate, I would like to gift the chandelier to my uncle since he provided the inspiration…and a couple of the empty bottles! I sincerely enjoyed this project and am very excited about how the final aesthetic evolved throughout the process. If you have any comments or questions please feel free to address them below.
Cheers!
8 Comments. Leave new
Project looks fantastic. You really nailed the aesthetic you were going for and it’s great that the thing is actually functioning. Again it’s really hard to say anything bad about your project other than the bottles being cut a bit shorter than they should have to cover the bulbs. Some larger pictures would be nice for the report itself. Expanding on each step to how you went about each thing would also be good.
Extremely well done. Everything you said you wanted to do you did well other than maybe cutting the bottles a bit short. The aesthetic was fantastic and very well done. The quality is insane compared to most people. Great job!
You really hit the old Irish pub aesthetic on the head! I loved how you became very committed and went out to get all your materials to complete this project. The cups you made from the bottles were awesome and a great way to use the excess glass from the bottles.
What a great project! I thought you did an excellent job getting the “English Pub” look and I admire that it actually functions! I would definitely buy something like this if it were on the market. Maybe if you used smaller bulbs you could feed through the top of the bottle then you could reduce the brightness and increase the whiskey bottle and light effect. Great job!
Wow this is a unique and interesting idea. I really like the outcome of the project. It really ended up like what you wanted it to be. Maybe another chain at the top of the chandelier would have made it useable. But overall the aesthetics is great and it seems like you took a lot of time on this project.
This is an awesome project. I was initially surprised about how clean the cuts on the glass bottles looked, and considering how you cut them with hot and cold water, I’m still impressed with how that turned out. You really hit your design aesthetic goal on the nose. Although I’ve never been to Ireland, it really gives the feel of an old Irish pub. Nice Job!
I think it is interesting that you went through such a long process to go through and cut the glass. I also like the color that you used to stain the wood. I like that you captured the english pub aspect of it so well. Instead of just winging it, you had a clear goal for your aesthetic. You also do a great job of looking at your project and realizing what design improvements you may want. The quality of this product is definitely very high. Great job. Very creative while also using engineering techniques.
Very cool idea, really impressed with the final result. Impressed you were able to find a way to cut the bottles in such a manner that they had a smooth, safe edge. I too have spend a lot of time staining wood that was not sanded, quite annoying/messy work.