How to Hang Swag in an Apartment (Cheap, Temporary, and Moveable)

For this demonstration, all that you need for a sweet swag light where you need - or where you want it - is a swag kit from Lamps USA, shade, a bulb, some Command Hooks, zip ties, and a way to reach the ceiling. The chances are that you have most of this already on-hand.

The time needed to complete this task is 5-10 minutes, so you won’t need to make a day of it. Picking the right spot might be the biggest challenge.

For this demonstration, there was the need for a reading light for two over a chair and a half. The need for reading or task lighting meant a diffuser wasn’t ideal. Also, with swag lighting, you can adjust the distance of your light should the output be too intense.

Behind the chair, there are strategically placed storage solutions, so the chair wasn’t going anywhere. A lack of furniture placement options meant the light would have to be adjusted to suit the chair's position and size. Not a big deal, since the malleability of the plug-in swag kit from Lamps USA allows for easy customization.

The Command Strips used on this project have the holding power to keep up to 5 lbs in place. However, the typical applications of this sort of hook work with gravity – not against it. Perhaps over cautious, but a series of three of the hooks within 2 feet of each other was ideal.

Before attaching the shade and placing the bulb, the height and location were mapped out using the kit. After the height of the shade became optimal for use, the cord got looped onto the hooks and zip tied it in place.

After getting the cord positioned and held firmly in place, the shade and bulb were added. 

Time to read!