How to Make a Ceiling Light Escutcheon

Have you ever removed an old florescent bar light and found gaping holes where there shouldn’t be any? Or worse, learning that that your old fixture was never attached to anything but the drywall?

As you can see, that is exactly what I found.

STEP 1: Find the ceiling joists and mark them so that your next fixture is secure.

STEP 2: Mark those on your board.

This is very important!

STEP 3: Paint a base color on the selected board. I chose a pumpkin color which was a shade darker than the walls to help tie-in the color scheme.

STEP 4: Trace your design and paint it white. I chose the same paint that I painted the trim in my bathroom. See below for the pattern.

STEP 5: Next, using a sea sponge, dot the entire surface with the white paint so that it is mottled looking.

STEP 6: Using a mixture of black/brown acrylic paint trace the lines of the scroll pattern. Be sure to add some shadowing for a more three-dimensional effect.

STEP 7: Using the sea-sponge again, I mottled the surface with the wall color to help tie it into the color scheme. I thinned down the paint with a little water or you can mix it with a little glazing medium.

STEP 8: Frame with cut molding pieces painted to look like the metal light. You can use a metal spray paint or see below for the steps for painting it using acrylic paints.

For best results spay on a coat of acrylic varnish to protect it. Secure it with wood screws going into the ceiling joists (marked and measured from STEP 1) and install your new light by attaching it to the board.

-Barbara Ivie Green

PAINT THE FRAME IN FOUR EAST STEPS

STEP 1: Stain boards a cedar color.

STEP 2: Use a wax candle or white crayon to rub on the raised surfaces. (This will make it so that the next stain will not adhere to it or will RESIST the stain.)

STEP 3: Stain the boards a dark walnut color.

STEP 4: Using a soft cloth rub the raised areas to reveal the cedar stain beneath it.

PATTERN FOR LIGHT ESCUTCHEON

This is the pattern I created to go across a 1” X 12” X 50 ½” board. Not shown is a border that I added around the edge.

My light was centered between two ceiling joists which were 16” on center. This length gave me 8 places where I was able to screw into the ceiling joists too.

Permission granted to copy this pattern for the purposes of creating the light escutcheon.

To reprint, credit must be given to artist Barbara Ivie Green with link to this site.