My wife and I posted almost exactly a year ago a request for ideas on how we could recreate the chandler pictured. We got mostly comments on how amazed people were that a light could cost almost 12K! In the past year we have worked hard remodeling our 1880 home to a modern contempory dwelling. So after a year we came full circle and were staring at our small dining room. We really wanted that light. Of course you know the economy being what it is, and well, we wouldn't have the money to buy this light in 3 liftimes. So, I contructed it myself. I have left out the details on the electrical wiring, I consulted my electricion friend and would advise you to do the same. FYI, its basic electrical work but I don't want you coming at me if you burn down your house. I hope you enjoy this. I'm excited to show off my work!
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Ok. Once again IKEA pulls through with the Hemma light. We chose to go with 7 bulbs on our light since our dining room is not that large. The silver "cups" which cover the sockets were easy to find on the internet. The "canopy," which covers the wiring in the ceiling, I salvaged from an old lid to a dog container. The ring... It was the hardest thing to find for the lamp. I have to get points for imagination on this one. All I can say is if you visit an adult novelties store and look, you'll find what I used.
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If i were to remove a ceiling light from my house there would be a place to connect two wires - not 16..
www.bluelounge.com/cabledrop.php
http://www.instructables.com/pages/search/search.jsp?cx=partner-pub-1783560022203827%3Anpr2q7v5m6t&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=invisable+book+shelf
I'm not sure if this would work - or if it would be green - but here is an idea. As already mentioned - a dimmer switch -- then maybe see if the same type of LED bulbs used for car's headlights could be modded to fit into the fixtures? I don't know the specs for those type lights - but if I'm not mistaken, the highest voltage for the bulbs would be approx 12 volts.
Good Luck!
P.s. Very clever saving a LOT of money on the fixture. Kudos to you! :)
Wiring all 7 in parallel gives each bulb the full voltage, but if each pair was in series you'd have half the voltage.
It'd be like permanently dimming it by half (assuming lux falls off with voltage uniformly).
It'd probably make the filaments last forever and you'd still get to use those cool giant bulbs but at only half the wattage.
If that's still too bright and power thirsty you could always put three in series but that might be getting too dim.
Just an idea, speak to your electrician if you're uncertain.
I noticed you mentioned you wanted to use red cloth wire. I live in Europe where we have 'Habitat' stores which sell it (http://www.habitat.net/pws/landing.html) so for those of you in one of the lucky countries you could always try there.
Again, congrats on the great solution!