How to Get the Schoolhouse Electric Look for Less

If you love the look of Schoolhouse Electric, but don’t want to pay the high price tag, here is a way to cut the cost! Read on to find out how to get the Schoolhouse Electric look for less without any DIY-ing!

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Schoolhouse Electric Look for Less

I have been drooling over Schoolhouse Electric for years, but couldn’t justify spending so much money on lighting. I certainly don’t have a problem spending the money on a well-made item that will last, when I have the money. However, my budget usually likes home decor from Target, World Market, or the side of the road!

In our half bathroom on the first floor, we have a light from Schoolhouse Electric that I was given as a gift for my birthday a couple of years ago. It’s simple and sweet and does the job well. This is the one we have:

With this clear drum shade:

While decluttering and organizing my bathrooms in my “Hot-Mess House Challenge,” I decided to give my full bathroom a little refresh. It had been about six years, so it was overdue! It’s amazing what a few little changes can do to make you love a space again! I’ll be sharing pictures from my bathroom refresh soon.

As I was looking for some items to update my space, I realized that there were a few ways to update your bathrooms without spending a ton of money! I decided to share these ideas with you just in case you were feeling like a bathroom refresh was in need, but you weren’t sure where to start. You can read more in my post, “Affordable & Adorable: 5 Easy Ways to Refresh Your Bathroom!”

In order to update my bathroom, I decided to look for some new lighting. I’m embarrassed to admit that we never changed the light in the bathroom! Even worse, we had the bathroom take down to the studs, remodeled, and still put the same light back up! WHAT we’re we thinking!? It was a single light, which just looked funny in the space.

It was time to get a big girl light, so I started to search for ones that I’ve loved. Two of my go-to places for lighting are Wayfair and Amazon. I found several that I liked and that were reasonably priced. Here were my top picks:

Wayfair

Amazon

As my searched continued, I came across a two-light vanity light from Schoolhouse Electric that I had pinned years ago. You get to pick your choice of adorable glass shades as well! It was more expensive…WAY more expensive and the glass shades were an additional cost.

Like I always do, I fell in love with the most expensive option from Schoolhouse Electric. If only my budget and taste matched up! My next thought was, can I buy a similar light fixture and DIY the shades? Of course! I noticed that one of the fixtures on Wayfair was similar to the Schoolhouse Electric one, only it was over $160 CHEAPER! Here is the Schoolhouse one:

Here is the adorable glass shade from Schoolhouse Electric that I couldn’t live without:

Here is the Wayfair light fixture that is similar:

Obviously they are slightly different, but they both have a polished nickel finish, a base to hold the shades, a round wall attachment, and round ball end pieces. That was close enough for me!

After searching forever for similar shaped glass shades to DIY with paint, I decided to splurge and buy the ones from Schoolhouse Electric that I had been ogling. I couldn’t find any that I liked, and I knew that I wouldn’t be happy with them in the end. The Schoolhouse ones are so unique and add that little extra detail that I wanted in my bathroom! I created a mock-up of what the Wayfair light fixture and the Schoolhouse Electric shades would look like!

I was SOLD! The only thing left to do was to see if the glass Schoolhouse Electric shades fit into the Wayfair light fixture! I ordered both and waited with my fingers crossed!

Luckily they worked, and I was able to get the Schoolhouse Electric look for less! The shades are slightly smaller than the bases on the light fixture, so when you tighten the thumb screws all the way, the shades are still a teeny tiny bit loose. It shouldn’t matter since the light is on the wall and will not be touched unless someone is changing the light bulb. I’m in the process of looking for some longer thumb screws that can replace the ones on the current light fixture. I think I’ll just feel a little more secure and so will the shades!

To say that I’m thrilled is an understatement! I’m obsessed with the way that it looks in my bathroom, and I love that I was able to get the Schoolhouse Electric look for less! The Wayfair light fixture was on sale for just UNDER $100 when I bought it, as opposed to $269 for the one from Schoolhouse Electric!