This Renter-Friendly Hack Instantly Disguises Boob Lights with One Unexpected $10 Material

If you’re not a fan of turning on the “big light,” aka any form of bright, overhead lighting, then you need to see this hack that turns built-in ceiling fixtures into moody, decorative lighting in just a few minutes. Using a thrifted lamp shade and little cable clips, one TikTok user took her harsh hall light from headache-inducing to dreamy.

Josie Raina (@josie_raina) shared how she and her partner upgraded the small overhead light in their hallway using three cable clips — those little U-shaped hooks you nail into the wall to keep cables contained. 

They already had a cute striped lamp shade from Goodwill with three prongs attached to the top, which they used to place over their existing light fixture. “Just mark where you want the lamp shade and then hammer in the cable clips to hold up the lamp shade where you marked it,” Josie wrote in a comment on her video. 

“Please know you have CHANGED the game over here … thank you,” one person commented on Josie’s post. Another said, “Stop, this is so cute.”

To re-create this look — even on slightly bigger boob lights — look for a shade that will not only fit around the entire overhead light, but also has prongs, a wire lip around the upper edge, or a wire frame close to the top of the shade so it will sit flush to the ceiling.

And because the nails of the cable clips are so tiny, this hack is super renter-friendly, too. Use a bit of putty to fill in the nail holes at the end of your lease, and no one will know the shade was even there. This set of cable clips from Amazon comes with three sizes so you can use the option that best fits the shade you’re using.

Check your local thrift store for lamp shades that will work for your overhead light and then stock up on cable clips. No overhead light is safe now that you know how to make them vanish!