Fixer Upper Style DIY Hanging Lanterns For My Dining Room

I’ve learned that to make my rooms feel complete and pulled together, I need to add layers. I can’t just place the furniture, hang a little artwork on the wall and call it done. I need to go a few steps further.

Such was the case on our diy planked wall in the dining room. The vintage mantel shelf and the buffet are all well and good, but they weren’t enough to properly fill the wall. The wall measures about 15′ wide, not counting the bay window, so I had these two rather large blank areas on either side of the buffet.

DIY Fixer Upper style hanging wall lanterns

I felt like a couple of hanging lanterns, to flank the shelf and buffet, would be just the thing. But lanterns hanging by themselves would have been too dinky, sooo…after picking up a couple of lanterns at At Home, I channeled my inner Joanna Gaines and made large wood plaques to hang them from, along with a wire basket filled with glass vases and little sprigs of greenery.

UPDATE: CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN HANGING LANTERN DISPLAYS!

DIY farmhouse style hanging lantern and wire basket filled with vases and sprigs of greenery

BTW – At Home is pretty much my go-to place when I’m specifically looking for lanterns. No, they aren’t paying me to say this. I just think that they always have a good selection and their prices are very reasonable and I want you to know about it!

Farmhouse style lantern hanging from a diy wood plaque

I placed a battery operated candle with a timer (also from At Home) in each lantern. The candles won’t give off a ton of light, but their glow will add a nice ambiance to the dining room at night. And I think the wire baskets will be fun to change out seasonally. I can think of all sorts of items to fill them with.

DIY wood plaque for a hanging lantern and wire basket

I think that I just might be ready to call this side of the dining room makeover complete! I’ll share exactly how I made the plaques in a couple of days, in case you’d like to try this project yourself. Don’t worry – they’re easy and budget friendly – just like the rest of my projects are.

UPDATE: Click HERE for a step-by-step tutorial for how to make these for your own home!

Farmhouse dining room makeover