Can you convert a hard wired fixture into a plug in type?

If you are taking the fixture down yourself, please be careful. BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE, MAKE SURE THE BREAKER IS TRIPPED ON THE LINE YOU ARE WORKING ON. DO NOT RELY ON A SWITCH BEING IN THE "OFF" POSITION. IN OLD CONSTRUCTION, FIXTURES WERE OFTEN WIRED HOT WITH ONLY A SWITCH LOOP TO THE SWITCH. Ok, you have to start by "reverse engineering" - you have to figure out how the fixture was attached to the wall or ceiling. Once you've got it off the wall or ceiling, but before you take the wires off, look at what you've got. IIf the fixture and the wiring in the house is newer, you'll see a white wire wired to a white wire and a black wire (and maybe a blue one) wired to a black wire. You may see the green, or grounding wire, or it may be just tucked away somewhere. If your fixture is not color coded, but your house wiring is, get some masking tape and a sharpie and label which fixture wire was attached to which color wiring in the house. If your neither your fixture nor your house wiring was color coded, then you're dealing with a very simple fixture and the direction of the flow of current is not such a big deal. Simple light fixtures with simple switches in them can be like that. So after everything is labeled, go ahead and disconnect the wires. If you're not replacing the fixture with something newer, make sure you wire-nut the loose wires in the wall and put a nice, solid, blank cover plate over the box in the wall. Ok, now comes the fun part. TO WIRE UP THE FIXTURE: seriously, the easiest way to do it is to go to a local hardware store, old fixture in hand, and ask somebody to show you what to do. Once you've done it once, you'll find out it's SUPER DUPER EASY and you'll be fine. You can pick up really cool fixtures from Habitat for Humanity "ReStores" which sell salvaged building supplies. If you totally disassemble a light fixture, rub it down a little with steel wool, and spray a few coats of rustoleum on it, you can get some pretty jazzy fixtures for very, very little cost. Take lots of pics with your digital camera while reverse engineering to help you in the reassembly state. This can be fun to do! I've converted some ugly old dark metallic and shiny brass finished fixtures to plug-ins - wall sconces make great reading lamps that way. ANd the ReStore has all kinds of funky globes for the light fixtures for just a few bucks each. Have fun! <><><> As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed.

Before you do any work yourself

on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,

always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.

IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB

SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY

REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.