How to make a trendy designer lamp at home!

Kayla Gulec Kayla Gulec
Fruits Table Lamp, S&O DESIGN S&O DESIGN Espacios
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Lighting plays an important role in any interior design scheme. To generate coherent light in every situation, different lamps are required. A clear ceiling light provides good illumination for working, cooking, and eating. Small, decorative lamps produce cosier light and create a a harmonious or cuddly mood. Floor lamps make it possible to be able to read in the dark without having to flood the entire room with bright light, and so on. 

Depending on how your home is constructed, various lamps should be used. As beautiful lamps often are quite expensive, there is only one way to protect your wallet–do it yourself! Making your home accessories on your own is not only fun, it's also a lot cheaper and the things you make can be designed exactly as you would imagine it. Old and used items can be given a second lease of life, and make your home that much more unique. That's why we've created this Ideabook–to give you a few suggestions that should inspire you to create beautiful home accents.

1. With a jar

To make lamps and lamp shades from jars is easy, practical, and loads of fun! If you want to follow the example of this image, all you need are a few mason jars. Simply cut a circular opening in the lid of the jar–just big enough to fit a light cord through. Feed the wire through the hole, screw in the bulb, and put the lid on the jar and there you have it! 

You can even customize colours with this method. Get some glass paint and either paint the entire jar so that it illuminates the room in that colour, or get a little more creative and paint your own designs and pictures on it!

2. With a box

Le ombre - Shadows, W-Lamp W-Lamp Livings de estilo moderno Iluminación

The next unique way to make your own lamp is with an old box. First piece of advice–the thinner the box, the better. If you have a thick box, the light coming from your bulb will not be able to penetrate the thickness of the paper, and it wouldn't make for a very interesting lamp shade. 

But take these lamps, for example. The thin structure has allowed this artisan to cast interesting shadows to create images on the box like a canvas, and you can do the same! And you don't need to be DaVinci, either. You can create simple designs, like lined or geometric patterns, or polka dots. 

3. With a hat

Who ever thought you could use a hat to make a lamp shade? Well, it's possible, and we can see it on display here in this image! The hat used in this image is an ordinary hard hat that you could get at a department store. You could even get a kid's play hard hat, as they're cheaper and the plastic is semitransparent, meaning you can also mix and match colours with this style!

We've seen party hats, and even elaborate sombreros used as quirky lamp shades, so you don't have to stop the search with a hard hat. 

4. With plastic glasses

Fruits Table Lamp, S&O DESIGN S&O DESIGN Espacios

Colours help set the perfect mood. Whether it's a calming and neutral white interior, or perhaps a bolder red interior, each colour has its own effect. So wouldn't it be nice to be able to change that mood whenever you feel like it? Well, you can when you make your very own plastic glass lamp shades! 

Plastic glasses like the ones shown here make excellent lamp shades, as their transparent nature allows the light from within them to take on the hue of the casing, and subsequently creating a new hue. All you need to do to achieve this effect is gather up some of your favourite coloured plastic glasses, cut out space for a bulb, and string them up!

5. With a bottle

You can make so much with a bottle, and lamps are certainly no exception. There are two ways to utilize bottles for lamp making. One way is to follow this image and place a small light within the bottle at its base for a dim, ambience-creating light. Another way is to use the bottle not as a lamp shade, but as the lamp's base. Instead of placing the light inside the bottle, it would sit on top of the neck, where the shade would be attached.

6. With paper

Tau bulb on homify Dormitorios de estilo moderno Iluminación

Paper is not only useful for writing and painting, and this is already no longer a secret. As a natural material obtained from wood, it is a versatile product which can be used for designing just about anything–even lamps. Depending on paper thickness and colour, light can be made to shine through it to create different atmospheres. 

You can make this kind of lamp shade yourself by constructing a molding using paper mâché. To make the molding, you can use a plastic or glass bottle, a balloon, a plastic cup–anything to get the right size and shape to fit your interior. Paste small pieces of paper together using a secure glue made from one part flour and one part water until you get a thick glue-like consistency. Once the paper mâché dries, pop the balloon inside (or if you've used a bottle or cup, carefully separate the mâché from it) and you're left with a perfect rounded molding and the focal point of any room!

Check out this Ideabook if you're interested in different kinds of lighting for your living area!

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