9 Lampshades You Can Make Before Lights Out

After seeing a similar design in a store window display, Courtney of the blog A Little Glass Box used chicken wire, the rim from a $4 Target lampshade, and spray-painted zip ties to create this inspired lampshade. 

This shade can be easily constructed by sewing tea bags together and hanging them from a rim. We suspect the chamomile lamp smells great.

This woven veneer lamp from Poppytalk is far simpler than it looks! Form a sphere with strips of veneer and secure using a strong glue; use staples to keep everything in place while it dries. Add an Ikea Hemma cord set, and this stylish glowing orb is ready to shine from any ceiling.

Nina at Living In made two passes at this design before taking it to her blog. She found success by soaking cotton wool yarn in wallpaper glue, wrapping the yarn tightly around a gym ball, and then letting it dry on a bucket for a few days. Once the glue dried, she deflated and removed the ball, creating a one-of-a-kind statement piece. Beautiful!

If you have an old lampshade frame, or can find one at a yard sale, you’re all set for this project. Nikki at The Ambitious Procrastinator coated a frame in Krylon spray paint and wove thread across the frame’s panels. This project is cheap, trendy, and easy to alter as your style evolves.

This near dead-ringer for a West Elm pendant lamp was made using strips of linoleum flooring and wire. You could just as easily use veneer and a higher gauge wire to achieve the same effect with a potentially sturdier design.

Another piece inspired by a store window display, this wire basket used to sit on the floor holding children’s toys—and now it hangs brightly, high above the fray. 

You may feel like you’re DIY-ing in circles with this project, but rest assured, wrapping a tired shade with jute or twine will breathe new life into the lamp and lend the room a nautical feel. For more DIY ideas, check out these 20 ways to decorate with rope.

This elaborate display of paper-folding was made using only sketch paper from the children’s section at Ikea. Though creating this lamp isn’t difficult, it will take time—so be patient, and keep folding!

If you are interested in more DIY ideas, consider:

10 Ways of Using Mirrors to Your Design Advantage

Wicker Gone Wild: 10 New Ways to Transform Old Into New

5 Things to Do with… Burlap