Tuesday

DIY drum shade light

All of the lights in our new home are basic builder's grade fixtures.  They aren't anything special, so we've been slowly changing them out one by one.  Being on a budget, it's going to take a while to get them all switched out.  So in the meantime, I've been doing a little DIYing to make the ones we have a little better.


My office needed something more office-y and less dining room-ish.  According to the builder, my office should actually be the dining room so of course they put a dining room light fixture in there.  We sold it on Craigslist a while back and I needed something to fill the space until I can find what I really want.  

I didn't want to spend a lot of money and I wanted to try to use what I already had.  Thankfully I was able to do both.  I started with this light fixture that was hanging in the eat in kitchen area.  I took off the glass shade, adjusted the chain to the correct length and spray painted it gold.


I wanted to use this IKEA drum shade I found in the "as is" section (for $5) to make the fixture look more updated.  (This one is similar)  The blue band wasn't working with my color scheme so I taped it off and painted it black.  These shades are actually pretty cool, because you can easily pull off the shade portion and then snap it back together.  It would make it much easier to cover with fabric or something like that too.


As you can see we had a lot of other painting projects going on at the time. :)


Once the shade was dry, I attached it to the light fixture.  You just slip the shade right over the bulb socket and then screw the plastic ring on to hold everything in place.  A picture might explain it a little better, so here you go.


I didn't add anything to the bottom of the shade, so if you are standing directly under it and you look up you'll see the exposed bulb.  It really doesn't bother me, because this is only a temporary solution, but if it did you could always add some material or something to the bottom.

 

If you live in a newer home chances are you may have one of these hanging in your breakfast nook.  It's such an easy update and makes a huge difference in the appearance of the light.  If you left the metal portions brushed nickel it would be even easier.  Just switch the glass shade out with the drum shade and you have a new fixture! 

16 comments:

  1. What a great DIY! I am slowly swapping out all of our builder lights, but it can be a slow and expensive process. Any tips on fiddle leaf figs? Mine was doing great but suddenly has big brown spots.

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  2. WOW! such a great idea and it totally has me thinking now....

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  3. OH YES, I love it! Such a great easy update

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  4. How perfect for your room! I LOVE the wide black band around the top. I didn't know those shades popped apart like that, how cool!

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  5. I love it, what a fabulous makeover.

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  6. It appears this is a drum shade for a hanging light? I have been searching for an affordable one - with no luck - so I decided I would need to DIY one from a lamp drum shade. It figures IKEA... they always have all the good things, especially the frugal stylish things, but no IKEA in Indianapolis, nor Indiana for that matter. bitter much? why yes...yes I am, LOL! Looks great!! thanks for sharing!

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  7. So perfect Bethany! I love easy instantly gratifying projects. I love the way you repurposed pieces of the original light.

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  8. SO smart, Bethany! We actually have very few fixtures in the new house and the ones here I mostly liked. But that's a rarity, I know :) Except for a pair of mosaic glass sconces in the living room...all in good time...

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  9. I know, I would be so bummed if we didn't have one near us :( I've seen some similar shades at World Market. You can purchase them online if you don't have one near you. They are actually comparable in price to the IKEA ones, I just happened to get lucky with my $5 find.

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  10. I am the wrong person to ask about plants :). I think I've just gotten lucky with my fiddle leaf fig trees. I think the biggest thing is to not overwater them. I try to do mine about once every two weeks, but sometimes I go even longer than that if I forget. I've also found they do well near a window.

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  11. I did something similar to my lampshade. May I ask, if you did want to add something under to cover the bulb, how would you do it?

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  12. You are so very smart my dear. Love this.

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  13. I think I would do something like this. http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/06/office-progress-let-there-be-light/

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  14. so clever and crisp and graphic! gorgeous idea.

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  15. Now that was a fabulous and easy DIY!

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Thank you for your sweet comments, they make my day!