DIY lamp shade re-cover + DIY rustic portable wall lamp

So today, I wanted to share a little project, well 2 really, that I did last week. I talked about them a little on Instagram but not in detail. But, I finally get to share it with you, in full detail here! There were some problems with taking pictures of these! I don’t know about you, but having a big black box in the center of a wall isn’t the most appealing thing to look at, which makes taking pictures of the space a little torturous for me.. So, if you can just bear with me and look past that, you might just enjoy this.. I’m laughing and crying at the same time! LOL! Anyway, I have these wall lamps which are the Ikea Arstid wall lamps that were going to be thrown out, and of course I can’t just let people throw things out, right?! So I took them, and I was able to use it, as is, in our bedroom for a few years. But, in recent times, I switched those out and got new lamps for our bedside tables. So, as I debated on what to do with these, of course you know I had to do something fun: a little less foofoo and a little more rustic..

First, I took the original white, vertically pleated, fabric off the lamp shade and used a $2.50/yd fabric from Wal-Mart (left overs from a previous project) to recover it. The fabric reminds me of a light weight version of a drop cloth. It’s a small lamp, so it wouldn’t look right with anything heavier. Also, light needs to be able to still shine through, so this material worked well. I used a little adhesive spray and a few dots of glue from my glue gun to keep the fabric in place. A little tucking in on the ends, and that about summed up that part. Easy, right?!

Then, the fun part. These wall lamps were made to have exposed plugs. It’s not the type that’s wired directly onto a wall. I didn’t want them to have exposed plugs, so I opened the fixture up to see if I could move the plug, and I saw that I was able to. I was so relieved! Yay! So I basically removed the sleeves that connects the wiring and disconnected the wires so I can move the plug to no longer hang down, exposed. Now, of course it’s still a plug, so I had to figure out a way to hide the plug and at the same time, wanted the wall lamp to be portable and can be moved without putting so much damage to my walls! So that’s when I decided to put it on some extra pallets on hand..

I actually had something else planned for them, but this “had” to be done and I just love the results! Anyway, I put a few pieces of pallets together to create a base that would hold the wall lamps, sanded them down and stained the pallets with a mix of Minwax Jacobean and Classic Gray wood stain.. Then, drilled some holes through the metal piece base that holds the lamp in place, and a hole in the wood pallet so that the plug can go through them and be plugged in the back. So, now it can easily sit on a table and lean on a wall. The plug secretly hangs hidden, in back of the pallet board..




This was such a fun project and I’m super pleased with the results! This was originally going to sit in my bedroom, on a dresser, but it’s just too cute to hide in my room.. So for now, it’s sitting on each side of our tv.. And, the awesome part about it is, I can easily move it whenever my heart so desires! It’s very neutral and can pretty much fit in anywhere in this little home of ours.




How can I not love this!! This has to be my favorite Ikea Hack, mainly because it’s so cute, so affordable and so darn easy to do! Well, hope you enjoyed this project as much as me!! My favorite part was how simple the project was! So much so, I didn’t even get any help from the hubby or super dad! LOL. I totally told my husband after rewiring the lights, “just call me ‘Electrician Alma’ from now on!!” Hahaahhaah! Seriously though, this was so easy and literally, if I can do this, anyone can! FYI, putting new fabric on the 2 lamp shades took me about 20 minutes to do and the rest took me 65 minutes! Haha, I’m weird, yes I timed it!! =0 Being a busy mom, I don’t really get to do very big projects.. Some time soon though, I shall! But for now, I will enjoy this! Well, hope you all have a great day, see you in the next one! Feel free to let me know your thoughts! And like any pictures on my posts, feel free to pin the things you enjoyed and make some of your own! =) Thanks again sweet friends!! XX