Each interior should have a highlight. Sometimes this is an antique statuette on a chest of drawers, a picture on the wall in the style of minimalism or an exclusive lamp on a high stand. Designers usually take a lot of money for handmade decor. But why spend money, if you can and beautifully arrange your own floor lamp. Do you agree?
And how to do this and what is needed for work - we will describe in detail in this article. Let's talk about how to make a lampshade from improvised materials with your own hands. We will share interesting photos with ideas for decorating fixtures. We will help you find inexpensive as well as safe materials for your handmade floor lamp or lamp.
Floor lamp style and combination of materials
Lampshade can be made from a huge amount of materials. Surprisingly, it is a fact - some craftsmen beautifully decorate their lighting fixtures with the help of old and unnecessary things: newspapers, color wrappers and even egg boxes.
In its design, the floor lamp should be combined with the general interior of the room. Let us consider in more detail what materials are suitable for each direction in design.
Styles and materials:
- Country - wood, metal or a combination of these materials.
- Classic - various natural fabrics, as well as paper.
- Provence - fabrics that are decorated with ribbons or embroidery.
- Eco style - tree branches, seashells and other natural materials.
- High tech, Art Deco - a combination of parts made of glass and metal, stone.
For Tiffany, Chinese and Japanese stylistics is characterized by minimalism. It should be viewed in the decor. To design a floor lamp shade, you can choose wooden elements, rattan or fabrics with oriental themes.
It is easy to create an original lampshade from cork corks for wine. To do this, you need glue (more convenient with a glue gun), an old lampshade and bottle caps for wine or champagne
Ready-made lampshade made of wine corks is suitable for designing a floor lamp or table lamp. It fits perfectly into the interior in the loft style, as well as in rooms decorated with wood and other natural materials
Regardless of the style chosen, create a homemade lampshade should be subject to safety rules. During operation, the lighting device will generate heat, so there must be a distance between the lamp and the material, otherwise a fire may occur.
Rules for creating safe homemade products
At any factory that produces floor lamps, the staff has technologists. When creating a new model of a lighting device, such specialists calculate the allowable distance from the lampshade material to the bulb. In this case, the degree of heat resistance of the component components of the product, the power of the lamps, as well as other factors, must be taken into account.
It is better to screw fluorescent or LED types of bulbs into a home-made floor lamp. They do not heat up much and do not consume much electricity
Lampshades made of fabric, paper or other flammable material must not be operated together with incandescent lamps. Since they heat up very much and can cause a lampshade to ignite. We talked more about the types of bulbs in this article.
If the choice fell on LED and fluorescent lamps, you need to pay attention to their base. It must be of high quality. Options made of metal or ceramic are ideal.Such bulbs will cost more than ordinary ones, but they have a large number of advantages: a long service life, practically do not heat up, do not consume a lot of electricity, produce a more even light stream and do not flicker.
The lampshade made of paper, cotton or synthetic fabric, cardboard, woolen threads and other flammable materials should be at least 50-70 mm from the lamp
When the lampshade for the floor lamp is completely ready and the whole structure is assembled, you need to turn on the lamp and watch it work for some time to check if the walls are heating up. If the material is hot to the touch, you need to change the light bulb to a less powerful option.
Homemade lights can be used in the bedroom, hallway or living room. In rooms with high humidity they are not used, as there is a risk of a short circuit.
Adhering to these rules, you can create a beautiful and safe floor or table lamp that will last a long time.
Design selection and lampshade assembly
Structurally, lampshades can be divided into wireframe and frameless. The first option is more reliable and durable. Many types of materials are easier to shape when there are additional stiffeners.
An example of a wireframe lampshade. The bead braid is fixed on a rigid metal frame, which gives the structure the correct shape and prevents the material from slipping
The shape of the frame can be any - the choice depends on the style of the room and the imagination of the master. The main thing is that the distance between the lamp and the lampshade trim is maintained.
Frameless variations have an original appearance and lighter weight. However, this model is not suitable for all materials.
An example of a frameless lampshade. For its manufacture, an inflatable ball was used, on which the threads treated with glue were fixed. When the glue has dried and the material has acquired the desired shape, the base is removed
At the initial stage of manufacturing a frameless lampshade, you need to choose the right location for the location of the bulb. So that during the assembly of the structure, there is a distance between the home-made lampshade and the lamp. The service life of such products is much shorter than that of frame.
Production of frameless lampshades
Before creating a frameless lampshade, you need to prepare a template. It can be an inflatable ball or a balloon, which will not be a pity to pierce. Knitted napkins, clothesline, yarn or threads can act as a sheathing material.
The algorithm of the work:
- The ball or ball must be well inflated and locked in one position. To do this, you can use a bowl that is suitable in diameter.
- Impregnate the material for the lampshade with PVA glue.
- Lay the material on the ball. Be sure to leave a hole for the cartridge (it is better to frame the hole with a plastic ring).
- When the glue is completely dry, pierce and pull the ball. The shape of the lampshade will remain the same.
In the hole left, you need to carefully insert the cartridge with the lamp and attach the lampshade to the bar. The bar can be used from an old floor lamp or made independently from various materials: wooden cuttings, tripod, metal rods, etc.
The finished lampshade has good rigidity, but with occasional mechanical damage, it can be taken. Therefore, the cartridge must be installed as carefully as possible so as not to damage the structure
The color of the finished lampshade can be changed using spray paint. Although you can do without dyeing - yarn and twine in a natural color also look good.
Ideas for Making Frame Lampshades
If there is an old frame from the floor lamp, then this is half the job done. It is only necessary to choose the design style of the lighting device and update the design. For these purposes, you can use various fabrics and materials.
Good options for materials for covering lampshades:
- the cloth - preference should be given to natural types. Synthetic options quickly fade and can melt from heating.
- Rope - well suited for fitting frame variants of lampshades. It is possible to choose the thickness of the twine.
- Yarn - applicable for classic floor lamps. Usually use yarn with a thread thickness of 1-5 mm.
- Ribbons - can be used for decorating the finished ceiling, as well as for weaving on the frame. They have a wide range of colors.
- Wooden elements - for the manufacture of lampshades using various slats, branches and planks with perforation.
- Paper and cardboard - allow you to make decorative parts for decorating lighting fixtures. This is one of the cheapest design options. Such a lampshade can be changed at least every month.
To create a lampshade, even the most unexpected elements can be used, for example, gears from watches, buttons, kitchen graters, metal cans and other improvised materials.
In the gallery below you can see a photo selection of interesting design ideas:
Image Gallery
Photo from
Fabric frame lampshade
Wooden lampshade in eco-style
Use in the design of buttons
Artificial flower shade
Using photo printing for decoration
Plastic lampshade
The given design options are suitable for updating old floor lamps that still have a frame. If the metal base has collapsed, it will need to be done on its own.
Making a frame for a lampshade
The frame can be made of steel wire with a diameter of 3 mm or more. The joints of the structure are welded by spot welding.
But such a method is laborious, and the welding machine is not always at hand.
Have you decided to use welding, but don’t know how to use the machine? We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the nuances of welding seams.
Some craftsmen in the frame combine thick steel and thin copper wire, connecting them together by twisting
The frame twisted from several types of wire, as you try, will not have an ideal shape. Of course, it can be decorated in the loft style and use a floor lamp only in the country. However, such a lampshade is not suitable for a homely cozy living room.
It is easier to work with aluminum wire, it is soft and easy to deform. With its help, you can "twist" the frame of almost any shape. But the lampshade will not have good rigidity. If dropped or otherwise accidentally damaged, it will lose shape.
If it is not possible to buy a finished metal frame for the lampshade, you need to look for alternative options - materials and products that are inexpensive or at home.
Option # 1 - waste bin
It is easy to make a frame out of a metal basket for office waste. If the size of the product and the shape fits, you can proceed to design.
Using nippers in the bottom you need to make a hole for the cartridge. A circle of small diameter is immediately cut out, if necessary, it is increased
After a hole has been made in the bottom, a cartridge is inserted from the inside of the basket. He should sit well and not slip out.
The basis of the lampshade should be decorated based on the general style of the interior.
The lampshade from the basket can be completely covered with fabric to hide the frame. Partial design of the product with ribbons also looks interesting. The mesh surface is painted in the desired color
The floor lamp from the basket can be decorated with multi-colored cable ties, leather cords and other materials.
Option # 2 - metal mesh
You can buy a grid in a hardware store. The product is available in several dimensional variations, differing in the size of the cage.
For a floor lamp, it is most convenient to use the option with cells 20 × 20 or 15 × 15 mm.
It is easy to make a frame for a lampshade from a grid. It is only necessary to connect the edges of the fragment.To do this, they are lapped and twisted with wire
The metal mesh is suitable for creating a frame in the form of a cylinder. You can twist from it a truncated cone. Creating other forms is problematic.
Option # 3 - grille from an old fan
Fan grill is the perfect frame for the lampshade. It already has the desired spherical shape. If desired, the design can be made deeper. To do this, an additional tier is tied at the bottom of the grill.
A lampshade based on a fan grill can be decorated with a fringe of threads and beautiful buttons. Metal parts are braided with woolen threads or threads for embroidery, the edges are released and buttons are fixed on them
Before starting the design of the lampshade, you need to put the old grille in order. If there are signs of corrosion, sand the metal and only then can paint be applied.
Fabric shade fabrication instruction
First of all, it is necessary to prepare material and tools. It is easiest to make a lampshade for a cone-shaped as well as a cylindrical frame yourself.
The material must be selected taking into account the frame. If it is homemade and made of ordinary wire, then it is better to use a dense opaque fabric to hide possible defects
Wire frame must be coated and dried. Its rods are wrapped with cotton tape and only then they are wrapped in cloth. It is advisable to sew the lampshade on a sewing machine, so it will look neater.
In addition to fabric, you will need:
- kraft paper (can be replaced with a paper);
- fabric glue;
- pins and threads;
- a simple pencil;
- ruler;
- iron.
First make a pattern. It will help cut off the required amount of material.
To make a lampshade template for a cone-shaped frame, you need to rotate it on paper and mark the lines of the sides with a pencil
To make a cylindrical frame pattern, first measure the circumference and draw one line, and then measure the height and draw a second line. Next, two more sides are daughter and a rectangular template is cut out.
Before you cut the fabric, it is better to double-check the size of the template. To do this, a draft pattern is applied to the frame, if it is larger, the excess paper is cut off.
You can attach material to the correct template. The pattern should be applied from the inside of the fabric. Fix its position with pins.
It is important to correctly place the template on the material. Especially if the fabric with a pattern or pattern. After all, you can "cut off" the flower head, and it will look ugly
The pattern is outlined with a pencil (chalk for dark fabrics). After that, allowances are drawn - 1.5-2 cm from the border of the pattern. These allowances are then wrapped inward, and the fold lines are fixed with pins and the kraft paper is removed.
On a typewriter, only three sides of a part are ground. The untreated side is left so that a neat seam can be formed on the lampshade frame
The finished workpiece must be smoothed with a hot iron. The fabric should be perfectly even, otherwise it will not adhere normally to the base.
Next, glue is applied to the fabric and glued to the frame. Be sure to hide the raw sections. If the fabric blank is attached to a metal base wrapped with ribbons, then only those areas that are in contact with the frame are treated with glue.
An updated lampshade should not be put on a floor lamp immediately. You need to leave it for 1-2 days, so that the glue dries well
The fabric lampshade is ready. Along the edges it can also be decorated with additional decorative elements - flowers, bows, butterflies.
You can see the step-by-step instructions for creating a lampshade with your own hands in the video below:
To make a lampshade with your own hands, you do not need special skills and high cash costs.It is interesting to design a floor lamp also from improvised materials, for example, cotton fabric, bottle caps or paper.
The easiest way to update an old floor lamp with a frame is to glue it on top with bright material. Although an alternative basis for the lamp is not difficult to choose. This can be a metal wastebasket, a grill from an old fan or a construction grid.
Do you like to craft interesting and useful homemade products from improvised materials? Or have you recently updated the lampshade of a floor lamp and want to show the result of your efforts to other users? Add original photos, share interesting ideas in the comment block located below the article.