Lamp from a hanging planter

Materials: Skurar hanging planter, Hemma cord

Description: I found this beautiful, doily pattern hanging planter at Ikea a few days ago.

It was just too pretty, to put only flowers in it, I wanted to use it in a different way: as a lamp, in my kitchen!

So, I turned the planter up side down, and drilled a hole, on the top of it.

Finally, I pulled hema cord, thru the hole. (first, I unjoined the upper part)
It is so easy, takes only 5 min! To remove the stickers from the item is much more difficult....;-)

See more of the doily planter lamp.

~ Kata, Budapest

Ikea MY melodi

Materials: IKEA Melodi, Staedtler permanent Lumocolor (S, F, B, M)

Description: I wrote my favorite recipes from "The Silver Spoon" (the Italian culinary bible) with permanent markers from Staedtler (Pen Sizes S, M, F, B) on the big IKEA Melodi (14,99 Euro in Germany) ...

See more of the delicious Melodi.

~ Bruno Schulz, Bad Kreuznach - Germany

The Ehlers Lid-light

Materials: Knodd lid, Drill, rubberthingy from car, green wire, 2 Hemma, 2 Sparsam

Description: I bought a Knodd and used the bucket as a planter.
Since I had a green theme going, I had been looking for some green pendels. One day I found the lid, while cleaning, and made this:

1: I measured up the existing holes in the celing wire-exit, and drilled two holes in the lid.

2: Measured across the lid, to find the widest spot. Then, using the bumb in the lid, I drilled 2 holes, directly across eachother.

3: I cut a piece of rubber wireprotection from an old car, and put it in the holes. This is to avoid the edge of the lid to cut throug the insulation on the wire.

4: I replaced the Hemma wire with a green one, I bought in an upscale furniture-store.

5: Then the wires was plugged in with the celing wires, and the lid screwed indto the existing holes.

6: Lastly, the Sparsam bulps was put in, and the light turned on.

It really fits the room well.

~ Anders Ehlers, Denmark

Samtid Lamp into the future

Materials: Samtid Lamp and Ordning Cutlery Stand. Electric drill and adjustable metal cutter tool, rounded metal file, heavy duty gloves, goggles and two people

Description: I was searching for a replacement lamp shade for my Samtid Lamp, after the original plastic shade had warped during three years use, this was down to it being in direct sunlight. Unfortunately replacement shades are not available and I wanted something more modern. I spotted the Ordning large cutlery holder on a trip to Ikea.

Measure and mark the centre spot on the back of the cutlery holder.

One person wearing work gloves and goggles holds either sides on the cutlery holder tightly, best done on a piece of wood to stop any marking on the cutlery stand, but prevent much movement when drilling. This is the best option if you don't have a work stand.

The other person sets the metal cutter to around 45 mm diameter, starts the drill slowly on the centre spot and quickly bring the drill up to full speed. Some heat is generated throughout the cutlery stand, but you should cut through in well under a minute.

Smooth down any rough edges with the metal file and fit to the lamp.

A simple hack to modernise this lamp.

~ Ben Hallifax, London

Gilded Drum Lamps

Materials:
IKEA Kulla Pendant Lamp
(2) packets Gold Leaf Sheets (I recommend "Ready Leaf Gold" sheets with pre-backed wax paper for easy application)
(1) can Spray Adhesive
(1) can Spray Sealer
(1) can 18 kt. Gold Plate Metallic Spray Paint
Foam Brushes

Description:
Step 1: Wipe the interior surface of the drum lamp with a clean, dry cloth. Holding the spray adhesive approximately 6-8" away from the surface, spot spray an small area and wait 20 seconds to dry, but still remain tacky. Place a square of gold leaf sheet (gold face down, wax side up) directly onto the surface making sure to press down with your fingers as you go. When you reach the rim, use your fingers to crease the sheet along the edge to minimize gaps.

Step 2: Repeat step one and rotate until the entire interior is gold leafed. Tip: Place squares at random and overlapping on a angle for a truly haphazard effect. Spot spray and stick, spot spray and stick. Your fingers may get a bit sticky from the application, so use the dry foam brush to help flatten gold leaf sheets. You may also use the dry foam brush to wipe gold leaf from the edges of the lamp and to smooth over the entire interior when you're finished with the application.

Step 3: Once all the gold leaves cover the interior shade, you may notice that there are gaps and bubbles where the sheets have been applied. No worries, that's where the gold plated spray paint comes in. Lay your drum lamp on a flat surface and only spray the affected areas. You don't want to completely cover your gold leaves with paint, even if it's 18kt. Let dry for approximately 10 minutes and seal the entire interior with spray sealer (2 coats) and let dry overnight.

See more the DIY gilded drum lamps.

~ Julie Khuu @ Haute Khuuture Blog

Steel Me - pendant luminaire

Materials: 2 BLANDA BLANK (36cm), 2 BASISK

Description: My friend Rebecca needed 2 pendant luminaires for her brand new supermodern kitchen. I decided to try to make my first Ikea hack! So I bought

2 big BLANDA BLANK steel salad bowls
2 BASISK simple pendant element

Utensils: a drill

1. I made many holes in the steel bowl, to have the "sea (gulls)" effect on the walls of the room

2. I made one bigger hole on top, for the junction of the socket and wire

3. I used a 60W incandescent with reflector bulb, to have the light first bouncing on the mirror inner surface of the steel bowl and then reflected down to the table. (The sea(gulls) are only visible using this bulb!)

BASISK comes already with a very nice silver/transparent electrical cable.

~ Nevena, Oslo

Black / Gold

Materials: Lustre ps maskros

Description: The chandelier has been rounded to the color of the logo of the studio. Black outside, gold on the inside. Walleye amplifies the light

~ amandine - acme.dek, france

Lantst lle vase pendant

Materials: LANTST LLE vase, DIMMA dimmer kit, swag chain, cord kit, Squirrel cage lightbulbs

Description: I really like the look of the old edison bulbs in glass pendant lamps, but didn't want to spend a million dollars on buying two of them for my dining area, so I came up with this hack, using Lantst lle vases (They were in the seasonal tent for spring 2011, but aren't in the online catalog yet. I'm not sure of the exact name, but "Lantst lle" is what's on the receipt).

The local Ikea store was out of their cord kits, or I would have used one from Ikea. As it was, I found these in silver in another shop. I bought some swag chain and the lightbulbs from a local lighting store and was good to go.

I ran the cord down into the vase and attached one end of the chain onto the handle of the vase, and the other into a hook in the ceiling. I ran the wires down the wall and plugged both of them into an extension cord, then plugged the extension cord into the DIMMA switch so I could control them both from the one controller.

I'm very pleased with how they turned out!

~ Charity, Los Angeles

Air urchin

Materials: regolit lamp shade, yarn and crochet hook

Description: With some left over yarn I started a circular geometric crochet pattern with a globe shape and applied to the lamp! Simple, cheap and super cute!

~ Raquel, Porto (Portugal)

Potted Stranne

Materials: 23" Huson plant pot - Stranne table lamp - Knaster decorative stones - cardboard box - packing tape

Description: (1) Cut a rectangle of cardboard and place it in the bottom of the pot to raise the height of the lamp.

(2) Put another layer of cardboard flat on top of it for the lamp to rest on.

(3) With the lamp in place, cut a circle of cardboard with a circumference that matches that of the pot just below the inside rim. Cut a square hole in the middle to match the shape of the top of the lamp, where the light stalks emerge.

(4) Bunch up light stalks and insert through through inner hole of cardboard. Tape cardboard to rim with clear packing tape. (Leave a small space to drape electrical cord over rim at back.)

(5) Spread stones around so they cover the cardboard.

(6) Plug in and turn on!

Total cost (US$): $81 (+ tax)

~ Venu Pillarisetty + Vivian van Gelder, Seattle, USA

Create a Diffuser for the FOTO Ceiling Pendant Lamp

Materials: Foto lamp (20 inch), FNISS wastepaper basket clear, SPARSAM light bulb, drill, drill bit, utility knife (be careful!)

Description: Remedy the annoying "light bulb in the eye" with a diffuser. All items are from Ikea (minus tools).

1. For the diffuser, use a FNISS plastic wastepaper basket. On the bottom, cut a hole about one and a half inch diameter in the middle. Use a drill and drill bit to remove most of the material by making multiple drill holes. Use a utility knife to finish.

2. Grab the SPARSAM light bulb, place the socket end of the bulb through the diffuser to make sure the bulb will be able to screw into the pendant's socket.

3. Now it's time to install! The beauty of this hack is no hardware is needed. The SPARSAM light bulb actually holds the diffuser in place.

4. Enjoy the upgrade!

Total cost as pictured is:

FOTO 20" pendant lamp = $29.99
FNISS wastepaper basket = $1.99
SPARSAM e26 light bulb = $4.99

~ J.Trawic, Arlington, VA

7 euro light wonder

Materials: Melodi, art podge, Ikea napkins and fabric

Description: I wanted lighting that was custom to each room, and my budget was small, so I got some art podge when I was in Hungary and bought a few Melodi lights for our new place on sale at 5 euros a pop.

For the napkin (blue flowers) lamp I took the decorated part of 3 Ikea napkins and separated them from the rest of the layers of napkin, cut everything into rectangles, and used diluted art podge (with water) to get the napkins in the right shape and glued onto the outside of the Melodi. Then I left it hanging on the shower curtain rod to dry for 24 hours, put another coat of straight art podge over the whole thing and voila, a custom lamp that matches our Ikea bedspread.

The second lamp was done with the kids material you can find in the store because it was for my girls' room. This was only one step, using straight art podge with the fabric and left to dry for 24 hours. The only thing you need to remember is that the light is going to shine through, so if you mind the layered look when the light is on, you will need to do a lot of cutting and puzzle piecing to get the whole lamp covered without much overlap. Enjoy!!

~ Kristin, Athens, Greece

A Grono mosaic lamp

Materials: GRONO Lamp

Description:
Four different mosaics created on the sides of the lamp Gromo.
- preparation stained glass
- glass paste
- grouting

~ Davide Scimeca

Crochet Grono Lamp

Materials: Grono lamp, cotton yarn, crochet needle

Description: I just love my lamp even more now... it's very easy to do if you can crochet.

It's based on this pattern.

~ Ólöf Lilja Eyþórsdóttir, Iceland

Ikea fruitbowl lamp

Materials: IKEA STOCKHOLM bowl

Description: Last year we redid the bathroom and toilets, and that included the corridor upstairs, which got a place for 3 wall lamps, instead of the hanging lamp that did not illuminate much.

So we spent lots of time looking for lamps (more than 6 months) and never found anything we liked. Even the painter, with whom we have a subscription (he should pass by every month to fix this and that), complains with us that we still did not get lamps...

To put an end to that, during a visit to Ikea, my wife had an Idea(TM - ideas from Ikea) for making a lamp...using a fruit bowl.

So we got one, and I started devising a way of installing it in the very small junction box. The final solution was a very simple 2 long M4x40 screws, which screw directly onto the junction box screw holes, on which the lamp then hangs. I installed a white lamp holder, and here is the result:

You can see the two screws on the top - I want to dip them in tippex or white paint to make them white... - there is actually just one place of all the flowers where it is possible to secure it like that (for this particular size of junction box).

You can also see the black hole of the junction box - that is to be covered with a piece of white rigid plastic.
What you can also see, are the 3 little rubber feet of the fruit bowl...I did not take them out as I am afraid the paint will come out...but they will have to come out sooner or later.

It is difficult to photograph the real effect, but I can assure you that it looks very nice!

See more of the fruit bowl lamp.

~ Alex

Melodi for the birds

Materials: Melodi Lamp, shape print out, stencil sheets, stencil knife, thin brush, acrylic paint, tape

Description: When I bought this lamp, I already knew it was in for some changes. I didn't know exactly what I'd be doing, but then a light bulb went off (pun intended): stenciling!

I found the images that I wanted online, adjusted the sizes and printed them. The next step was to cut out stencils from the printed shapes. Using the inside of the stencil cut out, I used painter's tape to secure the shapes to the inside of the lamp. I then used acrylic paint and a thin brush to paint in the outline.

~ Santa Martin