Living In a White Box: Revamp Your Lamp

Living-in-a-White-Box-Revamp-Your-Lamp-thumbnail-The-Decor-Guru- thrift store makeover revamp lighting boob lights pendant DIY lamp kit glass spraypaint marker gloss paint lampshade ribbon trim yarn decorating tips apartment

“I love lamp.” (Brick Tamland)

I feel ya, Brick. After pillows, lamps are my next favorite way to decorate on the cheap. When you live in an apartment, you’ve got to find unique ways to infuse style into a cookie cutter home. Check out these creative ways you can DIY a lamp or make over your existing lighting to put a personal stamp on your space.

Let’s start with the easiest revamps: lampshades. These are easy to transform with inexpensive items like paper, fabric, rope, and ribbon. In my former apartment, I glued a strip of black ric-rac trim to the ends of my lampshade, creating a minimal yet graphic look:

For a previous dining room makeover, I hung an IKEA Hemma pendant lamp and covered the basic drum shade with a shimmery gray yarn. I simply wound the yarn on the outside and inside of the shade, using a little over one skein.

Thrift stores are wonderful places for lamps with makeover potential. Kiki with Kiki & Company spraypainted her oh-so-basic lamp with a peppy yellow–and then drew on it! Genius.

Another fabulous way to reincarnate a secondhand lamp is with high gloss paint. Sonya from At Home with the Barkers shows you how she jazzed up hers with bold, coral brushstrokes. I love the juxtaposition of traditional and abstract.

Heather from Heathered Nest has an easy tutorial for hiding those hideous mainstays of apartments: boob lights. Seriously, the person who invented these deserves a special place in hell. Bonus points to you if you make over a lampshade and use it for your boob light!

Brynne from The Gathered Home shows you how to turn a ho-hum clamp lamp into a colorful, stylish wall sconce. These are perfect for late-night reading or gentle lighting in the morning. NOTE: only do this if you’re allowed to screw holes into your walls. I do all the time (and patch them when I move), but not all landlords are this accommodating.

Technically, this isn’t a lamp revamp, but it’s so innovative I had to include it. Glass lamps are wonderful to decorate with, but tend to not be cheap. Solution: create a lamp with a huge glass jug and a DIY lamp kit with this tutorial from Melissa at The Inspired Room. Lamp kits have always scared me, but with her simple tutorial, I feel confident about trying it someday.