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DIY Before & After: Beautifying an Ikea Pendant Light

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We all know how expensive attractive pendant lights can be. A client of mine, Elizabeth, took matters into her own hands, creating a lovely light from this inexpensive Ikea pendant lamp. The results are inspiring. Who knew that paper on plastic could look so polished...

 
 

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Elizabeth craved a lovely, colorful pendant for her stairwell entry but didn't want to spend a fortune. She settled on customizing a shade with Paper Source papers, using the Ikea Vistofta Pendant as her skeleton.

Here's her process: "The shade is made of interlocking pieces of bendable plastic. I removed the eight different pieces, 4 thin, 4 wide, and spread them out flat. Then took glue from papersource ("PVA for Bookbinding and Paper Arts, 10.95 for a large jar) and spread it onto the paper using a sponge brush. I smoothed the paper onto the sheet of plastic, using another tool from papersource called a bone folder (approximately $7.95). It smoothes out any wrinkles or bubbles from the paper. Then I also used the bone folder to gently fold the extra paper over to the back side. I reshaped the plastic and reattached it to the lamp while the glue was still wet. It dried in place. It is hard to show in a picture how pretty it is when the light shines through it. And it could be made into any color scheme under the sun!"

I'm so impressed by how smooth and polished the finished product looks. Thank you Elizabeth for sharing this lovely idea and execution - well done!

Has anyone else done some Ikea light modifications?

Tags

inspiration, lighting, Paper Source, Ikea Vistofta Pendant

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Comments (5)

I'd just like to find a kit so I can adapt IKEA shades to lamps I already own. Their shades are great; their lamps...not so much. And before anyone says they sell adapters, they don't.

I've been buying cheap IKEA lamps at garage sales and craigslist just so I can gut them.

posted by mjs7640 on September 10th 2009 at 2:18pm
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I think she did a great job! I think I would prefer the floral paper used all over instead of the contrast, but that's just me!

posted by AndreaU on September 10th 2009 at 2:55pm
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Yeah! Cute. I like that a lot. I would have done gold with the contrast color though. Looks great!

posted by clampers on September 10th 2009 at 4:10pm
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Yeah! I used paper to customize the Tassa Natt lamp (super cheap) after seeing it on MakingitLovely. It created a stylish, inexpensive night light for when I have young guests staying with me.

http://makingitlovely.com/2008/10/13/updating-an-ikea-lamp/#comment-9364

posted by CrazyLady on September 11th 2009 at 4:16am
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I have done something to my IKEA lamps, using the IKEA wrapping paper, and I love the results, don't you?

http://blog.goodbaby.com/blog.php?do=showone&tid=152814

posted by Chinablue on September 21st 2009 at 10:33pm
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