Q: I recently purchased two of the IKEA PS Spraka Spice mills in birch with the intention of turning them into lamps. They are gorgeous, but I am running into bumps along the way. I am having trouble removing the spice grinder apparatus, and I do not like the color/style of the lamp creating kits I have seen at Lowes and IKEA (gold, black and just generally ugly). I also need advice on lamp shade style and finding some sort of pre-made, hopefully stone, base where the cord could exit the side. I do not want to violate the wood by cutting into it for the cord. I have googled and googled for something different but have not found much. Any help your readers could give would be great! Thank you.
Sent by Lindsey
Editor: Does anyone have advice for Lindsey?
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Comments (8)
First you will need some needle nosed pliers and a lot of persistence to remove the grinder. You can buy lamp kits with a clear cord with the wire inside in silver. If you have trouble finding it locally Amazon is usually a good bet. For the stone you should look up a local stone place where they make custom counters. I got a piece of broken marble cut down for a dough board once at one of those places and was charged four dollars. Good luck
You could easily spray paint any of the lamp kit parts that aren't pretty. You could also cannibalize a thrift store lamp (just make sure all the parts are in good order before you buy).
For shade style, if they were mine, I'd do a tall, skinny drum shape, but you should go with whatever you like!
Here are some stone lamp bases. Not necessarily attractive ones, but...
http://www.grandbrass.com/catalog.cfm?category=Bases&subcategory=Marble%20Bases
You don't need a lamp kit - you just need all the parts and be able to follow detailed instructions. That's how I did it. If you google "lamp parts" you will find lots of websites that sell the cords, etc, and you just need to learn how to do an underwriters knot.
http://www.txlampparts.com/
Martha has some advice on rewiring a lamp:
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/rewiring-a-lamp
i have no advice but would love to see how this turns out. please send in photos when you're done!
What a good idea. I loved the form, but didn't want a huge pepper grinder. A simple metal base might be great- there is a huge selection of wood and metal bases at this website- here is one: www.mylampparts.com/Products/5dia-1ht-5-34bottom-satin-nickel-finish__SL26803.aspx
A lamp is really easy to wire.
http://www.profhdwr.com/lampstuff/
http://www.lampshop.com/
My Lowe's sells harps and sockets in chrome and clear cords.
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-make-a-lamp-with-household-objects-208624/
If you're in NYC -SL Lighting on 7th ave 29th has a decent selection of electrical lamp components:
http://www.sllightingnyc.com/
Electrical supply places and most lamp stores sell a wider variety of parts than the box stores.
I think I can see your lamps with smallish oval drum shades, maybe in a color (teal comes to mind, but your decor would suggest a color.) Again, lamp stores would have options to try out.