I recently bought a set of five cheap lamps from a big box store. The price was right, but I wasn't loving the tapered shades. Purchase five new drum shades? Not on my budget. Then it hit me. A tapered shade is pretty much half a drum shade, isn't it? Chop off the top ring, extend the spokes, flip it upside down, and for 3 bucks plus the cost of fabric, you have a drum shade! You can do it, too - jump below for the step-by-step:
What You Need
Materials
1 package brass tubing
fabric or paper to cover shade
fusible interfacing (optional)
thin wire or strong thread
double sided tape
your old tapered shade
Equipment
bolt cutters or Dremel
tubing cutter (optional)
Instructions
1. Cut out the inner washer
Cut each spoke that connects the inner washer to the outer ring. This is a great job for a Dremel if you have one. Leave as much length from the center as you can.
2. Cut off the bottom ring
Cut the bottom ring off your old shade. This will be the top of your new shade. Leave the bias trim on it so you can have a good surface for attaching your new shade later.
3. Cut the tubing
Here's your $3 secret weapon. Select tubes (available at hobby stores and some craft stores) that are a tiny bit wider than the diameter of your spokes so that the tubes slide over the spokes. Cut each tube so that it extends from the inner washer to the outer ring. The company that makes the tubes also makes a tube cutter ($7 at Hobby Lobby) that may be worth it if you are planning to update more than one shade. If you're using a wire cutter or Dremel, slip a dowel or thick wire into the tube before cutting so it doesn't flatten.
4. Attach inner washer, tubes, and outer ring
Using thin wire or strong thread, run thread inside the length of the tube so that it comes out the other end, loops around the outer ring, and extends back into the tube. Now slide the tube over the spoke. Tie ends of thread tightly around inner washer.
5. Attach the new shade top to the lamp
You can attach pretty much anything to your frame now. I ran double sided tape around the bias trim so that I could stick fabric to it. (The tape isn't actually red. That's a removable liner. The tape itself is clear.)
6. Cover your frame with fabric or paper of your choice
I ironed fusible interfacing onto the fabric to stiffen it and to help diffuse the light. Then I wrapped the fabric around the frame and closed the seam with another length of double sided tape. All done! And you can easily switch the fabric later if you feel like it!
Images: Katie Steuernagle
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Guess what I'm doing this weekend! This is terrific!
Wow, this looks great! Where is the fabric from?
Very interesting! So it just hangs? Hmmm ... I might give this a whirl!
@MarshallO - the point is, drum shades can get expensive, and you have to find the ones you like first. If you make your own, it could be as cheap as $10.
Drum shades are actually hard to find, at least where I live. I searched high and low for a couple of them recently, but had to settle for a shade that had a very slight taper.
@MarshallO-- a lot of us are into reusing the reduce our consumption. But also, what kind of drum-shade fan would reuse the tapered shade anyway? (sorry to be snarky)
Where did you get that fabric?
Awesome, just love that fabric!
Drum shades are expensive and, if you make your own, you get it like you want. Very clever!!
I think you're a genius!
I like the way you think!
GREAT post. I like to do things like this and the instructions are excellent! I'm off to my stash of fabric to see what I can do!
I guess I'm in the minority here...I like the tapered shape better.
I really like this idea but... if you could just find an existing shade with the top the desired width then it'd be 10x easier! For instance get a cheap one at thrift store or garage sale and then cut the bottom half off and then hang the fabric - bam! easier.
I think part of the point is to reuse the materials you already have, instead of throwing them away and starting fresh.... great project! Might try this with some dusty old shades that no longer excite me!
Why not just buy a new washer top for $5-6 in the size you wanted? http://www.lampshop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=ls&Category_Code=06_03_WIRE_WASHER
I've wanted to put a drum shade over my ceiling kitchen light to replace the boring "boob light" cover (as someone called it in another post) -- without spending a lot of money. I saw one I liked but it cost $50. Since I am a renter, this makes a lot more sense -- I'll just tape some interfacing over the opening at the bottom of the shade.
Very clever! Thanks for sharing!
Nice. I have some lamp bases I love that really need new shades and I haven't been able to find any in the right size, let alone the price of drum shades. The brass tubing is brilliant.
lizzyp, you are a genius! Even better!
Am I doing something wrong? This is so difficult to follow... the instructions down here and the pictures up there?
Is there a page that shows the instructions as captions on the pictures?
I have that exact same set of lamps, except it was a set of four (floor, two table, and a mini lamp). But other than that, identical set of cheapo lamps.
I don't think I'll bother doing this, but it is an interesting idea. I'll have to file it away for later.
A lot of people don't like the shape of traditional tapered shades that seem to come with every inexpensive lamp. I think this is a very clever way to take something that doesn't suit your style and repurpose it into something that isn't in every other house on the block. Plus, other posters are so right. Drum shades are anything but cheap.
I don't even fully understand these instructions, but I'm going to try anyway. This post came at the PERFECT time since I'm looking for a couple tall drum shades and have found them to be hard to find and expensive.
Awesome! I have to try this with some old shades I have.
I am loving this idea. thanks! Something to do with all this great Ikea fabric I have. And my shades are definitely due for an update. But I am confused about the bottom of the frame/shade: is there no bottom ring or am I just missing it?
I think this is the smartest DIY ever. Combined with lizzyp's suggestion I'm putting this project on my list!
Love this project. I've been saddled with tapered shades for years because I couldn't afford to buy new lamps. And the scale of my lamps are odd, so most drum shades won't work. Will be doing this project for sure! Thank you!
I'm all for re-use, really. and for those who have a not-quite-right shade on hand and want to tackle this project: go for it. (and, personally, I scour thrift stores for old, nicely shaped shades.) but for those who are having trouble finding drum shades: Target makes big ones, very very slightly tapered, for less than $15.
I guess I haven't looked around much at drum shade prices - I found a basic white one that you can decorate for $15 at Target.
It's a pretty good sized one too. I use it for my floor lamp and it looks 10x better than the glass 'up light' it had (BTW, whoever else does that, the floor lamps top is not made for a shade like mine so it's kind of balancing, but it works pretty well for me)
Clever!
WOW! I have that same chair in yellow! It was my friends grandmothers and I love it.
It is an interesting idea, yes. However, I'm thinking that the top would be a bit loose just held together with fishing line or thread and the bottom would lose it's shape with humidity or brushing it as you go to turn the lamp on and off. I'd be more inclined to hunt for a drum shade at a thrift store as someone else mentioned and then customize it.
NICE!!!!!!
the fabric is from Hobby Lobby for those of you wondering! its great!
Genuis! I've been wanting some drum shades myself, but not at the kinds of prices that come with them. Thank You so much for sharing this extremely useful solution!
You guys, wait until you see what she did with the lamp base - it's even more awesome: http://matsutakeblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/its-done-glampsformation.html
I think this is a really cool project. I got a little lost on a few of the steps (like, if you flip it over so the wide bottom of the tapered shade becomes the top of the new drum shade, what goes at the bottom? Does it just kind of hang there?) -- but if you want to see something totally crazy cool, look at her blog (robinm posted the link above) to see how she converted that same lamp into a silver clear-bubble lamp that looks pretty awesome. The crazy part, it's done using spray paint, silver duct tape, and cut-up 2-liter soda bottles. And yet does not look it at all!
This woman is mad talented!
How clever. I am so impressed.
Drum Shades ARE amazingly difficult to find....and I think the ones I would want to make would be from sheets of wood veneer.
Very Clever.
To all those who post about spending the additional $6 for this or that or buying a new shade. The whole point is to make due with what you have at hand.
Wonderful creativity. Greatly impressed!!
DANG! I've been trying to figure this out for a couple of weeks now, using wire coat hangers (which I had to beg off a friend), and what not. Thank you for this (but you couldn't have come up it a couple of weeks earlier?)!! :o)
Of all the posts that I have read during the two years of checking AT almost compulsively this is the first article that made me get a username so that I could comment. In all honesty there is no way to get an inexpensive drum shade, if you think you have found one just pull out the tape measure and I can assure you the top is narrower then the bottom. This just ensures a safer transit for the shade because when the two sides of the shade are completely parallel the shade is dented and damaged much more readily durning shipping. But this is not to say that it never happens. My only concern with the dig is what happens if the bottom doesn't hang perfectly cylindrical? I feel like the must be some sort of metal circles out there just to anchor it or even a wooden quilting circle? Ha just going from one end to the other. Please left me know if you have any real solutions.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!! We have been remodeling our old house for a little over a year and when we finished the kitchen the the last touch was a beautiful $200 pendant with a drum shade! Which while helping me install my husband loving and very accidentally wiped black chalkboard paint across the fabric shade!!! We cleaned it the best we could and turned the bad side toward the wall, but I need to recover the shade.
Go somewhere and buy it??
@lizzyp - that web site you mentioned is fabulous - everything you need to make truly unique lamp shades. I have some self-adhesive stainless steel that I got to use on a refrigerator which I subsequently had to replace. I am going to make small drum shades for my chandelier, and shades for my living room lamps also - I can find everything I need on this website. Thanks for sharing!
BTW - love the look of the lampshade in the OP but it looks like it would be difficult to do without some (expensive) special tools.
Awesome idea!
Thanks for the link lizzyp! Looks like everything I need to make one properly from scratch.
I am with lizzyp...you can buy the top ring at a lamp supply store so why all the effort to go out and buy tubing etc. to construct one? Also my experience with lampshade making is that you need to use a bottom ring as well in order for the shade to be stable....am I missing something or does this shade just hang down from one top ring?
@robinm - you're so right! The rest of the lamp is unreal - a bubble lamp base from Coke bottles and duct tape? Now that is creative!! Love this!
Hi all!
Thanks for the comments. To answer a few questions...
Yes, the fabric is from Hobby Lobby. It's almost as thick as canvas, so with the addition of the fusible lining, which I left the paper backing attached to, the overall feel of the shade is like posterboard. It actually stands up on it's own without a bottom ring.
I think when doing a DIY, you have to assess what your purpose really is. Are you trying to recreate a product that is already available on the market as cheaply as possible? Or are you trying to create something entirely unavailable that is a one of a kind?
For me, it was about my competitive nature. To be completely honest, I'd recently seen a "lamp transformation" on a blog that had left me very underwhelmed. It was weak. There. I said it. "You call that a transformation?" I yelled at my computer screen. "You got nothing!" I jeered like Spike Lee at a Knicks game. It was on.
I picked up my old floor lamp and went to town.
I didn't purchase a new spider fitter from an online shop, because I didn't want to pay for shipping. Yeah, I'm that cheap. I had the fabric on hand from an old project, and I convinced my children that despite what I've been saying for the past 11 years about soda, they should drink as much as they can for mommy's new craft project. And, of course, I had duct tape lying around.
The final glamorous lamp transformation (glampsformation) is indeed pictured at my personal blog as linked above. Am I strutting around my new lamp while muttering, "Now that's a lamp transformation"? Yes. I am. And each dollar shaved off the cost of the project makes me strut a little harder.
But I know that if you are a hard core DIYer like me, you get it. The world of home decor crafting is intensely cutthroat and competitive. And when Bravo creates a reality elimination competition show about it, I'm in. I only hope that Amy Sedaris will be a judge.
@ btoddster: is this what you're looking for? http://www.lampshademaker.com/wood_veneer_lampshades.htm Not cheap, but so pretty!
@KatieDoh
XDDDD
Very well done! And... now I know that apparently it's really hard to just go out and get a "blank" drum shade and wrap some fabric around it. Unless maybe this? Though I am under the impression that ikea shades only fit ikea lamps, so presumably you'd need to hack it some more (beyond wrapping your fabric around it.)
... actually, now I want one of these, seeing as I have an ikea lamp base with no shade....
I just can't wrap my head around this project. We have to learn for the sake of our valuable time to buy what we want. I just googled drum shades and there are plenty of very inexpensive ones out there. But why not buy an assortment of inexpensive lamps that come with drum shades? Variety is the spice of life. If you really enjoy this kind of thing, then it's something different that we're dealing with here. If you're getting enough exercise and living a healthy lifestyle I guess I can't object.
You just saved me from spending mucho dinero on three drum shades! I have expensive taste, I guess.
As I never throw anything away (well almost nothing - much to my roommate's dismay), I have enough tapered shades to do this. I saw on another blog the instructions to create a paper drum shade, but it required the use of a harp and clear contact paper(!) - and I don't have any of those available right now!
I especially like that I will use fabric from my stash.
Great idea, thanks!
@ shaunaleee, thank you for the link. 8^)
I love the top few drum shades. Not really feeling the decoupage ones or the standard shaped ones, but yes, something like that doesn't come cheap.