10 Completely Clever Ways to Transform Vintage Objects Into Lighting
There are plenty of wonderful things to take home from a flea market, and although it’s fun to display a piece exactly as you found it, there are lots of inventive ways to transform your finds into something else entirely—like light fixtures!
Yes, that’s right. With a screwdriver, an X-Acto knife, and a light kit (which can be purchased on Amazon and comes ready with a cord and light socket), you can convert nearly any vintage object into a ceiling light, chandelier, or pendant lamp. Simply follow these ingenious DIYs to turn your thrifted treasure into something amazing.
You know those giant, antiquated cameras with the big ol’ flashes attached to them? Whether you find one at a flea market or tucked away in your parents’ basement, it can be transformed into an extremely cool, one-of-a-kind lamp, as Carrie discovered.
You can go all around the world and never find a light fixture quite like this one. Starting with a vintage globe, which can be found fairly inexpensively at secondhand shops and flea markets, punch holes in and around the continents to create a glittering effect. Debi shares a video on how she made this worldly masterpiece.
There are few vintage DIYs that are easier than this one. Seriously, all you have to do is find a woven vintage basket—Andrea used one that belonged to her grandmother—and pull the lamp hardware through it. Minutes later, you’ll have your very own, totally unique pendant lamp.
Joanna Gaines would undoubtedly approve of this DIY. We love a colander when prepping veggies for dinner, but we like it even more as a light fixture. Vintage models can be taken out of the kitchen and used instead as light fixtures that’ll look flawless in any farmhouse space.
The Edison bulb trend is still going strong, and people are also continuing to whip up new creations using reclaimed wood. This DIY project by Brianna combined the best of both worlds when she constructed this stunning chandelier. It’s hard to believe that a few old pieces of wood became such an incredible light fixture.
Eye-catching outdoor lighting is a must if you plan on throwing lots of parties on your patio, and this might be the coolest DIY for outdoor lights ever. Heather found some rusted oyster tins and used them to create outdoor pendant lights, and we think they look pretty darn charming.
Who knew that a bunch of bygone metal baskets attached to a piece of barn wood would look this delightful? Brooke crafted this vintage light fixture for her kitchen (bonus points for the sweet white and blue hues), and the outcome is perfectly adorable.
Sometimes, all it takes is a simple swap to make a light from a vintage object, like this DIY that Erin came up with. She upcycled a pair of candle sconces into chic and modern wall lighting, a project you can easily tackle on a Sunday afternoon.
Shannon used a Target cage light to complete this DIY project, but we think it can be easily done with a vintage version of a cage light, which can be found quickly at any flea market. It goes from “random object” to “working light fixture” in the blink of an eye.
This vintage light fixture DIY is really impressive. Karen took a $4 thrifted wooden surveyor’s tripod and used a lamp kit to change it into a unique floor lamp.