If you have an item with decorative or sentimental value that you’d like to incorporate into your décor—or you simply want a lighting fixture that’s one-of-a-kind--consider making your own lamp. Practically any item can be used when making a lamp, from jars, vases, candlesticks, wine bottles and driftwood to baskets and musical instruments. “Not everything should be a lamp, but everything can be a lamp,” says lighting expert Laurel Ann Kulseth of Laurel Ann Studios in Seattle.
Lampmaking kits are readily available at most hardware stores for less than $15 and contain wiring, a socket, a finial and a harp (the armature that holds the shade). Directions for making a lamp are included in the kit, or you can consult these easy lampmaking instructions from Lowe’s.
If don’t want to do the job yourself, consider hiring a professional; you can find businesses that do this kind of work listed in the Yellow Pages under Lighting Fixtures. The cost of making a lamp will vary widely, depending upon the business performing the work and whether the lamp will need to be drilled, mounted on a base, fitted with a special finial, etc. Figure at least a hundred dollars for a simple project with no base to more than $250 for a piece requiring a custom base and matching finial. Shades are extra.
An inexpensive vase was transformed into a lamp using a $13 lamp kit; the shade was a $150 splurge.
Photo © 2006 Fred Albert
If you’re making a lamp out of an antique or another item with intrinsic value and you don’t want to jeopardize its worth by drilling holes in it or affixing it to a base, Kim Hansen of Harold’s Lamps in Seattle recommends having the lampmaker do what’s called a “museum mount,” in which the wiring is concealed inside a freestanding rod mounted behind the piece. If you’re worried about a lamp tipping over, have a lampmaker affix a base to it (stock or custom options are available), or insert some ballast into the bottom of the vessel. Clear feet can be added to prevent a flat bottom from rocking due to a cord exiting out the bottom. If you don’t want to drill an exit hole in the bottom, consider using a French socket, in which the cord emanates from the socket rather than the base.
Whether you make the lamp yourself or have a professional do it, a custom lamp is a great way of adding personality to your home.
