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Eight Times I’ve Made My Own Lighting

If I could develop my own product line, I’d probably want it to be lighting. Making my own DIY lighting is something that I’ve been doing ever since I started my blog back in 2007, and I’m just fascinated with ways that simple, humble materials can be used to make creative and interesting lighting. Here are 8 DIY lighting projects that I’ve made over the years, from the most recent and working back to the beginning when I started my blog.

DIY Flush Mount Glass Bubble Light

I shared this light in more detail yesterday. You can click here to see more if you missed that. I made this light out of frosted Christmas ornaments, a ceiling medallion, and a hanging flower basket. This light is above the bathtub in our (still unfinished) master bathroom remodel.

Square DIY Semi-Flush Light

This light was inspired by a very expensive light that I found and absolutely loved, but there’s no way I’d ever pay over $2000 for a light. As much as I love lighting and think it’s one of the main things that makes a room feel finished and designed, I’m always convinced that I can get the look I want at a much more reasonable price. So using that expensive light as my inspiration, I made this one out of trim from the molding aisle at Home Depot, along with some paint, gold leaf, and a piece of glass that I had cut at the local glass shop. You can see details of this project here.

DIY Watercolor Herringbone Table Lamps

This was a fun project, and as far as I can remember, these are the only table lamps I’ve ever made. I generally stick with DIYing pendant lights. This was a very tedious project, as those herringbone “tiles” are actually pieces of hand cut watercolor paper. But if you’ve been around here long, you know that I actually love tedious projects. (*Ahem* — pinwheel art made out of 800 wood tasting spoons, pixel art made from 6400 tiny pieces of wood, etc.) I made these table lamps when we first moved into our house, and I was obviously going in a totally different direction with color palette than what I ended up with in our house. I’d love to see this same design made with my beloved bright colors — teals, pinks, greens, etc. You can see the details of these DIY table lamps here.

DIY Faux Capiz Shell Pendant Light

I don’t know that this really looked like faux capiz shell (I don’t think anyone would really be tricked by it), but I still loved this pendant light. I really am of the belief that as long as you use hundreds (or may thousands) of one item and turn it into a shape (sphere, cylinder, etc), it’s going to look great. I made this pendant light using a large glass globe and the plastic that is used to cover windows to give them a frosted glass look. I cut hundreds of “petals” out of that plastic, used a gold marker to edge each petal, and then adhered them to the glass globe. I never got to see these in a finished room, because the room they were in is now our master bathroom. You can see the details of this pendant light here.

DIY Orb Pendant Light

This was one of my favorite projects that I made for our condo. This orb light in the hallway was made from two flower hanging baskets and a lighting part from an old chandelier that I found at the thrift store. You can find the details for this org light here.

DIY Pendant Light Made From Drinking Straws

And now we’re digging way back in the Addicted 2 Decorating archives. This was one of the first DIY projects I ever made for my blog, and it’s a pendant light made from colorful drinking straws. Even though I love color, this is a bit much for my taste these days. But I’d love to see this same design made smaller, and with all white/translucent straws. I actually think that would be beautiful. Or I’d love to see it all on one bold color. When I saw the pendant light hanging above Shauna Glenn’s kitchen sink in her recent Instagram pictures/reels, I was immediately taken back to this straw pendant light. Something like that could very easily be created using all orange straws. You can see more about this pendant light here.

DIY Flower Pendant Light

I wish I could go back and use these lights in an actual room. I never got to see them in a room because I just made them for fun. It was more an exercise to flex my creative muscles. But this pendant light is made from paper pulp egg cartons (I happened to come across some that were purple!) and Christmas lights. You can see the details of this DIY pendant light here. And please forgive the awful picture. This was way back around 2007 or 2008, and I had no idea how to take pictures back then. 😀

DIY World Globe Pendant Light

If you have any old world globes lying around, this is a fun project to make with them, and it’s very easy. It would be cute in a kid’s room over a desk. You can see the details of this pendant light here. And again, please forgive the awful photos. I was a blogging newbie back then. 😀

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9 Comments

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  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Adele
    May 24, 2022 at 11:12 am

    What about the wood floor lamps converted into table lamps and painted green?

    • Reply To This Comment ↓
      Adele
      May 24, 2022 at 11:15 am

      Ooh and also the wall lights in your entry way? Or do they not make the cut because they were just the shades?

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Crystal Griffith RN
    May 24, 2022 at 12:09 pm

    Project to put in the back of your brain: Write a book on making your own light fixtures and shades!

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Kristin
    May 24, 2022 at 2:28 pm

    Oh my goodness! I had forgotten about that table lamp! Oh, how I had loved her. She has “aged” well and still looks beautiful.
    Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Dorth
    May 24, 2022 at 2:46 pm

    Such a good idea. Have you thought of Etsy? I think people would really like kits so they could make it themselves.

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Carla from Kansas
    May 24, 2022 at 3:45 pm

    I absolutely love the capiz shell light.

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Kim
    May 24, 2022 at 6:20 pm

    They are all great! You could have a whole other job! The Bubble is the best for me!

    • Reply To This Comment ↓
      Ginny
      May 25, 2022 at 8:46 am

      I agree..the bubble light us a masterpiece of creativity and engineering. I just love Kristi’s creations. I’ve learned so much from her.