DIY ceiling lamp shades makeover…
Oh the horror. You’ve got a hooter hanging in your hallway…or your living room, bedroom maybe? I’ve been there, too. And I’ve come bearing great news. We’re about to banish that boob with some easy DIY ceiling lamp shades, friend.
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Nothing against hooters, of course. Great wings and all that.
But if you’re anything like me, you want to keep spring break flashbacks where they belong. In the distant, distant past. Tucked away in a dark, dark place. But not a closet. We don’t want boob lights there, either.
Boobs are fantastic, and I fully support boobs. Like a good bra. I’m in full support. I just don’t want a strip club staring down at me from a ceiling. If you don’t, either…you’ve come to the right place.
Because we’ve got another plan to clear the ceiling cleavage. Yes, another plan. You see, this isn’t our first rack-ridding-rodeo, people. We’re kind of boob light experts, at this point. At the bottom of this post, you’ll find a bunch of other boob light hacks of all shapes, cup sizes and styles!
Today, the plan is to create a fun boho, and very on-trend shade for our boob. Any guesses what we’ll be using to accomplish this feat? PLACEMATS. Yep! I found these two lonely little bamboo placemats at a Salvation Army.
Got them for $1 each. But if you don’t get quite as lucky in your own local thrift shop, I’ve linked a couple similar options that you can purchase below.
Supplies needed for DIY ceiling lamp shades:
- nylon cable ties
- old, or cheap drum shade* (preferably a light color like white or cream, and“spider”, “uno” or “chimney” fitters will work best (google these terms if I’m not speaking your language right now)
- **bamboo or natural fiber placemats of choice. Depending on the size of your boob light and the placemats, you will need (2) or more. Our placemats were a thrift-score, but here are some good alternative sources I found which I thought would look great (and there are shop-able images at the bottom of this list):
- hot glue and hot glue gun
- scissors or linesman pliers (if you wanna be fancy about it ?)
Here are some shop-able placemat options I found for you to check out:
* keep in mind, the ideal candidate for your drum shade is that the opening on one end will be roughly the same diameter, or a bit larger than your boob light (the metal frame, not the glass shade). If the diameter of your shade is smaller than the fixture, you’ll be able to see some of the “guts” of the boob light when you look at the light from below.
**when looking for your bamboo placemats, remember that the weave of them will help determine how much light will be thrown from your new shade (this is also why we recommend a white or off-white colored drum shade). A looser weave will allow for more light coming through, which will likely be preferable.
How to make your ceiling lamp shades with bamboo placemats:
Here’s a quick (and a little bit dirty) video on the quick and easy process:
As you can see, you’ll simply be hot glueing your bamboo placemats to the drum shade. It’s as easy as that. Be careful to keep the placemats in alignment as you go, and work in small sections so that the glue doesn’t dry.
You can see in the video that we used (2) placemats to cover our drum shade, and they did overlap a bit. I’d recommend allowing them to overlap rather than cutting them. Since the bamboo is weaved, once you start cutting, things can unravel and fall apart very easily. Best to just overlap ends a bit and be safe.
Now let’s hang the shade!
How to hang your ceiling lamp shades:
*the video above will show you everything you how this is done in about 1 min 30 seconds.
1). Remove glass shade from your boob light.
This is typically accomplished by simply unscrewing several screws in the frame of the fixture.
2.) Affix new ceiling light shades loosely with zip ties.
You’ll need to place the nylon tie through both your shade as well as a screw hole in the existing ceiling fixture (the holes where you just removed the old glass shade). Close, but DO NOT tighten the zip tie (yet).
Continue around the shade in this manner, loosely securing shade through all screw holes with a zip tie.
3.) Level.
Once all your zip ties are placed, you’ll want to level your new shade. Do this carefully. If you tighten too much, you’ll have too snip your zip tie(s) and insert a new tie. Not a huge deal, but will take a little more time. Incrementally tighten your ties until the new shade is hanging as desired.
4.) Snip.
Once you’re happy with the way your new shade is hanging, simply snip the excess nylon from the ends of each zip tie with your scissors or linesman pliers.
Here’s a quick video showing how to hang your shade. The style of the shade in this video is different, but the process is the same. You’ll be putting your cable ties around the “spider” arms or other metal prongs on the interior of your drum shade.
This type of lighting project is PERFECT for renters! You are not harming the original ceiling light. Just stash that old headlight (ie glass shade) somewhere for safe-keeping. When you move out, replace the boob before you go. No harm, no foul. No living with a wet t-shirt contest in your living room while you’re in your apartment. I’d call that a win.
PLUS, you can switch out shades when you get bored or tired of one style easily. We have banished boobs in many different ways including:
1.) with a simple drum shade,
If you already have an old shade, great! If not, here are some places I found them at decent prices:
2.) a capiz shade,
Here are some places you can grab a capiz shade (also, look for them as wind chimes)…
3.) a cool moroccan style metal geometric shade…
(really a large candleholder) in the past. All have looked great!
Here are some sources for this lantern and other similar ones:
4.) even a boho-chic shade,
No matter the style you choose, we hope these ideas have given you a little hope. No need to feel hopeless any longer about those ceiling hooters. Banish those bosoms!
Chris Carter says
Would love to send you a before/after photo of my foyer chandelier, inspired by your posts. I replaced frosted shade with a clear vase!
Heather says
Please do!! Would love to see it!! email: [email protected] 🙂