Thrifting Finds Meet Ikea: Super Simple DIY Light Hack

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While there are many exciting things about life moving abroad, there are arguably just as many experiences (I prefer to call them adventures!) that would make most people say “this is not for me”. Through any move (whether abroad or in town), before you can reach the sightseeing, embracing culture and settling in stage, you first must go through the get lost, sleep on an air mattress and figure it out stage. Thankfully, with each step you take, you can see the vision on the other side of a settled home, family and friend visits and sweet daily moments. Currently, Charlie and I are taking baby steps moving from craziness to settled in, with some of the first steps being to find light fixtures. As I mentioned in my post a couple of weeks ago, Top Tips For Finding An Apartment As An Expat In Germany, most apartments (unless furnished) do not come with many light fixtures installed. This flexibility allows each tenant to install the lighting that he or she prefers, but coming from the US is still quite humorous to me. Thankfully, our apartment only needed 3 main light fixtures (some cans were already installed), as a few apartments that we toured needed over 15 (talk about an investment!)! Needing lights early on, we didn’t have time (or want the hassle) of scouring online or running all throughout the city. Seeing this, we paired thrifting finds with Ikea parts for a super simple DIY light hack for our dining room light fixture. Regardless of whether you are moving abroad, buying a house or simply wanting to mix up what you currently have, I hope that this DIY will inspire you to transform your favorite antique finds and perhaps branch out beyond what is first seen into fun creative endeavors. 

Antique / Thrift Shopping

As I have mentioned before, I absolutely love the hunt of a good deal with loads of charm. Scouring antique stores, flea markets and thrift shops is a favorite pastime of mine that harkens back to the many antique shopping day trips I took as a child with my mom. If you look to have a little creativity, you frequently can find great deals and unique jewels that, with a little love, can have a whole new life. As we are on a budget, I did not want our apartment to look as if the entire showroom of Ikea spilled into our house. Looking for something of interest, Charlie and I ventured into Floh Und Antiquitätenmarkt and instantly I was in love. A quirky little antique thrift store, Floh Und Antiquitätenmarkt was filled with fun treasures, most entirely untagged. We soon stumbled on a pretty architectural shade with linen fabric and a vintage lace detail. The shade was just a shade. No light bulb attachments or wiring or anything that would make it easily into a light, but I knew it could be transformed. After a little bargaining and trying to squeeze our finds (two lights, a rocking chair and an antique sign) into our small car, we finally got to work on making it into a DIY light fixture. 

Tip #1: If you have the vision, don’t be put off by the journey to accomplish it! Frequently antique or thrift store finds will take a bit more time and love to transform, but in the end they will provide much more visual interest and character to your space (and typically for a fraction of the cost!).

 Simple DIY Light Hack

Supplies:

• Thrifted Antique Shade 
• Ikea Sunneby Cord Set
• Small Lamp Shade (similar to this one)
• Light Bulb
• Hook (similar to these)

As the shade that we had found only had a round hole at the top (and we were working with very limited tools and materials!), we worked to discover a way to attach the shade to the cord set. With a little trial and error, these are the steps that we found worked best with only 5 supplies! 

Steps

Step 1: If the antique shade you are working with only has a hole at the top and no bulb attachment, start by turning your attention to deconstructing the separate small lamp shade. With the small shade in hand, peel off the fabric until only the internal frame is exposed. 

Final Thoughts

While you might not be able to find a shade exactly like the one we did, this method of transforming a thrifted shade into a light fixture can be applied to many different styles! With few tools and a little creativity, we were able to create this light for less than $50, which I count as a huge success for both our style and budget! So, if you are looking for a new light, would you give this method a try? Or perhaps you have your own simple DIY light hack that you have experimented with? Either way, I would love to know your thoughts in the comment section below! 

Happy thrifting!

Chloe

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