While you wait out the rainy season this spring, why not get crafty and make something that’s both easy on the eyes and useful for your home? Today’s post is all about creativity, interior design, and an environmentally conscious lifestyle. The goal is simple. We want to inspire you to reuse, recycle, and re-purpose. We’re about to show you ideas for 10 gorgeous DIY lamps and chandeliers made from recycled everyday items. Whip out your scissors and glue gun and get creative with it!
10. Recycled TetraPack Lamp
Got milk? Great!! Then you probably also have a TetraPack or two lying around the house. Use your scissors, some patience, glue, and this whimsical design from Ed Chew to create a wonderfully atmospheric TetraPack pendant lamp. Hang it from the ceiling, turn on some soft music, and watch how your new lamp projects wonderful shapes on your walls.
09. Recycled Plastic Spoon Chandelier
Plastic might just turn out to be the bane of humanity, unless we as a race understand that it needs to be repurposed. Designer Yaroslav Olenev‘s spectacular recycled plastic spoon chandelier is one step in the right direction – and it also looks wonderfully delicate. Forget expensive Italian crystal, plastic can work just as well to adorn the ceiling of a boho chic home.
08. The Coat Hanger Lamp
Good old wooden coat hangers, sturdy and dependable, have all but been replaced by hangers made of plastic. However, this doesn’t have to mean they’re pointless or obsolete. As this wonderful design from Natalie Sampson proves, they can be arranged in a complex, eye-catching structure, which will create a great interplay of warm lights and soft shadows. This lamp may seem complex to make. Upon closer inspection, it’s one of the easier to make DIY lamps and chandeliers made from recycled everyday items.
07. Wooden Branches Chandelier – DIY Forest Lighting
(Picture at the top of this post)
Tyra Hilden and Pio Diaz have come up with a great use for dried up old tree branches. No need to toss them into the trash or set them on fire. Instead, why not turn your living-room or bedroom into a magical forest, with the aid of a few simple tools? Check out the designers’ website for complete instructions on how to create this chandelier, but be warned that you’re going to have to do some sawing and heavy duty gluing.
06. Old Bike Parts Chandelier
(Picture at the top of this post)
Granted, this spherical chandelier, designed by Joe O’Connell and Blessing Hancock might be a bit difficult to make for those with no technical inclinations. However, we believe the end-result is well worth it, especially if your home is sporting that charming post-industrial vibe, or, conversely, if you’re into retro of the steampunk flavor. Amassing all those old bike parts is also fun. It will probably take you on a scavenger hunt at all your local thrift stores and yard junk sales.
05. Lamps Made out of Carved Calabash Gourds
This is yet another example of a professional design – this time one that bears the signature of Calabarte. The brand actually derives its name from Calabash, a type of African gourd. Now, you may not be as skilled at carving as their artists, but that’s no reason to ignore the concept of hand-carved African gourd lamps altogether. After all, they’re affordable enough for you to buy a whole bunch and then start honing your sculpting and etching skill. And, at the end of the day, you might end up with as beautiful a DIY table lamp as the one featured above.
04. Pendant Hat Lights
The above design is reminiscent of the work of famous surrealist painter Rene Magritte, whose self-portraits often featured men in melon hats. Jeeves & Wooster came up with this cute concept for pendant lights that uses just about any type of men’s hat you can find. Check out your local thrift store for one that looks good enough to hang from the ceiling and help your interior design stand out for its vintage elegance.
03. Cupcake Lining Papers Orb Lights
Cupcake tin liners seem like the kind of item which only serve one purpose: that of helping the cupcake come out easily from its tin. But what if we showed you the amazing orb lights that we found on Design Sponge first? Would you guess they’re made from precisely this type of paper? Probably not – and you’d probably be even more amazed to learn how easy these lights are to make. All you need is a dim light bulb, so that the paper doesn’t catch fire, some glue, and a ton of patience.
02. The Doily Lamp
Isabelle McAllister came up with a tutorial that can help you bring an air of delicate grace to any bedroom or nursery. Got any doilies around the house, inherited from some old aunt or grandmother? Get some balloons and crafting glue, inflate one balloon, then stick doilies all over its surface. Allow the glue to dry out completely, then pop the balloon and insert an electric wire and light bulb inside. Presto: here’s your lacey doily lamp!
01. The Can Pop Top Lampshade
Pop tops, too, seem entirely useless, once you’ve opened the can of your favorite beverage. However, if you’re in the habit of collecting them, gathering the right number of pop tops will bring you one step closer to creating a striking lampshade. The design requires no special tools to make and is great for a desk or night stand in a modern, minimalist environment.
Got any other ideas and tutorials for DIY lamps and chandeliers made from recycled everyday items? Don’t hesitate to share the love and the knowledge with the rest of our readers!
