DIY Lampshade Ideas

One of the quickest ways to update a room is to spruce up a lamp in your home and today I wanted to show you some easy and affordable ways to transform a lampshade from Goodwill. I love these ideas so much, in fact, that I have plans to add a new lamp or two to our space now for Spring! I hope you will be as inspired as I am by these bloggers and their incredible lampshade makeovers.

Add a Fun Print With Leggings

You can find a pair of leggings in just about any pattern or color combination right now at just about any store. Consider snagging a pair of inexpensive leggings and using this material to stretch over a lampshade in your house to add a trendy color or pattern to your home without a big financial commitment.
Head over to Vintage Revivals to get the scoop on how to update a lampshade with this inexpensive fabric

Add an Adorable Ping Pong Detail

I am a big fan of ping pong craft ideas and love this detail on a lampshade. You can use fabric paints to match a room in your home and then glue on this three dimensional detail for a fun look for any game room.

Get the scoop on this DIY Ping Pong Lampshade from I Love to Create here.

Go Industrial

Goodwill is the perfect place to hunt for lampshades that have beautiful bones underneath their fabric exterior. A simple removal of the fabric can create a beautiful industrial lampshade and the edition of an Edison bulb really completes the look on this easy DIY project. Check out this industrial lampshade makeover on Blythe Ponytail Parades.

Add a Fabric Detail

If you aren’t a fan of the industrial look, but have a great lampshade base to work with, consider adding your own unique touches with scraps of fabric. If you are a sewer, you may have a mystery bag of materials to work with to create this adorable scrappy fabric lampshade for a corner in your craft room like Pen’s Nook

Add a Feminine Touch

Nothing says Spring like floral and that is why I love this fabric flower lampshade. With simple fabric circles, glue, and a little shaping, this is the perfect craft to work on while binge-watching all of your favorite shows on television. Since you are covering the entire lampshade in flowers, it can really breathe life into a lampshade that may have seen better days thanks to a camouflaging of rosettes. 

Add a Unique Embroidered Touch

I love, love, love the look of embroidery and this DIY Constellation Lampshade from Transient Expression is jaw-droppingly awesome. I have been seeing constellation projects popping up on table runners and wall murals, but have fallen in love with this lampshade for my small home. If you can’t find a navy lampshade for your project, consider covering it in navy leggings (as I showed you in our first project listed here) or hunt through the t-shirt section of Goodwill for the perfect navy shirt to use!

What are some ways you have transformed a lampshade? Feel free to leave a comment below! We love hearing your ideas! 

9 Ways to Spice Up a Goodwill Lamp

One walk through the aisles of Goodwill and I guarantee you will find a handful of great lamp choices just begging for a fun makeover that can dress up a corner in your home. To inspire you, I have gathered nine of my favorite ways to spice up a Goodwill lamp. These ideas are so inspiring, in fact, that I can’t wait to run over to my Goodwill store to snag a lamp for myself.

Be Bold With Paint

There is no need to go overboard if you lack the craft skills to tackle a more complex craft project and one way that you can easily spice up an old lamp is just to add a bright pop of color to it with spray paint. With all of the fun colors in the spray paint aisles, the only hard part will be choosing your favorite color. Be sure to browse around the Housewares section for other fun additions you can add to a table in your home and can spray paint in the same hue. One bottle of spray paint will go far with a fun project like this. (Source: Mr. Kate)

 Make It Into a Bird Bath (Say What?)

Sometimes one has to rethink the original purpose of a thrift store item, that is why I am IN LOVE with this idea to turn a lamp into a birdbath for the backyard. With this DIY, you simply spray paint your base in a fun color to  match the colors in your patio set, and then add a bowl on top to create the perfect little birdbath for the backyard. Why spend a fortune at the garden center, when a birdbath can be made for a fraction of the price? (Source: Thrifty Rebel)

 Add A Whimsical Accent to Your Game Room

Do you remember all of the fun I had with board games over the Fall? If you remember how much fun I had with that, I am sure you will understand my enthusiasm for this adorable lamp for a family’s game room. The best part about this one is that not only can you pick up the lamp from Goodwill, but you can even pick up the board games there too. This is a lamp that you could definitely make together as a family and would be absolutely adorable in your game room, family room, or kids playroom. (Source: Apartment Therapy)



Make it Sentimental 

Map crafts are just as popular as the book crafts we highlighted last month and I absolutely love this DIY lampshade makeover made from a map. Select a map from a location that is special to you, perhaps where you honeymooned, where you grew up, your favorite family vacation, or where you live right now, and make an homage to that location with this sweet lamp. Finish it with a grosgrain ribbon or an embellished edge ribbon trim from the craft store. (Source: Silver Boxes)



Rethink Your Fixture

Who says you need a lampshade to even create a light. Have you ever thought of using a cake or jelly mold for a fun industrial fixture. It is rare that I stop in Goodwill and don’t spy a cake mold with pretty fluted edges and they are often priced at a dollar or less. Add a spray paint that adds a hammered metal appearance to them or go vintage with a pretty aqua blue. These light fixtures are not only unique, but they utilized an item that is frequently donated to the store. (Source: Poppytalk)


Add a Stenciled Accent 

Stencils are all the rage in home decor whether it is a stenciled accent to a wall, to stenciled window treatments, to stenciled accessories in your room. You can find beautiful stencils to choose from at your local hardware store in the paint aisle or you can create your own if you have a craft cutter, like a Cricut or Silhouette. This stencil adds texture to the fabric, thanks to the Tulip Soft Fabric paint. I love the fun bow and cute additions made to this lamp from a scrap of burlap and fabric. I am sure you will love this one too! (@ Tatertots & Jello)

Add a Ruffle

Don’t sew? No problem! There are so many fun ways to add fabric to a tired lampshade that you might just be overwhelmed with the choices and few of them involve more than fabric and a glue gun. This lamp that I created replicated a lamp spotted in Anthropologie, but was made at a fraction of the price with a little burlap and a hot glue gun. This lamp redo is a great one to add to a craft room or to a little girl’s room for a feminine touch. Spray paint the base any color to match the room and add a burlap ruffle in whatever shade you can find on sale at your craft store. (@ MomAdvice)


Add Some Script

I love when bloggers are inspired by expensive lamps they see in store catalogs and find  a way to replicate that beauty in their homes. A $159 lamp might not be in your budget, but one created for less than $10 just might be.  Who wouldn’t love a love letter written right on a lampshade? I am all about sentimental decor in my home and I have a feeling that this lamp makeover is as sweet as it gets (@ The Shabby Creek)

Rethink Your Shade

Industrial lighting is very in right now and one way that you can incorporate that industrial feel to your lighting is by simply creating a different lampshade from other items you might find lurking at your Goodwill store. A metal basket is the perfect way to add that industrial touch to a lamp and when they are both spray painted in the same shade, it is a match made in heaven. (@ DIY Wilma)

Have you ever spiced up a Goodwill lamp? Let us know in the comments what you have done with this frequently donated item!