I’m continuing with a guest poster once a week for a little while. If you follow me on social media you probably already know that I’m down South in Louisiana with my sister while she goes through some health issues. I hope you enjoy meeting all of these wonderful bloggers I’m sharing with you. Today’s post is from Sarah at Little Red Brick House. She is one of the first blog friends I made and I just love her heart so much!! I wish she lived closer to me in West Virginia but she’s a Texas girl. Check out the DIY lamp she made below. She’s so talented!!
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Hello friends! My name is Sarah and I blog at Little Red Brick House about ways to take charge of your home with creative DIYs and decorating! You may remember me from my last post on how to make a functioning roman shade. I’m so glad to be back here sharing another fun project!
When I saw the inspiration for this project at Target (sorry the inspo lamp is no longer sold, that means you definitely have to build this one!), I knew I had to have it. I liked that it was a twist on the usual tripod lamp. And saving money by DIYing it is another bonus!
DIY Lamp Materials:
- 5 1×2 wood boards, cut to 4 feet long
- 1 1×4 wood board cut to 3 1/2 inches long
- Lamp kit
- Lamp shade
- 1/8 IP threaded metal lamp nipple, 3 inches long
- Wood stain of your choice
- Drill bit
- 1/8 IP nuts and washers
- Staple gun (optional)
- Pocket hole jig
- Pocket hole screws, 1 inch
DIY Lamp How To:
First, cut a 10 degree angle off each end of four 1×2 boards. The angles should be parallel.
Next, using the last 1×2 board, cut an 11 1/2-inch piece and angle each end by 10 degrees. Don’t cut these ones parallel, though. Cut them both angling inwards at the top. Then, cut two 5-inch pieces and angle one end of each piece by 10 degrees. Refer to the photo.
Then, use a pocket hole jig to drill pocket holes into each of the three smaller pieces that were just cut in the last step. Now assemble them in a cross shape.
Screw the cross shaped piece you just made into the long 1×2 boards making sure that the long pieces angle inwards toward each other.
Also, be sure to assemble them to where the pocket holes will be facing the ground so they won’t be seen from above.
Take the 3 1/2-inch 1×4 board piece and place it on top of the vertical 1×4’s. Center the 1×4 boards on each side of the 1×3 piece, and attach them using wood glue and a nail gun.
Now that everything is assembled, you can stain it with your choice of color. I used Minwax Provincial on my lamp.
Using a drill bit, drill a pilot hole in the middle of the 1×3 piece and thread the lamp nipple through. Insert a washer and nut over the top and underside of the 1×3 piece to keep the nipple in place.
Assemble the lamp kit by following the directions on the package. Then, pop your lamp shade on and plug your new lamp in!
I ran the cord down the back of one of the legs and carefully stapled it in place so the cord would be hidden but you could just let it dangle through the middle of your lamp, too.
And that’s it!
I love it so much. It took no time at all to make and it is super inexpensive! I hope you’ll give it a try!
Thanks for having me over, friend! I hope your sister is doing well!
Wow, I love a easy DIY like this! Thanks for sharing
Hello Houseologie and Little Red Brick House. I am currently in the middle of building this lamp, which looks amazing, and I can’t wait to have it in my home. I have come across an error in the instructions however. Given the lengths of wood supports, the lengths of the lower cross braces, and the 10 degree angle suggested, the wood supports touch about 1 foot from the top rather than being the 3.5 inches apart that the instructions indicate. To make the lamp with the given lengths I have needed to use a shallower 5 degree angle for all of my cuts. This made the top opening about 4.5 inches wide rather than 3.5 as indicated, but it is at least functional now.
Since a lot of beginner DIYers might give up if things don’t go well the first time out, I thought you should know.
.Agreed with the previous comment. This is an amazing design, but I too had to adjust to 5 degrees on all angles. my top square block I made at 3.5 in square which seemed to work out pretty well.
Would be more helpful with some additional details on how best to assemble as it can get tricky to support/clamp these correctly. I’m wondering if it might be easier to attach the base pieces individually to the legs first, then connect the base pieces together, then the top block.
on mine, since I don’t have a nail gun, I used screws to attach the top block to the top of the legs. Just had to take my time, slightly angle the drill about 5degrees when pre drilling. tough also because I didn’t know how to clamp these together. Turned out great in the end.
other tip…assemble the lamp parts and the wiring through the top block prior to attaching it to the 4 legs. otherwise, the space inside to do this gets very tight.
Awesome design…very glad I came across it.
Hi, I had one more comment, which was, and this is that I bought a typical lamp kit, which came with a 10 inch harp(the part the lamp shade attaches to), which made the shade appear too high on the lamp. I ended up buying a 9 inch harp for about $3, which brought it to a more appropriate height. I also used a similar shade as shown, which you can get in homedepot or lowes for about $20. great lamp kits also are available at http://www.antiquelampsupply.com in different finishes and cord colors. one of the best sites I came across.
This is beautiful !!
can i have in centimeters please?
I can’t seem to view the pictures from any device? The directions are great, but I would feel better seeing your pictures!