How to Make a Lamp with a Statue or Decorative Pieces {Claire Brody Designs}

Hey guys! It’s Claire from Claire Brody Designs back this month to share a fun DIY project. I use the term “fun” sparingly when it comes to DIY because I’m usually too impatient to actually enjoy them, but this one really was fun because it was quick and made a big impact!

When it comes to decorating, there’s just not much better than achieving a high end look on a small budget. I am a firm believer that you don’t have to spend a fortune to have a beautiful home. I like to save DIY projects for times when I want a high end, one of a kind look but don’t want to splurge on that specific item.

I’ve been participating in The One Room Challenge, which is where design bloggers come together to share their progress on a room makeover. The catch? We only have 6 weeks to complete the space. We’re on week 3, so things are getting real if you know what I mean. AKA money’s running thin. I am giving our master bedroom a makeover and have ordered all of the “big” pieces for the room leaving a smaller budget than I’d like for the accessories. You can read more about which room I’m redoing for the challenge here.

I do believe that some pieces are worth the splurge, but “splurge” pieces are different for every space. This time I chose not to spend a lot on the lamps but still wanted a big impact. I like a bit of symmetry and knew I wanted matching table lamps for the nightstands. I was in Homegoods and came across horse heads and started dreaming up how I could turn those weird horse heads into lamps. I could have spent the same amount that I spent on the heads and purchased average looking lamps, but I wanted something unexpected. After explaining my vision to my husband, he helped me turn the horse heads into this:

They actually turned out better than I expected! I didn’t even know if “horse head lamps” existed, but I googled and found that Jonathan Adler carries one for $350.

How to turn a statue into a lamp:

1. Purchase a hollow statue or any sort of resin hollow accessory. It is very important that the statue is hollow because the wiring will go through it. Some things may look solid on the bottom but really are just covered in felt.  You can push up on the felt to see.

2. Drill a hole in the top of the statue. We used a 3/8 inch drill bit to drill a hole.

 

3. Disassemble an old lamp. (I purchased two from Goodwill.) Keep this in mind that you will be disassembling it when deciding what lamp to purchase. This is what you need from the old lamp:

 

 

4. Once you’ve drilled your hole, you can insert the wiring up through the bottom and out of the top of the lamp, where you can reconnect to the neck of the lamp.

5. Depending on the shape of the statue, you might have to glue the neck of the lamp down if it doesn’t sit on a flat surface.

6. Add a bulb and a shade, and there you have it!

 

There are so many fun and creative lamp possibilities that you may even have in your own home.  Take a look in your junk closet to see if something would be fun to transform.

Thanks for stopping by and you happened to miss my project last month here on The Creativity Exchange, you can find that post by clicking on the image below:

You can also find more of my projects on my blog Claire Brody Designs here.

xo,

Claire