I love DIYs that can change an entire room with their effect. My bedroom has finally got two new lamps and due to the natural radiance of the bamboo, the beautiful, matching lamp cables in natural look and the symmetry it has become much more harmonious and visually calmer.
DIY hanging lamps from bamboo lanterns build –
I find a good reading light that doesn’t shock you when you wake up super important in the bedroom. Until now, our reading lamps looked rather improvised and didn’t fit together at all. But you can’t always tackle all the problem areas in the house at the same time and I also enjoy the process of making small improvements and changes at home bit by bit. With the new pendants I now have even more room on my new bedside table.
The great thing about DIY lamps with plug connection is that you can also install pendant and wall lights where you have no lamp connection on the ceiling or wall. We once again worked together with Kabelscheune for this project and I was able to browse through the cable and lamp accessory assortment to find suitable accessories for my lamp. (If you need more lamp inspiration, take a look at our copper bedside lamp, the letter lamp or the concrete lamp).
Since I didn’t find the perfect lampshade, I bought beautiful bamboo lanterns in the deco shop, which I converted into lampshades. Matching the bamboo, I combined a really nice twisted cable cord in jute look and found black plugs, switches and sockets. As holder for the lamp and the cables I used two wooden shelf supports.
DIY Upcycling lamps from lanterns
Material for the hanging lamps made of bamboo
2 lanterns made of bamboo
2 x 2.5 m lamp fabric cable twisted, Canvas Jute (your individual length)
2 plugs
possibly 2 switches
2 sockets
cable end ferrules
2 leather straps (yellow and green)
2 LED bulbs
2 wooden shelf supports
Tools:
Screwdriver for small screws
Cable stripping pliers
pincers
Cut pliers to cable
scissors
insulating tape
This is how you build your pendants from bamboo lanterns
Once you’ve found two matching lanterns or lampshades, you’ll need to look individually at how to hang the lampshade from the shelf supports and how to fit the socket with the lamp. In my case I could tie a ribbon to the handles of the lanterns, loop it around the twisted lamp cable and tie it to the top of the support. So the weight of the lampshade does not hang on the cable.
To finish building the lamp, you should first put the lamp cable through the holes in the shelf support and determine the length of the cable. Once the sockets and the plug are mounted, they won’t fit through the holes anymore. Decide if you want to connect an extra light switch or if you want to control your lamp via a socket with on/off button or a remote plug.
Then you have to connect the plug, switch and socket to the cable. If you don’t have any experience with this task, it’s best to get help from an experienced person or a professional. For safety reasons, we have decided not to provide our own detailed instructions for connecting power cables due to creative fever.
To protect the fabric cables from being torn up, you can simply wrap the ends you cut off with insulating tape.
Building pendants
I’m super happy with my new lamps. The bedroom got a whole new feeling.
All the best,
