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At this point, pretty much any IKEA product can be hacked to look more elevated, be more functional, or serve a completely different purpose. From shelves and bookcases to dressers and nightstands, if it’s from IKEA, it’s safe to say it can be hacked. Plus with companies that will basically do your DIY for you, there’s no excuse not to take some of your favorite affordable items to the next level.
One of our favorite things to hack? Lighting. A good floor lamp or pendant light is key to a beautiful home, but the fixtures we love can often be out of our budget. So we’ve rounded up a few ways you can elevate pendants, sconces, and more for a brighter look. Markers, drills, and battery-operated bulbs at the ready.
Brighten Up a $6 Target Plate
Andia Kolakowski wanted a fixture that looked handmade but didn’t cost a fortune. Luckily, she was already the proud owner of a round ceramic drill bit, so she cut a hole in a $6 dinner plate from Target and sandwiched it between the base and bulb of the Simrishamn table lamp.
Doodle Away
For a light that doubles as a work of art, all you need is a Sharpie and the $6 Regolit pendant lamp. Former Domino editor Meghan McNeer’s design will make you do a double take: She went through two markers while applying tiny, elaborate squiggles to her paper shade.
Get on the Checkerboard Bandwagon
Utharaa Zacharias painted the same Noguchi-inspired lantern, using acrylic to give it a trendy checkered effect. Psst: Her dining table base is another genius hack (it’s actually a storage rack).
Whip Out Your Sewing Machine
Sofie Amalie Rolandsen of the blog Thus the Fuss made a new fabric shade for her formerly plain white Regnskur pendant lamp by folding her new textile longways. Then with the pattern displayed inside out, she sewed up the edges with a 1-centimeter-thick seam (for the top opening, she left a 2-centimeter-wide gap so she could snake the electrical cord through it).
Make a Tween-Approved Mobile
In search of a savvy way to upgrade her daughters’ bedroom, blogger, designer, and author Anita Yokota dreamed up this vibrant reinvention of the popular Sinnerlig light. With a little hot glue, she fastened a series of pom-pom tassels (sourced from a garland she bought at Crate & Barrel) to the bottom of the fixture.
Go From the Office to the Bedroom
With some careful cord cutting, Miranda Anderson, founder of Live Free Creative Company, was able to turn a hardwired desk lamp into a plug-in sconce. The hack requires a bit of attention to detail, but the focus it takes to delicately snip, twist, and thread the inner workings is worth it if you’re a renter and don’t have the ability to open up your walls.
Finesse the Base
After cutting a 2-by-4 piece of wood to make her diamond-shaped mount, Lovely Indeed blogger Chelsea Foy attached Ranarp wall spotlights with gold brackets to her bedroom wall and then plugged the cord into a nearby outlet—no electrical know-how needed.
Fake a Bright and Breezy Space
Jennifer O’Brien’s DIY is even easier than the last: Not only is there no wiring involved, there’s technically no electricity. After gluing together a wood disk and a dowel, and attaching the pieces to her ceiling with Command strips, she secured a Torared pendant shade and a battery-operated bulb to a screw eye-hook at the end of the dowel.
Illuminate From the Ground Up
Adding legs to the Sinnerlig pendant lamp gives it a totally new purpose. The woven bamboo lampshade shines as a decorative accent thanks to pops of pink wood blocks adhered with just a bit a glue.