Category: DIY

How to create an easy budget-friendly bedside wall lamp. 

Bedroom, DIY, IKEA Hack, Lighting

So I am rethinking my bedroom bit by bit and was wanting some new bedside lights. My bed is very low and therefore felt I needed some height in whatever I decided on. Last year I had bought a wire shade from Merci in Paris just because I loved it.


Having no idea where I would use it or how. So I started to have a look around with what I could do. And had been pinning a lot of inspiration around semi DIY lighting.  I found a retailer on Amazon called Vendimia Lighting Co who specialise in all the composite parts of lighting. Including flex in multiple colours and designs, Bakelite casings, vintage bulbs and retro shades. I’m not that confident with electrical wiring so wanted something that I didn’t need to mess around with too much and that could be plugged in rather than into a ceiling rose. (I have a plug socket either side of the bed.) They had the ideal flex with a plug and a switch with a Bakelite bulb holder. Perfect for this job!  A black and white striped flex works well with the rest of my decor.

Then I just grabbed an inexpensive Ikea Ekby bracket.


The vintage bulbs I had seen online were quite expensive. I needed another alternative that still looked good. Luckily my local Wilkinson’s stocked a line by TCP called Rustic. See here. For a bargain £3. They are a really nice shape and give off a orangey glow.


With all the bits sourced. I attached the bulb and wire shade to the flex. Then attached the bracket to the wall at the desired height. (I used command strips as I can’t drill into the wall) and then wound the flex around the bracket et voila!

I am pretty pleased with the outcome. Although can’t decide if I should paint the bracket either white or black. What do you think?

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Beautiful, cheap, marble and copper table hack.

DIY, IKEA Hack

  
I’m at it again with the marble contact paper! 
I received this great copper wire basket for Christmas from my sister from Tiger. It wasn’t that practical from a storage point of view but I thought it would make a great bedside table. 

I just needed a round bit of wood for the top. I really struggled at the hardware store to get circular bits of wood without having to get it custom cut at an added expense. 

Then came in the ikea Frosta stool. Only £8 and the top is the perfect size. A match made in heaven!

Materials:

Cheap Wire basket.

IKEA Frosta stool 

Contact paper in marmi. 

Scissors. 

Ruler

Pencil/pen. 

  

First Time Ikea Hack – Mid Century Marble Ikea Linnmon table

Crafting., DIY

IKEA HACK DIY DESK

I have been looking to fall in love with a mid century desk for about 4 months now but not quite found anything that 1. either I liked enough or 2. I could actually afford!

So fed up of having no where for my computer and all my craft stuff stacked on the floor. I decided to take matters into my own hands and create something as an interim solution. Until the elusive perfect mr desk comes along!

I had seen quite a few ikea hacks on pinterest using marble contact paper and so the seed was sown. In total it cost me £50 which I was really happy with. You could even do it for £30 if you use ikea legs aswell. So here’s my step by step guide to a Mid Century Marble desk

1)  Materials

1 x Ikea Linnmon desk top £5.90

Marble Contact Paper in Marmi

Set of four legs of your choice. (I chose some hairpin legs from ebay.com)

Screws

Drill

Ruler

2 & 3)  Place the marble contact over the table top and slowly peel the backing off starting at one end. Using a credit card or ruler to keep the air bubbles out. Tip is to spread out from the middle to the edges as you go. Be patient this can take a while but is worth it to get a professsional finish.

4 & 5)Turn over the table top and line up your legs. Mark where the screws need to go. (if you are using ikea legs you can skip this step) Drill a pilot hole for each of the screws, being careful not to go all the way through. Talking from experience here!

6) Screw your legs on firmly.

Turn over. Voila! Your table is ready to style!

Hope this has been helpful. This was my first ikea hack and I was really proud of the results. I do now want to cover everything in marble contact paper though!