The room I work in doesn't have the best lighting, and I hate turning on the overhead room light because it's hot and glaring. When I work away from home, lighting can also be a challenge. So I hunted about a bit for USB powered keyboard light, and found a good candidate. However, like many similar lights, it's kind of a bare LED bulb thing and while it illuminates my keyboard and work area nicely, it's can be a little stark and unpleasant too.

So I took a page out of DIY Nightlight Shade from last summer, and cobbled together a keyboard lampshade. It works quite nicely, especially the little Dixie Cup 3 oz size cup, and its decorative, too!

Step 1: Materials

You'll need:

a keyboard light
Plastic or paper cups
scissors
marker

Step 2: The Problem

The problem is the same as the benefit-the keyboard light is really bright! It tends to be more of a spotlight that a diffuse desk light, and angled for best keyboard illumination tends to also be angled in such a way that it hits me in the eye in a rather distracting fashion.

Step 3: Measure Light Diameter

You can measure or trace your light diameter onto a cup with a marker.

Step 4: Cut Hole

With plastic cups, you may need a starter hole, since these things are rather tough at the bottom, but can crush easily when you try to start your cut with the scissors. Having a starter hole makes the cutting go better and preserves the integrity of your plastic cup lampshade.

Step 5: Insert Light

In this case, the access hole to insert the light is larger than the neck of the keyboard light, which doesn't bother me. But you might want to create a collar for the lampshade, out of tape.

Step 6: Adjust As Needed

The big 8 ounce cup was too big for my tastes, so I cut mine down about half. Taping the edge with black electrical tape cuts down on the little glare that remains and seems to give a nicer quality to the light on the keyboard.

Step 7: Enjoy the Light!

Different types of cups will give different effects, so pick what works best for you. It's an cheap and easy mod to any keyboard light and adds a nicer ambiance than the LED light alone.