Ikea Lamps make old lamp bases new again!

I found two used-to-be-pretty lamps stuck in the mud at my friend's farm. I hosed 'em off and brought 'em home, and finally figured out how to make them useful again.

I happened upon two Ikea lamp bases at the thrift store for a dollar each (similar to the JANUARIline, but older and apparently no longer available on their website). I found two Ikea RIPEshades in the as-is section at the Seattle area Ikea store.

Voila! Some basic disassembly, some basic wiring, and reassembly, and I've got two reformed-trashy lamps. You could totally do the same thing with has-been lamps, some Ikea goodies, and a little bit of patience.

Step 1: Disassemble the trashed lamps.

I used some wire cutters and pliers to remove the innards and rotten wood upright from the old lamp.

Comments

[karenchristine13]

why did you snip the wires? why not just loosen the screws attaching them to the part the lightbulb screws into. it seems like more work in the long run to strip the wires afterward and use electrical tape, etc.

[pueblita]

Love the eclectic look...marrying the old with the modern! BRILLIANT instructable!!!

[robj98168]

@Clint114- You know you can always find lamps at the AS-IN section of Ikea, thus helping to reduce the landfill problem.
These lamps turn out so cool!

[clint114]

Failing finding or buying an Ikea lamp to dismantle, thus adding to the landfill problem, you can also buy nice little lamp wiring kits at Michaels or Ben Franklin or Lowe's.

[CrystalDyes]

In some cases it may matter which wire goes with what screw. If a colored/black wire and a white wire are present, the colored/black wire goes with the brass colored screw and white goes with the silver. Best way to know is to examine the plug to see if it is polarized; i.e. can only plug in one way. If the plug is not polarized  then you're right, it doesn't matter.

Great job tho, I have been re-doing & making lamps since I was a teen. I even made some out of a pair of old time counter-top sink pumps. You know the kind where it takes muscle power to make it work?

[canida]

Those look great!