Potted Desk Lamp

by noahw

13K289

Intro: Potted Desk Lamp

I wasn't too surprised when my craptastic IKEA desk lamp broke this morning when I went to turn it on. The plastic piece that connects the neck of the lamp to the base broke right off. I looked around and noticed an empty plant pot sitting right next to it...minutes later the potted desk lamp was born!

STEP 1: Lamp, Meet Pot

Take the broken lamp and introduce it to an empty pot

STEP 2: Take Apart the Old Base

Use a screwdriver to take apart the base and sever the wires that connect the neck of the lamp to the base. The screws for the base are located underneath the rubber feet on the bottom of the base.

STEP 3: Make a Hole in the Back of the Base

The wires will need to be re-routed to the lamp since it will now be two separate pieces. Make a quick hole in the back of the base and pass the wires through. Don't connect them to the lamp neck just yet however, the neck of the lamp still needs to be embedded in the plant pot.

STEP 4: Pass the Neck of the Lamp Through the Bottom of the Pot

The pot had a hole in the bottom that allows water to drain out of it. This is going to be a perfect hole for the wires to pass through.

Stab the neck of the lamp into the soil and out through the hole at the bottom.

Then, take a drill and make a hole in the bottom of the plant saucer. If it's ceramic, you can still drill through it, just go slowly, don't push too hard, and put some water on the drill bit as it works its way through. Mine happened to be made of galvanized steel, so it was easy to drill through.



STEP 5: Reconnect the Wires to the Base

Reconnect the wires leading from the neck of the lamp to the lamp base. If you don't want to place the base next to the potted lamp, then use some longer pieces of wire to connect the two together.

9 Comments

Noodle93 16 years ago

I think there's a hazard for those who aren't so bright who might decided to water the light to make it brighter. +1

iain010100 16 years ago

Does this require sunlight light like other potted plants? Maybe the instructable creator can explain all those items on the desk, like the orange with the embedded straw, the voodoo doll, the collection of betamax tapes, the bottle of heavy tranquillizers, the stack of strangely shaped colored sliced bread, the jar of foreign coins, the red bracelet, the nylon twine, and the gray heart shape.

noahw 16 years ago

Oh my - I had forgotten about all of my "special items" in that picture. I feel so exposed! Now the whole world knows that I am a voodoo practicing orange sucker, pain killer taking, witch doctor who removes gray hearts from people who are tied up in twine wearing red bracelets who films the entire process using video equipment from the late 80's!!!! No, no, no. I should say... I am the creator of the Instructable and I can explain the items on my desk. The orange is stuck with a tiny laser cut fork and knife that I made. The voodoo doll was bought from Michaels as a crafting object. The betamax tapes are mini dv tapes that I have filmed for Instructables TV episodes. The heavy tranquilizers are advil. The stack of strangely cut sliced bread are actually robot ornaments from the holiday contest and the jar of foreign coins are assorted nuts and bolts that I have accumulated. The red bracelet is a "organic" rubber band that comes on vegetables. The nylon twine is in fact nylon twine and the gray heart shape is part of a mold for chocolate lollypops that we are making to give away as Valentines Day Contest prizes. Everything is perfectly normal here at Instructables HQ...

darkmuskrat 16 years ago

Cool, i would have loved to see you deciding how to fix your lamp problem. Hey, is that a pot, hmm? lolz

GorillazMiko 16 years ago

Yay, Instructables Robot stickers! Also, at first I thought this showed how to make a lamp because I'm turning half of my room into a work room place, and I needed a lamp, but I didn't want to go to Ikea. But I'll find one soon hopefully. Nice Instructable!

JoelSimpson 16 years ago

Actually, seal the base, add a plant and DO water it. How cool would that be. A plan't getting it's light while you work and you get some fresh air and a little nature. (+) Very nice!

jimmysdead 16 years ago

I love this instructable. I'm sure I have a crap-tastic Ikea job in my loft somewhere gathering dust because of it's lack of interesting aesthetics. I will give it the green treatment and just try to drum into my own brain not to forget that it's a lamp and attempt to water it. Good job

Doctor What 16 years ago

Good interesting instructable that is easy to follow!! Cheers to you!!! (+)