I guess it’s really an Ikea lamp hack, through which we created a nightlight. Either way, Hubby and I are hoping this little piece of magic solves the sleeping woes in our house. A tall order, but spray paint can do anything, right? (Say yes.)
We decided we needed a nightlight in the nursery, but we don’t have any outlets that would work with the traditional kind (which aren’t toddler friendly anyway). There are lots of decent options out there, but I didn’t want to spend $30ish for ones I liked best. So we decided to bring this cheap Ikea lamp out of retirement in our closet to see what we could do.
We bought a 4 watt nightlight bulb, which I figured would be barely discernible from “off”, but it was actually still too bright to work as a nightlight. So I decided to tone it down by darkening the shade with something from my spray paint stash. (You have one of those, right?)
Krylon’s Caramel Latte looked good. But a plain shade would be boring snoring, so first I slapped on some stars that I cut out of contact paper.
(Btw, I’m kind of obsessed with white contact paper. So darn versatile for DIY/crafty endeavors.) I contemplated using a stencil for a more uniform look, but decided the charm of irregular hand-drawn stars was what the nursery needed. Also, it was faster to just draw the stars. But this was an aesthetic decision mind you, not borne out of laziness or impatience at all. Special thanks to Sweatpea for really smacking those stars on. Very “hepfo.”
Here it is after one coat of paint.
Let’s pause and discuss that spray paint trigger thing shown above. This was my first time using one. Whoa. Game changer. Have you used one? If not, get one immediately (since I assume you have a backlog of potential spray paint projects like most anyone likely to wander through this corner of the interwebs). It was so comfortable to spray using this thing, and I achieved better results than my typically disappointing spray paint jobs. It could just be spray trigger placebo effect; whatever, I never plan to spray paint without this $5 miracle again.
But I digress…let’s fast forward four or five coats. Ta da:
I was pleased that the contact paper stuck well and made for crisp lines, although I did pull off some extra paint in a couple spots when I pealed stars too quickly (which is so unlike me, she says sarcastically). Oh well. I discovered a bigger issue when I turned the lamp on: it still cast too much light down. So while the shade darkening is cute (if I do say so), it didn’t render this lamp functional as a nightlight. Nothing a little duct tape couldn’t take care of. Not the gray stuff we’re all used to; I used the super shiny heat-resistant foil tape that is for actual duct work. This decision was made out of impatience because I wanted to finish the light rightthisminute; spray painting was out since I had the girls with me but the tape was close at hand.
I started off with four carefully trimmed pieces. The foil tape has a paper backing which means it can be molded into the correct shape before it’s trimmed to size and stuck in place. (Another product I’m kind of obsessed with. Why haven’t I seen a million crafty DIYs using this stuff?)
My first round of tape pieces didn’t achieve enough darkening, so I started sticking all the oddball scraps on there and eventually wound up with full coverage. It was a very scientific process.
And that was it. Done and done. And since my photo editing skills are crap but I happen to have two of these lamps, please enjoy this side-by-side before-and-after.
Here’s the new nightlight in the nursery, all ready to change our lives. I shall report back soon about how it feels to have my children sleep peacefully through the night every night.