Accessories may be categorized as functional, decorative or background. Functional accessories include necessary items such as towels and soap. Decorative accessories are purely for eye appeal -- for example, artwork and flower arrangements. Background accessories, such as plants and books, fill up space on shelves and tables. Lamps can fit all three categories. A creative accessory lamp can be made from almost anything that a hole can be drilled through. DIY Decorating & Design host Nancy Golden explains how to make a lamp with a wooden teapot form as a base. Materials:
Lamp base
Drill and drill bit
Lamp cord with plug attached (buy cord 1' longer than the finished length should be)
Lamp socket
Lamp rod
Lamp-rod spacer (a coupling attachment that attaches to the lamp rod and socket cap)
Nut and bolt to fit lamp rod
Sharp utility knife
Screwdriver
Tension attachment lampshade
- Drill a vertical hole through the lampshade base to accommodate the lamp rod.
- Slide the lamp rod through the hole in the lamp base, holding it in place at the bottom with a washer and nut.
- Thread the lamp cord through the lamp rod from the bottom of the lamp base through the top so the plug end of the cord extends from the bottom of the base.
- Disassemble the lamp socket, which consists of a cap (the bottom), the outer shell and the socket itself.
- Attach the spacer to the socket cap. Push the end of the lamp cord through the bottom of the spacer and up through the bottom of the lamp socket (figure A). Tighten the spacer to the lamp rod.
- Lamp cord is made of two wires joined by brown insulation. Pull the individual wires of the lamp cord apart about 2", and use a sharp knife to strip off 1/2" of the insulation from each wire. Do not cut into the wire.
- Tie an underwriter's knot in the two wires to prevent them from being pulled back through the lamp rod. Hold the lamp cord so it forms a Y, with the joined lamp cord in the middle. Following the shape of the Y, make a loop of each end of the wire, holding the end of one loop in front of the joined cord and the end of the other loop at the back of the joined cord (figure B). Slip each end through the loop formed by the opposing wire (figure C), and tighten the knot. Tug lightly on the plug end of the lamp cord at the base of the lamp so that the knot sits snugly against the socket cap.
- Next, attach the wires to the socket. Twist the strands of each exposed wire clockwise so there are no frayed ends. Use a screwdriver to hook each wire around a terminal screw. The neutral wire of the cord, which is ridged or marked, connects to the silver socket terminal. The hot wire, which is smooth or unmarked, connects to the brass socket terminal. Twist each wire around the appropriate terminal screw (figure D), and tighten each screw with a screwdriver, making sure there are no stray wires.
- Fit the wired socket into the socket cap, and slide the grooved outer shell of the socket over the switch (figure E) and onto the socket.
- Fit your lamp with a light bulb and a tension attachment shade.
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