Materials: Snar place mat, 13-gauge wire, thin wire.
I added a shade to the bare-bulb sconce that is on our first floor landing. The light is in a great place, and does some heavy duty illumination in our living room, so the shade had to be as translucent as possible. I also wanted to get as far away from the original shade as possible (the sconce started with a very dark orange glass shade that was hideous and that one day fell and broke into a million billion pieces).
Buying one was out – the market for half-shades that are held on by the bulb is scant, apparently. It was time to improvise! I used some 13-gauge wire to create a basic frame and the circle that would fit onto the socket.
The shade itself?
This IKEA placemat, strategically wrapped around the frame and secured with a few wire twists.
So now we have a reasonably sculptural shade that hides the bulb without compromising light quality.
I drew up a schematic for the wire frame. The light blue squiggles are the places where I used a very thin wire to secure the heavier wire either to itself, or to the middle socket-holder piece.
~ Anna Wulick @ Forty-Two Roads