DIY Mid Century Modern Inspired Wood Floor Lamp

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10-DSC_0079 (5)I have been a fan of mid-century modern style since I was little! I love the furniture and styling! Last year I made a fun mid-century inspired lamp shade with Martha Stewart decoupage materials. You can see that post Here. I have had it sitting on an old floor lamp in our living room. This floor lamp was an old cheapie we bought when we had our first apartment over ten years ago. Needless to say, it was in need of a makeover. I had seen a spiral wooden lamp in an antique mall years ago. So, we thought we would give it a try. It took up our saturday, but it was totally worth the time! We had a great time making it together as well!

Here’s What You Need:

*One old floor lamp

*Wood-Poplar (We used 3/4″ x4″x11′)

*PVC Pipe (We used a 3′ piece)

*Paint

*Stain

*Paint Brushes

*Sandpaper

*Drill with a bit, or a drill press

*Wire Cutter

*Bottle Stopper Piece from a Bottle Lamp Kit

*Nuts

*Tablesaw

*Mitre Saw

Instructions:

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First you need to figure out how much wood you need and pvc pipe. Decide how long you want your wood pieces. We made our pieces to be roughly 3.5″x3.5″. Measure your lamp height(area you are covering). Ours measured about 54″ tall. Take the measurement of what you are covering and divide that by the thickness of your wood (in our case 3/4″) and then divide that by two and that’s how many pieces of each material you need(in our case 54″ tall divided by .75″ would be 72 pieces all together divide that by two and that will give you 36 pieces of wood and 36 pieces of pvc pipe.) To decide how much wood you need take your desired size which is 3.5″x3.5″ and add the kerf of the saw blade (in our case 1/8″) multiply that number (3.625) by how many pieces you’ve calculated (36×3.625=130.5″ =10’10.5″, so an 11 foot piece worked for us.) For the pipe take the kerf of your blade plus the thickness of your pvc pieces( in our case 3/4″) and multiply that by the number of pieces you calculated( 36) to get the length of pipe you need. You will also need to disassemble the top wiring of your lamp. Mark which wire is on each screw so you can keep track of it.

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Once you have all your materials, you are ready to cut your pieces. Start with your wood. Make sure to add for the kerf (width of the blade) when you mark your cuts. Carefully cut all of your wood pieces on your table saw. I had 36 3.5×3.5 squares once cut.

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Lightly sand each block with a light 220 and 320 grit.

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Now you are ready to cut your holes. Measure the circumference of the metal pipe that is the shaft of your floor lamp. Find a drill bit slightly larger than that width. Mark the centers of each block with a ruler or center finder and pencil. Drill each block and set aside.

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Lightly sand any rough areas where the holes were drilled.

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Now you are ready to cut your pipe. Use a blade on your mitre saw that is a veneer/plywood/plastic blade, or a really fine tooth blade.

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Making sure you mark your pipe pieces for the width of the blade cut your pipe pieces on your mitre saw. You can see in the photo, my husband clamped a block the exact width out from the blade we needed our pieces so he didn’t have to measure and mark after each cut.

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Once you have all your pipe pieces cut you are ready to paint them. I painted mine a creamy white.

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Also paint your base the same color as your pipe pieces.

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Stain all your pieces with a soft cloth, rubbing the stain with the grain of the wood. Set aside to dry.

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Now you are ready to assemble your lamp. Slide a wood piece onto your lamp pole and scoot it all the way to the bottom. Then slide on a pvc piece.

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Then repeat all the way to the top alternating wood and pvc pieces.

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Now you need something to hold down everything tight. We used a bottle stopper insert from a bottle lamp kit.

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Squish the bottle stopper coupler into the top wood piece.

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Then screw the top wood piece onto the threaded rod at the top of the lamp.

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Next, slide on another pvc piece, a large washer and a nut. Screw it all on tight to the threaded rod.

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Next add your harp if you have one and your bottom socket holder base.

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Trim the wires and strip the ends with your wire cutters and strippers.

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Take your marked wires and twist them around each screw that they coordinate with. Assemble the rest of the light socket. Add your light bulb and your harp if you have one and finish off with a fun lamp shade.

 

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06-DSC_0081I just love how my lamp turned out! It really looks so much better in my living room than that old shabby metal! As much as I love my handmade lampshade, I would eventually like to get a vintage fiberglass stitched lampshade. But we shall see. So, i you have an old shabby floor lamp sitting around, give this diy a try. It’s a lot of fun! I’ll be back next week with another project. Until then…

Happy Crafting!

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