• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Momcrieff

Recipes | Gardening | DIY | My 1920's house

  • About Me
    • Contact me
  • My 1920's House
  • Recipes
    • Four Ingredients or Less!
    • Appetizers
    • Main Meals & Sides
    • Soups
    • Baked Items
    • Desserts & Treats
  • Gardening
    • Spring Gardening
    • Fall Gardening
    • Gardening And Landscaping
    • Planters / Containers
    • Misc. & Chores
  • DIY
    • DIY
    • Valentine's Day
    • Spring
    • Fabulous Fall!
    • Christmas & Winter
  • Misc.
    • Vacations
      • Family Vacation
      • Girl's Vacation
      • Misc. Vacation
    • My Black Cat
      • Health
    • iPhone/iPad Hints
    • Home Ownership
  • PRINTABLES
  • Nav Social Menu

  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  •  
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • DIY & Hints
  • Gardening And Landscaping
  • Planters / Containers
  • My 1920's House
  • Appetizers
  • Baked Items
  • Beverages
  • Breakfast
  • Desserts & Treats
  • Four Ingredients or Less!
  • Herbs - growing & preserving
  • Main Meals & Sides
  • Salads
  • Soups
  • Subscribe
  • Yum
  • ×

    Home » DIY & Hints

    Making an IKEA lampshade fit a normal lamp.

    Published: Sep 7, 2014 · Modified: Jan 26, 2020 by momcrieff · This post may contain affiliate links · 17 Comments

    So, I am finishing the final accents of my blogging office.  I was at IKEA a couple of weeks ago {SIGH}.  I so wish one was closer!! I loved those two hours of unrushed hours I had in that store!   It was wonderful.!  I didn't even buy a lot.  But I loved wandering around the store seeing all the storage and decor ideas.   The, I saw the perfect lampshade!  It was a pure white with grey swirls. I loved it and bought it.  I knew it would match my blog office perfectly.

    IKEA lampshade

    In my excitement to buy this lamp, I didn't notice that as an IKEA lampshade, it doesn't have the same fittings as a normal lampshade!  Who would think that an IKEA lampshade doesn't fit onto a regular lamp.  Why would they do that??

    IKEA lampshade

    DANG!  It doesn't fit on a normal lamp!!  I was quite upset when I figured that out.

    Fortunately, the internet helped!  Here's what you need to do.  Buy two large washers, a lamp harp and a finial.   Those parts cost about $15. in total.  The lampshades are a bargain, and if you love it, it certainly is worth the $15 to convert the lamp.

    Initially, I noticed that the inside of the lamp can be adjusted. so the circle part is closer to the top.  At first I tried to just balance that on the bulb.  It took about 15 seconds of trying to balance it to realize that wasn't going to work!

    IKEA lampshade

    This is a project perfect for a visit to your local hardware store.  Just bring your lampshade into the store.  Trust me, they have seen stranger!!  You need a large metal washer to fit on top and under the circle.

    IKEA lampshade

    I used gorilla glue (and it's held perfectly so far).  I clamped the metal washers to the circle thingy for a day.  I was determined to make my IKEA lampshade fit my lamp!

    Your local hardware store (or Amazon) sell lamp harps and finials. Like this.

    IKEA lampshade

    You can easily attach the new lamp harp to your non-IKEA lamp.

    IKEA lampshade

     

    Then add your finial.

    IKEA lampshade

    See, your washers look perfectly fine!  Like they are supposed to be there!!

    IKEA lampshade

     

    Once I had the lampshade in place, I added some of my strawberry vanilla hydrangeas to the clear lamp base.  The first ones I added had already been dried.  That didn't work well.  They all fell apart as I shoved them in : (.   So, I put fresh ones in and I am leaving the big cork part off so the hydrangeas dry.

    IKEA lampshade

     

    I LOVE this lamp.  I'm so glad I was able to use my IKEA lampshade.

    a lamp with an IKEA lampshade

    « Breakfast Ideas - FIVE of them! All super easy.
    Pumpkin Nutella squares - Three Ingredients! »
    2.1K shares
    • Share823
    • Tweet

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Teri

      January 06, 2022 at 3:08 am

      what size was the washer ? I am struggling finding big ones

    2. HollyG

      December 07, 2019 at 10:21 pm

      Thank you - I just zip-tied mine to the harp. It took eight zip-ties per lamp. Your idea is soooooooo much better.

    3. momcrieff

      May 06, 2018 at 7:45 pm

      Glad this helped you! We have an IKEA opening near us in a couple of weeks and I can't wait to see all the cute lamp shades (and other fun stuff!).

    4. momcrieff

      April 12, 2018 at 7:42 am

      It was so disappointing to find the perfect shade and then it not fit on my lamp! But, this conversion really does work and you can use the fun patterned IKEA shades on your existing lamps.

    5. momcrieff

      March 31, 2018 at 8:38 am

      You are so welcome! IKEA does have so many fun shades!

    6. Victoria

      March 28, 2018 at 3:04 pm

      this post makes me so happy. I just bought a IKEA shade for my nursery and realized after driving the 3 hours home it wouldn't fit a standard lamp. Weekend project! Thank you for sharing!

    7. momcrieff

      March 28, 2018 at 8:01 am

      Did not know that IKEA uses standard metric sizes with their lampshades! Thanks for sharing.

    8. Marcushasfun

      March 27, 2018 at 5:12 pm

      It's a European lampshade. And IKEA does use standard sizes, it's called the metric system 🙂

    9. LastBryce

      January 18, 2018 at 1:29 pm

      I have noticed you don't monetize your page, don't waste your traffic, you
      can earn additional bucks every month because you've got
      high quality content. If you want to know how to make extra money, search for: Mertiso's tips best adsense alternative

    10. JP

      October 20, 2016 at 11:43 pm

      That's very clever, but you can also buy a lampshade reducer ring. They are a UK/Euro thing, but you can find them on ebay and online.

    11. Sara

      September 11, 2016 at 7:45 am

      Brilliant! My mom has same exact shade and i have been trying to make it work. We tried the jnserts that make the hole smaller, but didnt work with her base. Will tell her to try this! Thanks!

    12. Leah F.

      May 24, 2016 at 1:23 pm

      OMG! Thank you! Thank you! I have spent all day trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with my lamp base. It was so validating to read that these Ikea lamp shades do not fit normal bases. And thank you for your great solution!

    13. Anonymous

      February 07, 2016 at 11:12 pm

      Thanks for the post

    14. momcrieff

      September 22, 2014 at 9:21 pm

      Yes IKEA 'stuff' can be awesome! I just wish the used standard sizes! It never occurred to me that the lampshade wouldn't easily fit. Glad You found this post helpful!

    15. jesse

      September 21, 2014 at 11:01 am

      Ah, this is JUST what I needed! Many a time have I been annoyed by them having their own system! I never thought of a washer. This is perfect. I love Ikea shades & prices, but I often find lamp bases in other stores. This, has saved my life.

      Thanks!

      Oh - PS - Kristing - That doesn't always work as the socket has to be JUST the right size for it not to wobble. I have a lampshade from target that fits on the socket, and I had to hack the socket with electrical tape so it would snugly fit, and it's always crooked too! I wish it were that easy though, sometimes we get lucky.

    16. momcrieff

      September 08, 2014 at 7:34 pm

      Tried that! Unfortunately, the hole wasn't big enough to slip over the socket. IKEA would have made this so much easier for so many of us if your suggestion was possible. Thanks for the suggestion though!

    17. Kristing Jorgenson

      September 07, 2014 at 1:15 pm

      ... um... leave the lampshade alone. Take off other lampshade... UNSCREW the lightbulb put new shade on top of socket. Replace bulb... DONE...

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Subscribe to Momcrieff

    Hi, I'm Susan! Welcome to Momcrieff.com. I love sharing easy recipes (especially those that take less than 30 minutes and/or have less than 5 ingredients). I also enjoy gardening and creating flower | container gardens. Plus, I share about renovations and updates of my 100-year-old house!.

    More about me →

    Trending Articles...

    • How to Keep Water IN your Hanging Planter.
    • 31 Shade Plants for your garden
    • 25 Outdoor Planter Ideas
    • My house had knob and tube wiring (I updated because of safety issues!).
    • Banana chocolate muffins - 3 ingredients.
    • Three Ingredient Peach Cobbler

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Advertising and Disclosures
    • Cookie Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign up for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Media Kit

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2021

    © Copyright 2020 Momcrieff · All Rights Reserved ·

    2.1K shares
    • 823