Every room in my house is chock full of midcentury antiques or midcentury replications. I’m obsessed. From the vintage Fire King Peach Luster plates on my wall to the acid green couches I bought directly from their original owner, I am so deeply in love with this period of design that I couldn’t leave it out of my bedroom. Plus I needed a little femininity in this room so I thought a little tulle was exactly what was in order to restore the careful balance of feminine masculinity I’m going for. Lampshades are so much fun to customize. You buy the cheapest thing available and with just the simplest effort you can make it perfectly fit your room.
Cut your tulle to be as tall as the shade plus a little extra, and wide enough to fold in half and still give the look you want. Mine measured 18″ tall by 12″ wide. Cut wice as many pieces as you’ll need to go around your shade so that you can double layer each section. The tulle needs a few layers to really show up. Fold the sides in to meet in the middle so that all the raw edges will be in the back.
Your lampshade will probably have a binding, so if it does, rip it off. Glue the tulle to the top rim. I used hot glue because it dries super fast and you don’t have to hold anything in place, but that glue will seep right through the tulle so watch your fingers. Keep the glue line as thin as you can so it’s easy to cover up later.
Glue each piece overlapping the one next to it to get all the way around. The more you overlap the better as it really adds to the look, but remember to space them out evenly around the shade.
Glue the other end of the tulle to the bottom of the shade. If your shade flares out like mine does you’ll have to pull the bottom of the tulle out to get the same overlap look. Just don’t pull it out so much that your raw edges break through to the front. When all your pieces are glued down, trim the edges to be flush or just below the edge of the shade.
Pinch each panel around the middle to gather it. Use a coordinating ribbon or thread to bind it in that position.
Make sure that when you tie your knots after you’re done binding the panels, you turn it around to the back so you only see a nice smooth decoration. I even used a dot of hot glue to keep it there so the knots couldn’t slide around to the front.
Glue a ribbon or bias tape around the top and bottom of the shades to cover up all the cut edges. Fold the end of the bias tape over before gluing to hide that cut edge too.
I love how this lamp looks, especially on top of my bookshelf bedside table. The table is so dark gray and clean lines it’s almost industrial, I’m a little obsessed with the contrast. Which is exactly what I’m going for in this room, which is why doing things yourself is just so. much. fun.
