We Can See Clearly Now
We’ve been shopping around for awhile now looking for that perfect lamp to include in our guest bedroom. The lamp featured in our Better Homes and Gardens inspiration photo, check that out here, is the Zak lamp by Crate and Barrel.
As much as we love the Crate and the Barrel we didn’t love the $229 price tag attached to the the Zak Lamp. With no luck finding a copy cat at Target, Home Goods or World Market we started thinking more creatively.
It only took a few minutes to realize that we could make one of these puppies pretty easily – so that’s exactly what we did.
How’d we do it?
Step One: Find a vase that you can flip upside down and drill a hole through. We already had a drill bit specially made for glass and tile, and we picked up a large glass vase for $7.99 from T.J. Maxx.
Step Two: Once you’ve drilled through the vase, run a clear wire through the vase and out the the top of the hole you’ve drilled and attach a socket set to the wiring. We secured our socket set into the hole we drilled and reinforced it with super glue. The socket set and wiring cost $5 for both at True Value.
Step Three: Attach your shade and light bulb. We used the lamp shade off our living room floor lamp and then bought a larger shade for the floor lamp. A small shade will run you about $10.
For less than $25 we made our own version of the Zak Lamp that looks just as lovely. It is a more appropriate size for where it sits in the room – and we’ll be able to buy groceries for the rest of the month. Score and score.
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The talents and creativity of you both astound me. It’s beautiful!
I love the lamp! What a savings and just as nice or nicer than the Zak. Quick question…did you make a notch on the bottom of the lamp for the cord to be guided through so that it can sit flat on the table?
Thanks! And I love your blog!
Thanks Karen! You know, we didn’t do that but may go back and do so. The lamp sits up on the corner of our armoire and the cord is able to dangle over the edge unseen, but it would be pretty quick to add a 2nd hole in the base to allow the cord to pass through which would be necessary to me if it were next to the bed or in a more high traffic area. Thanks again!
Amy – love it! I am going to try to tackle this one next weekend. Awesome! Also we will be up there in march and want to see you guys :)
That’s so great! It would be awesome to see you guys!
Wahooo! That looks amazing and I think I need to do the same thing! Thank you for this post!
I’ve had this same idea to make my own version of the CB lamp and found your blog while trying to find a DIY version. I’m glad to know that you had success. I’m a little nervous about drilling through glass, but it’s good to know that it can be done! Thanks for the tips!
Love this. Must try someday.
Love these! Is there an opening where the cord comes out or does the glass lean a little where the cord comes out? I already have a few glass vases but they are a little smaller around, so i would be afraid they would fall over if they were leaning at all.
Thanks Gerrilyn. Ours are leaning a smidge but the glass is so large that you cannot even really notice. Plus we made this lamp to go up on top of a tall armoire so you cannot really see. However it would be just as easy to use the same drill bit to add a hole around the bottom of your glass and string the cord through before attaching it to the light socket you buy. Good luck!