Origami lampshade DIY

 

A cold and a flu do inspire creation. While grounded at home I combed through the Internet in search of the kitchen lamp that had to fall under several categories all together. Non-expensive and easy to change, because I am horrified of kitchen lamps that yellow with time. Big enough to be rather present in the kitchen interior, because there isn't much else going on in the ugly rental kitchen that I'm trying to keep as simple as possible. It must be white. And I don't want to have the same thing like everyone already has.

So Ikea was out of option, and even though I really like the PS MASKROS light, we've seen just enough of it on the blogs and in neighbours' windows, I was reluctant to join the army of followers. I was also quite a fan of the Studio Snowpuppe origami lamps - the chestnut and the moth, but they don't come in white. Habitat had a nice option in white origami, with its unbeatable price, but somehow for a moment it seemed too small.

This is how I started looking things up on Pinterest and found several tutorials about how to make an origami lampshade. I tried out different papers - some were too thin, some were not crisp enough to make perfect flawless folds. Finally I chose a 200gr smooth cardboard and used 50x70cm sheets following this tutorial. Folded only two parts (not three as it is described in the tutorial), because I did not want the folds to be too thin - the trick is that when you add extra paper your lampshade does not grow in diameter, but only makes deeper and thinner folds, and the more you add the more it will look like an accordion. And since I really like the sculptural faceted aspect of the design, plus I was a bit lazy - I only used two sheets.

 

 

You have to be very careful while folding - make sure you meet the corners with absolute precision, or your lamp will look crooked. Choosing the right paper will make the work easier. I folded over a very long metal ruler that has one slanted edge, I also smoothed the folds down with the same ruler, this made the folds sharp. I chose the finest and the most transparent Schotch tape, called Crystal tape. And most importantly, substituted the cord from the tutorial by a fine ultra-stretchy white elastic ribbon. When you link the top and the bottom of the lampshade with an elastic, it is much easier to tie it and it doesn't leave and ugly hole that just doesn't close.

 

I waited for it to be light to take the pictures of the final result - they're comin' atcha!