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Ceiling Fan Lampshades

For the longest time now I have wanted to change out the boring glass fixtures on our ceiling fans. Not because they’re ugly, just because they’re…regular. Not interesting. In this house, things that are totally functional and not ugly obviously need to be changed.
So here they are, in all their normalcy:
regular ceiling fan
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boring light fixture
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Now in order to put a lampshade on the ceiling fan I needed a very special lampshade. They had to have and uno attachment instead of the regular spider attachment (there’s a picture below, cause I know you probably have no idea what this means) and had to be a perfect drum shade. The reason for the perfect drum is that to install it on your fan you have to turn it upside down, and I didn’t want some funky inverted lampshade. Oh, and they had to be fairly small, I didn’t want them taking over the fan.
 I (casually) looked for months to no avail. Then one day I ran across these lamps at Target for $9 a pop. They were on clearance AND there were two – lucky me!
target lamp shade
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Here is the uno attachment – I’m already holding it upside down, it goes on the lamp the other way.
ceiling fan lamp shade
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Now you know I couldn’t just take these lampshade and hang them up. No no, I had to personalize them.
Step one was to rip off the existing trim. This was disturbingly easy.
lamp shade remodel
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Next I cut out a piece of fabric to fit around the lampshade.
fabric lamp shade
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Normally you would attach the fabric to the lampshade by using a spray adhesive. I however didn’t have any, and I wasn’t going to run to the store to get some. Running to the store around here consists of an hour round trip of driving…no thank you. So I improvised and decided to use watered down fabric glue and apply it to the lampshade with a brush.
fabric lamp shade DIY
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revamp old lamp shade
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It actually worked perfectly! Next I applied the fabric, smoothed it out, and let dry.
girly lamp shade
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To give it a clean look I decided to forgo the trim and just wrap it around the back using -you guessed it- fabric glue.
fabric glue lamp shade update
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Here they are all finished. Next I had to go get the husband to hang then up for me (balancing on a bar stool at 38 weeks pregnant probably isn’t the best idea).
no sew fabric project
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He took one look at them and commented on how much his grandma would like them. Evidently I should have gotten fabric approval before starting. Admittedly it’s not something I would have normally picked, but I wanted something fun, floral, and with some pink in it (to tie in the pink tree in the corner.)
(Here is the link to the fabric I choose, if your interested.)
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Anyway, here they are all hung up!
 To hang them, all  you have to do is remove the current globe and light bulb, put on the lampshade, and screw back in the bulb. Easy!
DIY fabric lamp shade project
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girly lamp shade fan
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Here is what it looks like from directly underneath. You can see the bulb and all, but I don’t think it
 looks bad.
upcycled lamp shade
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The husband cringes every time he looks at them…he says they’re way to grandma and girly. I say it’s okay to be overly feminine when directly behind them is a super rugged snakeskin. We’ll see how long they last, I may  still have to man then up a little.
girly fan upgrade
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Update: I did end up switching them out…here is the link to the post about the process.
…and in case you don’t want to take the time to read a whole post about it, here are some pics :)
bold ceiling fan
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outdated ceiling fan fix
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ceiling fan renovation

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23 Comments

  1. Do they affect the lighting in the room? I like them but I will admit to being surprised you put that feminine of a fabric in the living room. However you're very right that with the masculine accents it balances. Tell Adam that he married a girl so he gets some girly stuff hanging around as part of the package! lol Nice job on the project, not bad for the very end of a pregnancy with a toddler running about! You're a champ!

  2. i'm a new follower and am totally stealing your book slings idea! anyway….

    very cute idea. i'm not in love with it for a living space (my husband would DIE if i put anything that girlie in a shared space), but i do love it for my 5 yr. old daughter's bedroom. plus, hers is ugly! it's one of the globes with the gold trim that's supposed to screw on with three screws, so it constantly rattles. ugh! now i'm on the hunt for a lampshade that will work. thanks for the inspiration and i'm very impressed at your ability to get, well, anything done that late in your pregnancy. i'm pretty sure i spent the last few weeks lying on the couch.

  3. Aren't you just so clever. I have a bedroom that needs a fan but I don't want to give up the only light that is wired to the wall switch. I usually don't like the light kits on most fans but you have given me a terrific idea. Thanks for the inspiration and for linking up to Motivated Monday at BeColorful
    Pam

  4. These look great! The watered down fabric glue idea is genius–I hate using spray adhesive for lampshades and I have one that is still needing to be redone. Love the fabric you ended up with, too–I have it in my kitchen :)

  5. I really love the look of this! Funny that I have the same lamp from Target in my nursery. :) And the first fabric you used, I have dresses made out of it for my little girls. We must have similar taste. :) Thanks for sharing this @ Show & Share! So glad that you did!

  6. I really like how they turned out! We have some ceiling fans and I honestly have hated them because they're boring and I want some chandeliers or something, but I might have to use this idea instead…my husband would be happy to keep them :) Thanks for sharing with us at Show & Share!

    Marie
    mylilpinkpocket.blogspot.com

  7. Hi Ashley, they turned out very nice. I like the second one best. Thanks for sharing. I have recently found your blog and am now following you, and will visit often. Please stop by my blog and perhaps you would like to follow me also. Have a wonderful day. Hugs, Chris

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