4 Ways to Decorate with Cheap Lamp Shades

Cheap lamp shades can be a fun and inexpensive way of adding some designer flair and personal character to a room. The right kind of shade can really liven up a lamp and the best part is that a shade does not have to be expensive in order to be stylish. You can easily decorate lamps with inexpensive lamp shades and create a unique style statement for your spaces in next to no time. Here are 4 ways to decorate your lamps with cheap yet creative lamp shades.

1. Embellish a Plain Paper Lamp Shade for Instant Style

Plain paper lamp shades are cheap and easy to buy. However, they do look boring and dull when used as-is. Add some style to an inexpensive plain lamp shade by embellishing it with sequins or, big, colorful, buttons or a trimming of colored ribbon. You can also take several pieces of broad and narrow grosgrain ribbon and glue them on vertically or top to bottom for a simple and instant uplift. Choose colors that match the décor of the room and you’ll have a stylish lamp shade easily and quickly.

2. Stencil a Design on a Cheap Lamp Shade

Cloth lampshades that are plain and cheap can easily be decorated with stenciled designs. You can then fill in the designs with acrylic fabric paint and make your own personal style statement. Pick a design that fits with the room’s theme for added impact. For instance, lamps in children’s rooms can have shades stenciled with their initials to personalize their space. Or you can stencil them with an object from the room’s theme – soccer balls for a boy’s room or cuddly teddies for a baby. Even shades in the master bedroom can be stenciled with classy and modern designs such as abstract objects or random shapes for an easy makeover.

3. Use Leftover Furnishing Fabric to Decorate

An inexpensive cloth lamp shade can be brightened up to suit a room’s décor simply by using leftover bits of furnishing fabric to make a fabric collage. Use a glue gun to randomly stick the pieces of fabric to cover the lamp shade. Make sure that the pieces overlap. You can even trim the pieces of the fabric using a pair of serrated edge scissors to create a country-feel collage. Finish off by trimming the edges with solid-colored ribbon and you’ll have a fun and stylish lamp shade to decorate with.

4. Use a Decorative Lamp

Sometimes a cheap and plain lamp shade will look great just the way it is when paired with the right kind of lamp. So, if you have some cheap lamp shades on hand, you may want to use them with decorative and stylish lamps. Using a cheap fabric lamp shade in cream or beige with a stylish wooden or brass lamp is easy to put together and stylishly minimalist. Moreover, the plainness of the shade will allow the lamp to get the attention it deserves.

Cheap lampshades can make budget decorating quick and easy. With just a bit of imagination and armed with a glue gun, some ribbon, paint and stencils, you can easily take your inexpensive plain lamp shades and add some color and character to them.