Looking at my living room bookcases, I just kept feeling there was something missing. Then one day I realized what was needed…a bookcase lamp. That’s what is missing, and not just because it finishes the look of a tall bookcase, but because lighting is function as well as fashion.
Have you seen those bookcase and art lamps? They are thin and sleek, and perfect in every way…except price. The lowest price I could find in the style I was looking for $120 each, definitely not in my itty bitty budget.
My solution? Turn piano lamps into bookcase lamps. They have a similar style, although not as slim as the ones I had my eyes on. The best part is that I already owned one of these lamps (a hand-me-down from my mother-in-law), and I managed to purchase an identical one via a Facebook garage sale for $15!
So why not just sit the piano lamp atop my bookcase you ask? Well, for one it sits way too high and looks unnatural, for another the cord isn’t even a fraction of the length necessary reach the top of a bookcase. With just a couple small adjustments these piano lamps will look like they were always meant to be bookcase lamps.
First I began by removing the fabric base at the bottom and loosening up the middle portion.
Next remove the wire nuts and untie the cord. Detach wire nuts by cutting wires or uncrimping. These are crimp connectors as oppose to the twist-on wire nuts, so you will need a pair of pliers to open them. Next unscrew nut to remove the heavy lamp base completely.
Set aside the crimp connectors, you will need them later.
It should look like this once you remove all the extra parts of the lamp.
Unless your cord happens to be very long, you may will need to purchase an extension for your lamp cord. Also nice (but not necessary) is adding a cord switch somewhere along your extension. I won’t be showing you how to do that since there are directions on the cord switch and it is a separate task.
Now you will need to connect your extension wire. But before you do, thread the wire through the round middle portion of the lamp you removed…later this will house the connection between the old wire and extension wire.
Strip wire, and connect the old and new cord using the crimp connectors you set aside.
Note: If your original cord was long enough simply reattach this cord in place of the extension cord.
Next stuff your crimp connectors into this round lamp midsection. Also wind and store any excess cord in here.
This is what it should look like when you are done. It is ready for use!
I attach this lamp to my bookcase by using screw-in hooks on either side. Then I can simply snap this lamp into place, and if ever necessary, I can simply slide it out to remove it.
These lamps lend a little extra light to our dim living room, and also cast a gorgeous decorative down light on my newly styled bookcases!
I love that lighting is both functional and decorative!
Ingenious! 🙂
Thank you! 😀 I guess great desire and lack of money is the mother of invention here. lol!