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Customize Your Light: A Creative IKEA VIDJA Floor Lamp Hack

I’m a bit obsessed with the beautiful fish paintings of Louis Renard. I’ve been looking for fun ways to incorporate some of these stunning vintage images into my home decor. That’s where I got the idea for this DIY IKEA floor lamp hack.

I’d actually been thinking of combing the beautiful vintage images into some kind of aquarium type floor lamp. I’d been trying to think of the best way to make such a lamp for a while. However, it was when I accompanied a friend on a trip to our local IKEA store when I finally got my eureka moment.

Rather than making a floor lamp from scratch, I could hack and VIDJA IKEA floor lamp. This has to be one of the easiest IKEA hacks I have ever done. One of the best bits about this IKEA floor lamp hack is that it is reversible. So, if in a few years, you fancy a change, perhaps birds or butterflies instead of fish. The floor lamp will be so easy to hack again.

IKEA Vidja floor lamp before hacking

How to Make An IKEA Floor Lamp Hack Aquarium

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What you need for an IKEA floor lamp hack

  • IKEA VIDJA Floor Lamp
  • Double-sided sticky tape
  • 3 Printed fish aquarium templates. You can make your own or download the same ones I used here.
IKEA VIDJA unboxed

Aquarium 1

Aquarium 1 Louis Renard

Fish Aquarium 2

Aquarium 2 Louis Renard

Aquarium 3

Louis Renard aquarium 3

How To Hack An IKEA VIDJA Floor Lamp

Step 1: The first thing to do is to print out the aquarium template. The IKEA floor lamp has three sections, so three printouts are needed.

The size of each paper printout should be 45cm by 60cm. This is too large for my home printer, so I get my local print shop to print the aquarium templates for me. The print shop also trims them to size.

Step 2: The next thing to do is to unpack the VIDJA IKEA floor lamp and start making the lamp according to the instructions. Firstly, erect the central lamp column and screw in the light bulbs. Don’t add the shade yet.

Assembling the IKEA Vidja floor lamp

Step 3: Cover the IKEA floor lamp shades with the aquarium prints before adding them. Take the shades individually and roll them up using the Velcro to hold them in place, as in the VIDJA instructions. At the Velcro, join and apply two strips of double-sided sticky tape along the whole width of the shade.

Attach one end of the paper printout to one strip of double-sided sticky tape. Then wrap the aquarium printout around the shade and fix the other end to the second strip of tape. Repeat with the other 2 VIDJA shades with the other two aquarium printouts.

Applying the sticky tape
Aquarium print out 1
Aquarium one printout for the IKEA floor lamp hack VIDJA

Step 4: Finally, assemble the rest of the floor lamp following the VIDJA instructions supplied with the floor lamp.

Making the IKEA floor lamp

When you switch on the floor lamp the gorgeous fish images of Louis Renard will be beautifully illuminated. The lovely colours will appear bright and vibrant.

Close up of IKEA floor lamp hack
Aquarium IKEA floor lamp hack
Fish IKEA floor lamp hack

Other Ideas & Posts

As I mentioned, one of the great things about this IKEA floor lamp hack is that it is not permanent. So when you fancy a change, you can print off some other vintage images and use them to cover the lamp.

I love these colourful fish of Louis Renard so much that I selected some of the most colourful ones and created a rainbow fish gallery wall and under-the-sea porthole display to compliment the lamp.

A miniature version of these floor lamps can be made with the same images making these cute mini DIY tea light lanterns.

Here are some other images you might like to use for a VIDJA floor lamp hack.

When I first spotted the IKEA floor lamp in the store, one of the lamps were illuminated with coloured light bulbs. To create an even greater aquarium effect with the floor lamp hack you could use blue coloured bulbs to illuminate it.

There are more beautiful ideas for IKEA lamp hacks here that you might want to check out, like this cockatoo lampshade idea; for hacks of other IKEA products, check out DIYideacenter.com.

Irina

Monday 21st of November 2022

I love your ideas. Isn’t it possible to decoupage ikea lamp instead of making the shade? It looks difficult to find appropriate paper to print images and make a shade out of it.

claire

Monday 21st of November 2022

Thank you. You can decoupage the lamp if you want to instead. But with my method, it is easy to change it when you want a different scene. I got the paper printed at my local print shop.

Stacey Schwarz

Friday 3rd of September 2021

Do you just print it exactly as shown? Or do you spread the fish out using a program? Your fish look more spread out than the template. Thank you.

claire

Saturday 4th of September 2021

Thank you I just used the templates I provided.

Jessica M

Friday 27th of March 2020

Hi Claire, New visitor. Love your ideas & Love the lamp! I would appreciate your input on a hack of your hack. I have been looking for a cool light/design to place on a low ceiling beam that has no ceiling lights 7' on either side of it. (Its a rental, what can I say?) Do you think its possible to cut the shades in half? I was thinking of putting one half on each side of the beam (One cut side would face the ceiling and the other the beam, so it would be a rounded light coming from the beam.) I hope this is clear. My husband is handy, but I order on line and before I do, I thought I would get your thoughts. Thanks, Kindly

claire

Saturday 28th of March 2020

The shades for the floor lamps come in three sections and would be easy to cut with a sharp craft knife so I'm sure they could work. I'm not sure how you would fix them in place but I'm sure your husband could work that out. Thanks for visiting.

Joanne

Sunday 17th of November 2019

This is beautiful! A question I always wonder when I see paper applied to lamps lamp shades - is it not a fire hazard? I’m guessing the process somehow stops this from possibly happening?

Thanks!

claire

Monday 18th of November 2019

Thank you, in this case it is not a fire hazard as the paper goes on top of the existing shade which is fireproof. Also today modern lightbulbs don't get nearly as hot as old light bulbs so there is much less risk of fire.

Juliet Wood

Monday 21st of October 2019

Thank you very much Claire, I just got the prints back - I had them sealed at the printers as I was worried my 3 year old granddaughter would maybe damage them if they were simple paper. The room looks so much better with this and not just a boring white tube in a space that needs light, it's really fun and worth the effort. Your instructions were clear and easy. Many, many thanks.

claire

Monday 21st of October 2019

Thank you. That is fabulous to hear that you made it and it worked out well. I love my fish lamp too.