Fun Unique IKEA Vintage Aquarium Hack.

Claire Armstrong
by Claire Armstrong
3 Materials
$60
30 Minutes
Easy

The other day I went with my friend to IKEA. I was only really tagging along for the ride and the promise of a free meatball lunch. Anyway when I was in the shop I spotted their Vidja floor lamp which gave me an idea.


I had a lovely collection of stunning vintage fish illustrations (you can get them for free here). These fishes were so bright and colourful, I'd been looking for a fun way to display them. The floor lamp gave me the idea to illuminate them so that the fish look like they are swimming around in an aquarium.

So I bought one of the IKEA VIDJA floor lamps. When I took it home I saw that the light was of a simple design. The shade was made up of three sections of simple cream paper that Velcro closed around a metal ring.

I measured the size of these cream shades and then on the computer I designed a fish pattern for each shade. I used the original fish illustrations. I then printed these fish designs on to standard paper. You can download my designs for free from the blog (link at the end).

I then built the floor lamp according to the instructions that came with it. They were very straight forward and easy to follow.

Once the cream shade was put together with the Velcro, I then placed a strip of double sided sticky tape either side of the join. I then wrapped the printed fish design around the shade and used the double sided sticky tape to fix it.

I used a different fish design for each shade.

I love how the lamp looks with the vintage fish, it's like one tall skinny tropical aquarium.

The best thing about this IKEA hack is that it's easy to change the pictures when you fancy a change. I have a collection of fabulous vintage butterfly images on my blog (see here) and I think these would also look fantastic on a VIDJA floor lamp.

Resources for this project:
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Claire Armstrong
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
3 of 9 questions
  • Na Na on Mar 26, 2021

    Can you imagine if you did 3 different images? The bottom fish the middle is a water surface and the top the sky with birds and clouds.

  • Ducky Ducky on Mar 28, 2021

    I agree, it’s a lovely and fun lamp idea. What would we do without creative people? And especially when they share the work! Thank you!

  • Elizabeth Elizabeth on May 04, 2021

    Hi

    I was wondering if the lamp shades spin around and around?

Comments
Join the conversation
5 of 71 comments
  • 17335038 17335038 on May 29, 2021

    Your new lamp reminds me so much of the motion lamps that were all the rage during the 1950's. We had the Niagra Falls one for many years. For those of you who are not familiar with these, here are some examples:

  • Katen Katen on Mar 20, 2024

    Oh my goodness. This is beautiful. You may choose another pattern rather than fish so customizable. Unique and imaginative. Totally handmade not homemade. Congratulations on a successful project and yes I’m in

Next