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Chez Larsson

Making a home in Stockholm, one drawer at a time

Map lamp how-to

By request, how the map lamp was made.

A lovely weekend, and something close to a break after a very long run of posts almost back to back.

Here it is, by request. Several people asked.

The lamp shade covered in a road map, lit from within

What you need

  • A lamp shade. For the small one I used a plain white shade I already had. The bigger one had been covered in striped fabric, which I tore off and cleaned up with glue remover, which stinks, so do it with a window open.
  • Something to cut on, like a cutting board
  • Permanent spray adhesive
  • A sharp craft knife
  • A map you like. One of these is Stockholm, chosen by someone else in the house; the other is Barcelona.

Look for a shade with a ribbon edge. It gives you a neat finish at top and bottom and hides the cut line. The one without a ribbon needed the strip cut dead straight and glued dead straight, and there is nothing to cover a wobble.

The finished map lamp on a bedside table beside cut-out letters

Making it

Measure between the top and bottom edges of the shade, and cut a long strip of map that width and comfortably longer than you need.

Hold the strip around the shade, mark where it meets, and cut. On the larger shade one strip was not long enough and I pasted two together with a slight overlap.

The map lamp lit, showing the ghost of the print from the reverse of the map

Spray the adhesive onto the back of the map (outdoors) and press it onto the shade, smoothing air bubbles out with your hands as you go round.

The lamp unlit on the table, map shade and white base

What it looks like

Unlit, it is a map. Lit, it is two maps: bought street and tourist maps are printed on both sides, so the reverse shows through as a ghost behind the front.

I like the effect. If you do not, colour-copy the map onto plain white paper first and use the copy: one printed side, and nothing behind it.

On safety

Some people will worry about this, reasonably, so let me be direct.

I would not do anything in this house that put my own family at risk. The shade in the other room has been lit most evenings since April with no trouble at all. I use low-wattage bulbs, and the paper is glued to a proper shade made of real lamp-shade material rather than replacing it.

That said: if you have any doubt at all, buy a shade. It is not worth it.