West Elm Inspired Industrial Floor Lamp (An IKEA Hack!)

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Apr 26

West Elm Inspired Industrial Floor Lamp (An IKEA Hack!)

I've had the AROD IKEA floor lamp for quite a few years, and while it does its job, the plain grey finish just didn't fit the modern-rustic style of my latest living room refresh - check out the full room here.

What I really longed for was the West Elm Industrial Task Floor lamp - it has such a modern yet timeless appeal.

But oh man! I just couldn't justify spending money on a new lamp when my IKEA one worked perfectly well.

So instead of buying new and contributing to wasteful consumerism, I used what I already had and turned it into a West-Elm lookalike with spray paint and jute rope.

Here's how I did it:

This project was really simple and inexpensive. I needed:

1 can of matte black spray paint;
1 roll of small-size jute rope;
A glue gun.

Total cost was just under $15 and it took me under an hour to complete (not counting the hour watching Suits while the paint dried! ).

I spray painted the whole lamp a matte black using Rustoleum paint, making sure to tape off inside the light head itself.
Once the paint was dry, I used jute rope from the dollar store and tightly wrapped it around the neck of the lamp from top-middle where the adjustment knob is, made a cut, and then wrapped again from middle-the next adjustment knob, and finally from there to the bottom.
I used a hot glue gun to secure the rope with glue just at the top end, middle cut points, and bottom end to secure it.
I sat back and marveled at my genius. ;)

It looks fantastic in my living room and much cheaper than spending money on a new one from West Elm. The lesson here: before ordering something new that catches your eye, take a look around at what you already have and hack it to give you the look you're after. It's easier than you think!