Lamp shades are a great way to make your home reflect your tastes, and a great chance to express your creativity. You can make new ones from old, or modify store bought lamp shade to your tastes.

Lighting is one of the most important features of interior decoration. Once you choose the lamps you want, whether they are floor, wall or table lamps, you have new decisions to make – lamp shades. This is an area where you can be as creative as you like – as little or as much. There is a lot of choice in the market as far as lamp shades are concerned, so there is every chance that you can find exactly what you are looking for. However, it can be a lot more fun and a lot more satisfying if you take the plunge and decide to do it yourself.

You can make lamp shades yourself from old or cheap lamp shades. All you need is the time and tons of patience, but once you see the shade on your lamp, lit at night, you will know that it was worth it. This is a great option if you know exactly what pattern you want, but cannot find it anywhere. This way, you can also make sure that your lamp shade is coordinated with the rest of the room, like maybe your sofa upholstery or your drapes.

You can spruce up the lamp shades you already have for a unique look. There are lots of things you can do – covering it with some other fabric is one way to make it look completely different and quite new. You can make patterns – on a white lamp shade, if you stitch or stick geometric shapes in dark colors, it will not only look lovely, but will also throw intriguing shadows when you light it. Beads and sequins are other great options if you want an ethnic look. A fringe of beads along the edge of a lamp shade is easy to make and can give the whole room a new look when the lamp is lit.

Another easy way of giving your old lamp shade a new life is to change its color. Color-washing is an easy and practical way of giving your lamp shade a whole new look. Braids and tassels can also give you very interesting shadow play at night and can look fantastic during the day when the light is on.

If you would rather buy one from a store, there are plenty of options. When you pictured your dream room before decorating it, it must have included a lamp shade – after all, a good lamp shade will let you alter the tone of the room and change the focus of the lighting. There are hard lamp shades, which are very durable and practical while coming in a range of designs and shapes, and there are also paper and silk lamp shades, which can come in neutral colors to give your room an ethereal look, or in vibrant colors to fill it with life and energy.

There are some very basic things to keep in mind: the lamp shade should be as wide as the widest part of the lamp and the socket should be covered completely. A lamp shade can add character to the room at night, when the lamp is lit, but a great lamp shade can be the right accessory to give it character during the day, as well. As long as you keep these things in mind, you can have a lot of fun getting the perfect lamp shade.