Nautical Lamp

A friend of mine had her baby shower today to celebrate a baby boy that she is expecting in July. She has decorated the nursery room with a nautical theme and I knew that she wanted a lamp for it. Little did I know however that trying to find a nautical lamp let alone any nautical, beach or fishing themed adornments during winter was a big ask. I was told that during the summer there would be plenty of options for me, but it wasn’t the right season for it now. The only nautical themed adornment that was remotely suitable was a flat wooden anchor from Spotlight. After visiting over a dozen stores I finally came with a solution to decorate a basic lamp myself in a nautical theme. Out of all the lighting, hardware and department stores I visited I found the most ideal lamp from The Warehouse. I knew that I would be able to sew a lamp shade cover easily due to the even circular shape of the shade (rather than a cone like shape tapered in at the top). I was also able to locate the same material that she used for the blinds in the nursery so that the lamp shade matched the blinds. I had also specifically chosen the lamp design as it was perfect for tying a piece of Sissal Rope around the base (sourced from Bunnings) which I could incorporate the anchor into. The trickiest part of the entire project was neatly joining the ends of the Sisal rope together at the back after knotting the front, so that the ends were sitting in the groove of the lamp. I don’t have a photo unfortunately, but I simply wrapped a matching tan coloured cotton around the end of the rope to stop it from unwinding and fraying, and then had to loop the cotton perpendicular around the two ends of the ropes so they would stay together. Those in the industry call it a ‘Whipped End‘. It was a simple yet fun project which now looks great in the nursery matching the blinds. The beauty of the lamp shade cover is that one day if she is finished with the nautical theme, she can just pull the cover off and start again.