Another paper light shade

Just as a quick side note, before the origami light shade, there was Jimbo:

Jimbo was originally going to be the new light shade for the bedroom, but turned out a bit heavier than expected. Rather than testing the strength of the ceiling suspension, Jimbo and an old uplighter were recycled into a 'paper palm tree' like structure. It sounds funky and it looks it too. I still don't know if I actually like it, but I couldn't quit discard the hours of gluing hundreds of triangular paper strips onto an old paper light shade (idea from here).

Origami light shade

After seeing some interesting light shades that looked DIYable, I hit Pintrest and found one that looked simple enough to make but complicated enough to have a bit of a wow factor. There are various tutorials out there resulting in a similar light shade, here's just one of them to get you started if you're interested.

Briefly, I used 5 A2 sheets of drawing paper (lengthwise), folding each one first, punching holes in the top & bottom, then using clear tape on the inside to attach them to one another into the round. Next, I threaded a piece of string through the holes in the top, and similarly another one for the bottom. This construction was then hung over an existing spherical light shade and the strings tightened to form an origami sphere covering the existing shade.

While it took a bit longer than it sounds, it wasn't particularly hard and it's definitely worth it in my opinion. Much better than the bare bulb that was there the previous couple of months! It gives a lovely indirect light, though you could get more light by not tightening the bottom string. For comparison, here's Habitat's £20 version & £35 version. I know which one's my favourite!