The Affordable Daffodil Lamp You Can DIY That Looks So High End

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The time of maximalism has arrived, with many people opting for lamps that make a statement, rather than blending in with other home décor. Instead of sleek, barely-there lines, some 1980s offerings like the Bliss Daffodil Floor Lamp work perfectly for those who aren't afraid to be loud and colorful with their home aesthetic. It's an expensive vintage piece, but you can make an affordable version that looks high-end with a DIY approach.

Resellers on Etsy and other sites, are charging more than $1,400 for the piece — and they often sell out fast. The lamp, which has been misattributed to "Peter Bliss," was actually designed by Mike Bliss and imported from Britain by Peter Chiswick, who was president of Bliss Flights of Fancy Ltd. It is made of painted steel with a green base, an adjustable neck, and a showy yellow daffodil design around the lightbulb fixture. Although you can always check the thrift store first for the Bliss lamp itself — or lamps with a similar aesthetic — creating the look yourself is doable by spray painting a metal floor lamp and forming the "petals" of the daffodil with cut-up aluminum soda cans or other materials. Spray painting the petals bright yellow and gluing them to the lamp completes the effect.

The project involves working with a lamp that can stand tall like the original. It's also important that the base is flexible, both to mirror the Bliss design and so that it can be easily maneuvered in the DIY process. Some options include the IKEA SAMBORD lamp and the LEPOWER Floor Lamp, both of which have adjustable gooseneck arms, but you can also repurpose an old floor lamp that may be lying around your home. 

After spray painting the floor lamp to match your iconic vintage template, there are several options to create the daffodil effect. Cutting the tops and bottoms off soda or beer cans gives you a little sheet of aluminum that can be further cut, with inexpensive scissors, to mimic daffodil petals, but with this method the size of the cans limits the petal size. There are rolls of 36-gauge aluminum foil available, like the St. Louis Crafts Aluminum Metal Foil Roll, that give you more flexibility to cut larger petals. Once the petals and top part of the lamp are spray painted yellow and dried, you can artfully glue them on with E6000 Adhesive. It's important to leave the spray painted lamp and petals out overnight to cure, even after it feels dry, so the paint is at its hardest.

Using the original line of Bliss flower lamps as your DIY inspiration lends itself to a few variations on the daffodil theme. The designer also made a tulip lamp, and 27-inch table lamps in both the daffodil and tulip variety are prized vintage finds. The LEPOWER Metal Desk Lamp makes a great swap for the floor lamp, following the same process of spray painting and cutting petals, painting them red to match the tulip or yellow for a daffodil look. You'll want the table lamp to make a statement, but also fit well, so spend some time to determine the right size lamp for your space before getting started. 

The process of painting and attaching the aluminum petals to a lamp can be expanded to other flowers. If you're more of a peony person, use the foil to cut out enough petals so you can have two layers of them that can be coated with pink spray paint and arranged to mimic the flower's big bloom. Cutting and shaping some more foil to glue to the lamp and spray paint green, representing the leaves, is a nice touch to bring nature in all its glory inside.