Add Some Stylish Light To Your Bookshelf With The Help Of These IKEA Finds

Struggling to find the cookbook you need for tonight's dinner? Maybe you also want your favorite comfort novel, but you can't find it among the shadowy contents of your bookshelf. You need better lighting! Savvy DIYers who love IKEA hacks, this project is for you: IKEA has just the materials you need to construct a glossy, modern light or two that fit on a bookshelf like they were made to — because they were. Shed some light onto a shelf or brighten up dull built-in cabinetry with a lamp or two that use IKEA's sturdy plastic KUGGIS Magazine Files turned on their heads.

From IKEA, pick up a two-pack of KUGGIS, a STRALA Cord Set, and a pair of SOLHETTA LED Bulbs. Since both the files and the bulbs come in sets of two, you can easily grab another STRALA and whip up two lamps. One can of plastic-friendly spray paint should provide enough coating for two magazine racks. You will also need fine-grit sandpaper, a rag, strong adhesive, and one or two clamps.

If you're only putting together one light, you'll be using the base of the remaining magazine rack as additional support for your lamp. However, if you plan to make two lamps, assemble the KUGGIS pieces without their bases and use those base pieces as legs. This is a good option for shelving that doesn't allow the top and interior of the magazine rack to be visible.

In order to "lamp" the magazine racks, invert them so the hole on each rack's spine sits at the top edge, allowing the bulb to protrude through it. Since the angled top of the magazine rack doesn't have four solid corners to act as feet, a piece of plastic inside the narrow end of the lower angle will step in. The TikTok creators behind thesorrygirls used the base from a second magazine holder as a leg. A strong plastic glue will hold the support piece in place. You may want to try Bondic UV Glue, a UV plastic welder that some say works better than the strongest glue.

Give the exterior faces of the magazine racks a rubdown with sandpaper to help the paint stick before assembling it/them. Once you've clicked the pieces together, dust off the surfaces with a rag, and glue the extra support "leg" inside the shorter side of the rack. The base leg isn't as long as the rack is tall, so you'll need to glue and clamp the piece at the same point as the highest edge so that both "legs" will be even.

Give the rack's exterior a couple of coats of paint. The cherry red paint used by thesorrygirls is delectable, but any shade will work. A faux metallic finish would also look amazing, especially if you switch the SOLHETTA bulb for the industrial-style MOLNART LED Bulb. Give the paint and adhesive plenty of time to cure, and fit it with the lighting element. Place the finished lamp where illumination is needed, and switch on the glow.