We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Unique lighting pieces can be one of the best ways to add character to any room. While retailers are filled with luxurious and high-end ways of using lighting to reinforce your desired aesthetic, a DIY approach can usually prove far more budget-friendly and creative. This includes ingenious uses for thrifted items that can, with a little ingenuity, be transformed into stunning lamps. For example, you can create a stunning table lamp from a charming stone or concrete bust planter, some lighting elements, and a lampshade. The result is a unique lamp perfect for Victorian-inspired, romantic, and eclectic spaces that rivals much higher-end retail pieces that allow you to incorporate busts in your home. 

There are a few different ways to approach this fun DIY, depending on your needs and the planter you are working with. The simplest, and one which may be a great solution if you plan to use the bust for other purposes down the line, is to find an inexpensive slender based lamp and just set the lamp base inside the existing planter. If you need to hold it in place, try using sand, gravel or pebbles to fill in around the base, threading the cord up and out the top of the container. This is also a great way to hide a less-than-inspiring small lamp in a larger container of your choice. 

For a more permanent way to repurpose planters, you can use a light kit, like he budget-friendly Emnooti Lamp Rewire Kit, and a screw-in basem like the Patikil Wooden Lamp Base, both available from Amazon. Just assemble the lamp kit, attach it to the base, and thread the cord out through one of the drainage holes in the bottom of the planter. Or create a hole near the bottom of the planter with a drill bit appropriate for the material of the planter. You could also make a wireless version that uses battery operated LED bulbs, like these Brightown Rechargeable Light Bulbs that screw directly into the socket but operate via a remote.

For a heavier lamp, you can make the hollow planter a solid base by filling it with a plaster mix, allowing you to thread the metal tube of the lamp base through while the plaster is still wet. Allow it to dry completely before adding the bulb and shade to the top. You can thread the cord through the bottom or top, but keep in mind that once the plaster sets, it will be locked in place. This budget-friendly DIY lamp project works equally well for many different planter designs, allowing you to choose the perfect planter for your aesthetic, including more traditional urns and wide mouthed jar planters. For unique and eclectic pieces, seek out planters in interesting shapes. Geometric planters in shapes like spheres and cubes work stunningly in modern spaces while novelty-shaped vintage planters shaped like animals or other objects can be great for vintage and eclectic ones.