As is typical (and annoying) of a US house built in the sixties, there are next to no overhead lights. Instead, receptacles (plug sockets) are turned off/on by a normal light switch. I've already expressed my dissatisfaction with the wiring design in this house and the lounge typifies this - there are no lights at all, and we have two switches, separated by 8 feet, that both control a single receptacle between them.
But I digress. To solve this issue we clearly needed table lamps/free standers etc. (but not uplighters, which are banned by Kirsty). After the ice storm I had collected lots of birch that had been damaged. One of the ideas was to make the logs into table lamps. With the addition of some light kits from the AS IS section of IKEA, I was able to knock three lamps out, two table lamps and a free-stander. I drilled a hole through the middle of the smallest lamp with a very long drill bit and two clamps, otherwise known as my feet. Unsurprisingly the spade bit would regularly get bogged down, and instead the 14" long, 4" diameter log would spin at 3,000 rpm. Needless to say, my ankles, which were in the rotation zone of the momentum-rich log, suffered greatly. Equally, I managed to let lots of the magic smoke out of the drill's motor.
For the next two, the wires were just stapled down the back - much easier. I'm actually really pleased with the results - K said she would easily have been happy to pay over a hundred each for similar ones. Mine cost $18 each - most of which was the shade.
