These DIY Shell Lights Are The Perfect Touch To Any Coastal Home

Always popular in beachside homes through the decades, coastal décor has many homeowners, even ones thousands of miles from the ocean, decking out their homes in sea and marine-inspired furniture, colors, and materials. You can see its rise in popular aesthetics like coastal grandmother décor and coastal cowgirl style. You'll know these spaces by their abundance of sea-washed colors like gray, green, and blue, as well as accents that include shells, coral, sea grass, and weathered wood. The details can be important in these rooms, which are often quite neutral or minimalist, with the weight falling on coastal accents like pattern, texture, artwork, and lighting. In a genius idea for this last one, Instagram user @onecrafdiygirl showed off how she transformed two large thrift store conch shells into unique and stylish lights for her coastal home, a project that only requires a simple bulb kit or fairy lights. The result is a softly glowing natural piece of art, perfect for use as a nightlight or accent lamp.

Not only is this cool lamp a nod to nature's beauty, but it's also a great use for these shells, which are typically sold in coastal gift shops and beach stores as souvenirs. You'll often spot them in second-hand stores and at garage sales and flea markets. While premade shell lights are available from retailers like Amazon for upwards of $20, this DIY version is much less expensive to create and allows you to pick your shell.

To create this unique coastal lamp, you will need a large conch shell with a wide enough opening to accommodate a wired light bulb, which are sold in smaller and larger sizes depending on the size of the opening and the amount of light you want to generate. Clean the shell as much as you can of dust, sand, and debris, then insert the light bulb as far as you can into the shell and plug it in. While seashells are less flammable than other natural materials, you can ensure a larger, brighter bulb does not generate too much heat by using an LED bulb instead of an incandescent.

The shell is transparent enough to allow the light to emanate from inside and cast a rosy pink glow. If you do not have access to an outlet where you want to place your lamp, use a string of battery-operated fairy lights instead, which will work the same way, allowing you to easily place it outdoors or as a table centerpiece. For a twist, insert strands of colored lights for a more festive look inside the shell.

DIY projects using real shells are plentiful if you're looking for other kinds of coastal-style lighting fixture projects to try. Transform an ordinary clear large jar or glass jug into a seashell lamp by filling it with shells and sand. Run a lamp kit up through the jar and top it with a burlap shade for a cute rustic coastal lamp. Or cover a lampshade in smaller half shells using hot glue. Create adorable shell night lights using LED night lights and a sturdy adhesive like e6000 to affix small shells to the front of the light.

For a fun hanging shell lamp, use a balloon to create a half globe of shells glued together with hot glue. Pop the balloon and add a corded light kit or LED puck light to the inside. Or use smaller shells with pre-drilled holes to make a dangling chandelier from shell discs or half shells. Thread the shells with fishing line and arrange on a chandelier frame with a pendant light kit.