While there are many cool things you can 3D print, custom lamp designs are a practical and fun choice. By digging around on specialist file repositories, you can find some stunning examples of DIY lamps and shades to 3D print.
When printing parts that will be exposed to high heat (like from a lightbulb), make sure you’re using a filament that can handle high temperatures, such as ABS, ASA, PC, or acetal/Delrin. However, if you’re using an LED, it seems that PLA is a safe choice.
If you see the perfect lamp for your home but would rather leave the printing to the professionals, head over to Craftcloud. With an extensive range of materials and finishes, you’ll be getting the lighting of your dreams delivered right to your door!
Without further ado, let’s get to the list!
Artistic
A 3D printed lamp doesn’t just have to be functional. You can get creative with your lighting choices, whether it’s for the home or your workspace. Inject a bit of art into your space with these stylish statement pieces!
Single Color Rainbow
The name may be confusing until you find out how this lamp is assembled. The model is printed in a white or clear filament with a black frame that holds all of the panels together. Before assembling, you’ll need to (2D) print some colored inserts on thin pieces of paper. These will then be glued to the inside of the panels.
Once assembled with the lamp kit in the description, it should create a gorgeous array of lights. You can find a complete tutorial video available for this model as well.
- Who designed it? Impression_ant
- How printable/popular is it? Over 100 makers have downloaded this model.
- Where to find it? Cults
Gothic
It was a dark and stormy night when someone printed this lantern, and then, it wasn’t so dark anymore. Still stormy, though. Some evenings just require a certain atmosphere, and this gothic lantern can certainly provide that. It’s a fantastic design, and not just for fans of gothic interior design.
Supports are recommended, and the creator notes that the lamp should be used with LED lights.
- Who designed it? Shira
- How printable/popular is it? With 120 makes, this exquisite lantern is undeniably popular.
- Where to find it? Cults, Printables
Self-Made
The SMF.01 is an elegant floor lamp (SMF stands for “self-made furniture”). In addition to the 3D printable components, you’ll need wood boards and a light cord with a bulb socket.
You’ll want to use supports in order to achieve the maximum strength of the parts. For assembly, you simply put the pieces together; no glue or fasteners are necessary. There are also links to detailed instructions available on the Cults page.
- Who designed it? UAUproject
- How printable/popular is it? Over 530 users have downloaded it, and one successful make has been shared. The simple design and principle of SMF make this lamp easy to print and assemble.
- Where to find it? Cults
Jigsaw
Inspired by lampshades the designer saw in Thailand, this jigsaw lampshade is a multi-part assembly that’s easy to put together but looks impressively complex! In total, you have to print and assemble 30 flat parts (all of the same design), and the creator posted a few different sizes on the project page. There are also DXF files available that you can use to CNC cut the parts, which is possible because they’re all flat.
The creator of this lampshade stated that they printed the pieces for the project with a 100% infill density and a 0.25-mm layer height. They also mentioned that they used four perimeters for the print and didn’t use supports or a raft.
- Who designed it? stoof
- How printable/popular is it? This jigsaw-style lampshade has 41 recorded makes, 5 remixes, and over 50,800 downloads. With this much popularity, this model should easily be possible to 3D print.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Angled
This lamp is a great functional 3D print from designer extraordinaire Flowalistik. You may have encountered his low-poly Pokemon, but now he’s branching out into practical designs with a stylish flourish. With ease of assembly in mind, no screws or glue are required to put it together, you just need a printer with a build volume of 120 x 120 x 120 mm.
If you want to take this lamp to the next level, you can use special filaments such as wood or metal to create the base. Detailed printing instructions are provided by the designer, and there’s a similar model if you want to print a pair!
- Who designed it? flowalistik
- How printable/popular is it? With over 1,500 downloads, this artistic lamp is a glowing success.
- Where to find it? Cults
Turbine
This futuristic design is modeled to be reminiscent of large industrial turbines and would go well in any space with an industrial aesthetic. It’s a multi-part print consisting of a base (for the lamp), another base (for the blades), and the actual blades of the turbine. These parts come in several versions.
The designer states that it’s still a work in progress, and, indeed, a number of updates have been issued since its first inception. The recommended combination is ABS with LED bulbs. However, a number of users have reported successful prints with PLA as well.
- Who designed it? smallnetd
- How printable/popular is it? There have been 46 posted makes and 6 remixes for this stylish lampshade.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Nature
Bring the outdoors into your living room with these nature-inspired prints. As well as flowers, there are vegetables, honeycomb, toadstools, firey flames, and even monkeys! Recreate nature’s natural beauty by printing some of these lamps in colored filament.
Moon Lamp
This moon lamp was designed to be printed just like a lithophane, namely with thin walls that allow light to shine through and show a sophisticated amount of detail in the model. The print itself is very simple, with the normally rough bottom surface of the moon being hidden by the base of the stand.
If you want a taller option that may also suit your style of lamp kit, you might enjoy this side-table remix as well. You can find plenty of makes for inspiration on different ways to print this model.
- Who designed it? FrankDeschner
- How printable/popular is it? This lamp may be one of the most popular on our list, with a whopping 943 makes and 80 remixes.
- Where to find it? Printables
Flower
The Anna Flower Light is truly a labor of love – designer Gordon LaPlante says he made it “for my love and the co-founder of gCreate, Anna Lee”. The light resembles a hanging flower and projects light evenly across the room, while also providing ample downlight.
Because of its shape, this print requires some skill compared to others. The design recommends a couple of walls and a few brim layers. It’s also recommended to print it upside down. Due to its thin elements, you should print at a slower speed than usual.
Double Star
This lamp has a very complex design with starfish-like shapes linked together to form a spherical structure. The lampshade’s intricate structure creates a unique effect on the light produced from the lightbulb. On this note, the project also includes a well-designed mount that can screw into the spherical lampshade part and hold a lightbulb.
While the designer didn’t provide any of the print settings they used, a few recorded makers posted images of their successful prints and listed some of the settings they used. One maker mentioned that they used a 0.2-mm layer height and a 50% infill density with support structures activated.
- Who designed it? Protonik
- How printable/popular is it? This starfish-inspired has 7 recorded makes, 1 remix, and over 12,300 downloads!
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Honeycomb
This design is a great mix of engineering, art, and creativity. It’s primarily inspired by the bees and their community, thus the hexagonal honeycomb pattern for the lampshade. The base has a Voronoi pattern, which is supposed to resemble a drop of honey.
Although it’s assumed that low-temperature bulbs are selected, it’s best to use a filament with elevated resistance to heat. If you follow the original selection for light, a NeoPixel LED band (cold light) controlled by an Arduino Nano will be needed.
- Who designed it? grozaalex
- How printable/popular is it? Around 1,000 people have downloaded this lamp, so there’s a fair bit of buzz around it!
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Artichoke
Inspired by another vegetable, the artichoke, this beautiful lampshade will make a nice addition to your home or office. You can use any standard hanging light cord and a low-temperature bulb.
This design seems to be trickier than others because your printer will need to print something larger than itself. Also, due to its one-piece design, supports within the leaves are essential, and therefore, some post-processing time will be required.
Toadstool
This cute design has been around for a couple of years and has already been updated in order to provide better heat management between the plastic stem and the lamp. If you’re a fan of The Smurfs, this is the lamp for you.
Although it’s a multi-part print, it’s marked as an easy level of difficulty. You’ll only need supports for the upper part (dome), and the designer suggests using glow-in-the-dark filament for the white parts on the top. In fact, they used Prusa’s multi-material upgrade to get the two colors.
- Who designed it? dellinwo
- How printable/popular is it? It’s been downloaded by over 2,100 people, but no community prints have been posted yet.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Classic
Looking for something more understated? You’ve come to the right place. These models, whether modern or traditional, are beautiful in their simplicity and will suit any space.
Maker Lamp
The Maker Lamp is designed to be a fully 3D printed lamp, from shade to base, that can be customized with your own logo, theme, or additional characteristics with ease. It has quickly become a very popular model, with many community members ready to show off their unique designs.
You’ll find plenty of options for the base of your lamp, including different models for different sizes of bulb sockets. The shades should be printed in vase mode and benefit from larger nozzle sizes to reduce printing time.
- Who designed it? flowalistik
- How printable/popular is it? This popular model has 78 shared makes as well as 10 remixes, one of which features a cute baby Yoda.
- Where to find it? Printables
Mid-Century Modern
Apparently, this one is the Raymond of lamps, as everybody loves it! With its clean design, exchangeable shades, easy-to-print parts, and an actual remix kit, it’s a hit with everyone.
The lamp uses a standard E26 light bulb socket, but the remix kit means you can easily adapt it to fit whatever lamp you prefer. As long as it doesn’t get too hot, of course. The creator recommends printing the lampshade in vase mode and provides more detailed print settings for each lamp part on Printables.
- Who designed it? CatdadWorkshop
- How printable/popular is it? With over 96 makes, this is an easy project for everyone.
- Where to find it? Printables
OC Lamp
If you’re looking for a lamp that fits the minimalistic theme, this OC lamp is a great choice. The slim design should fit right in with modern home decor. If needed, there’s an LED diffuser model included should your lights be too bright for your liking.
Despite its look, this is a very simple print. The designer was kind enough to include a file for whole pieces as well as cut-up sections of the larger pieces should you be using a printer with a smaller build volume.
- Who designed it? Plenue
- How printable/popular is it? With already 16,000 downloads, this lamp has earned itself 29 makes and 5 remixes that show some unique use cases for this simple design.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Minimalist
This lamp features a rotating head that allows you to switch between ambient and reading light. The minimalist design complements any decor type. If you need a nightstand lamp that will impress guests, and more importantly, members of your household, this is it.
The instructions are very clear, making the printing process simple. Adding sand to the hollow lamp base makes it feel more sturdy, and you can also add clay or Play-Doh if you prefer.
- Who designed it? DeskGrown
- How printable/popular is it? There are over 3,400 downloads and a couple of posted makes, which prove it’s totally printable.
- Where to find it? Cults, Thingiverse
Folded Paper
This beautiful 3D printed lampshade draws inspiration from folded paper. It’s suitable for either tabletop or suspended use. In terms of the actual lamp, a typical E27 socket with a corresponding LED bulb is sufficient to assemble the lamp.
The material that’s recommended is ABS. No particular problems have been reported during printing, apart from that it requires considerable time.
- Who designed it? leFabShop
- How printable/popular is it? This popular design has 132 makes and 10 remixes.
- Where to find it? Cults, Thingiverse
Night
Like it’s supposed to, this night light emits a warm reassuring glow, perfect for keeping nightmares at bay. It comes as a one-piece design and is lit by LEDs.
To that end, it’s okay to use standard PLA filament. As with other lampshades on this list, it’s a design where experimentation with filament color can produce some very interesting variations of this lamp.
- Who designed it? ThomasRaygasse
- How printable/popular is it? More than 880 people have downloaded this cool lamp.
- Where to find it? Cults
Low-Poly
This low-poly Lump (no, that’s not a typo) is meant to decorate simple and single suspended bulbs. It’s pretty minimalist, granted, but it’s also incredibly easy to print.
You won’t need any supports or rafts, so there’s no fuss or muss. Make a couple of these in any color you like and enjoy an instant upgrade to any standard light fitting around your home.
- Who designed it? Cusco_Studio
- How printable/popular is it? This design has been downloaded more than 1,700 times. The exact number of makes is unknown, but it’s definitely one of the easiest items to print on this list.
- Where to find it? Cults
High Rise
The Valeria lamp is a very sophisticated design, looking like it could be found in a store. The small dimensions of this lamp suggest it’s best suited for a table.
Easy to assemble and print, the model is recommended to be printed in PLA with 25% infill.
- Who designed it? HelderSantos
- How printable/popular is it? With more than 2,100 downloads and 1 make, it’s definitely printable.
- Where to find it? Cults
Upcycled
This simple and stylish lampshade has an interesting concept associated with it. Part of it actually consists of a filament spool. Yes, the base of this lamp is upcycled!
The material used to print the lampshade isn’t mentioned, so you’re free to experiment. There’s a simple diagram that should help you with assembly.
Geodesic
This geodesic lampshade was designed and posted by Adafruit, the popular DIY electronics manufacturer. As seen in the image above, the lampshade has a pretty basic geometrical structure that was inspired by geodesic domes. The lampshade is made up of two pieces: a solid base model that completely surrounds the sides and bottom of the light bulb and an exterior wireframe-like structure that sticks to the base piece.
As the base model covers most of the lightbulb, you’ll have to print it in a transparent or translucent filament to allow some light through and use an opaque filament for the wire-frame piece. Adafruit also provided a few of the print settings they used, such as a 0.2-mm layer height with a 20% infill density.
- Who designed it? Adafruit
- How printable/popular is it? This geodesic lampshade design has 6 makes and over 560 downloads.
- Where to find it? Printables
Miscellaneous
And then there were the rest. These last several prints are a grab bag of creativity, with everything from the Death Star to a disembodied hand. Print yourself a glow-in-the-dark Pavel the Ghost in time for Halloween!
Dragon Scale
Bring a bit of fantasy to the home with this dragon-themed rope lamp. The model is designed to print with no harsh overhangs and uses an inexpensive rope lamp kit that can be purchased separately to complete the look.
You’ll find two options available: one with a very round shape and one with a tail. Choose whichever one suits your home’s decor best.
- Who designed it? Makers Mashup
- How printable/popular is it? 303 people have downloaded this model, with 88 leaving a Like.
- Where to find it? Cults
Lumière
Be our guest, be our guest, put your printer to the test. If you have any Disney fans in the house, this lamp is sure to enchant. It looks stunning when printed with white and gold filament, and you can easily add some quick detailing with a black permanent marker.
There are links to a cable and a light bulb socket, but most E14 fittings will work just fine. For the perfect finish, we recommend opting for a high-quality corded cable in a color that complements your decor.
- Who designed it? Gunnarf1986
- How printable/popular is it? Five beautiful makes show that it’s easy to make this lamp look right at home.
- Where to find it? Cults
Batman Signal
Caution: Avoid using this lamp if you live in Gotham, or you might get in serious trouble with Commissioner Gordon. However, for those residing outside the city limits, feel free to unleash your inner geek with this simple print project. Just remember to exercise caution by using light sources that emit minimal heat.
While the author thoughtfully included all eleven bat signal versions, why anyone would choose anything other than Michael Keaton’s iconic Batman defies all rational explanation.
- Who designed it? Referentiel
- How printable/popular is it? There are 34 successful makes posted, showcasing a variety of different colors.
- Where to find it? Printables
LED Ring
What is it with ring designs that make them exude class? Whatever it is, this lamp’s got it in spades. The simplest of shapes, it effortlessly blends with any decor as a chic accent piece. You can choose between the central base version or the Q version, depending on your LED strip connector type.
It’s a pretty straightforward project. Just make sure to print the diffuser in white TPU, as it has to be flexible to fit.
- Who designed it? Lukes3D
- How printable/popular is it? The clear instructions make this project very achievable. 17 makers have posted their lamps, and they look great!
- Where to find it? Printables
Square LED
Another design from HelderSantos, this one’s a bit more retro-futuristic. It’s a simple, elegant 3D printed lamp designed to house a 60-cm 12-V LED strip. It features a battery compartment, so it can be mounted without needing a power socket nearby.
When printing the square frame, you won’t need supports. Assembly doesn’t require glue or screws, as it snaps together. For maximum effect, a transparent filament for the interior ring can be used.
- Who designed it? HelderSantos
- How printable/popular is it? Over 1,100 people have downloaded this lamp, and it has over 100 likes.
- Where to find it? Cults
Pavel the Ghost
Pavel the ghost is a funny little nightlight idea and another good Halloween decoration. It’s a straightforward, one-piece print. Due to its shape, an LED light with low thermal emissions is the best choice for a light source.
To achieve the desired effect, it’s recommended to print this with glow-in-the-dark filament. It requires a bit of tinkering in order to overcome the limited space when putting in a lightbulb. For example, the designer proposes putting a bit of aluminum foil in the interior top to avoid hot spots.
- Who designed it? Superbeasti
- How printable/popular is it? Pavel is pretty popular, with over 3,600 views and 214 downloads.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Death Star
The Force awakens with this 3D printed lampshade. How can it not, when there’s an imperial Death Star materializing through the wall of the living room? Putting aside debates about good versus evil for a moment, it’s a clever design that’s easy to print and assemble.
The maker has also provided a baby nightlight version for younger members of the Sith. There’s no specific material recommended to print this lamp, but a simple circuitry diagram has been provided.
- Who designed it? mashirito
- How printable/popular is it? This design has been downloaded more than 1,600 times.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Clasp
While there’s no lampshade involved, the Clasp is a smart little ornament. The cool thing about this 3D printed lamp holder is its versatility. It can be plugged into a socket, mounted on a table, or even hold your phone while it’s charging. As shown in the image above, one way is to have the hand facing up gripping a light bulb, while the power cord and switch hang below.
Since the bulb isn’t in direct contact with the 3D printed material you’re using, you have more flexibility in what filament type you choose.
License: The text of "3D Printed Lamps & Shades: 30 Dazzling Designs" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.