The Bidon Lamp

You have probably seen the Bidon Lamp (“bidón” meaning “barrel” or “can” in Spanish) in photos and videos of the R3project. Here is how you can make your own.

You need:

-a used translucent plastic container
-a CFL bulb
-a bulb fitting with plug
-a sharp Stanley knife

In Barcelona, you can easily find these vessels near the plastic recycling containers or unfortunately just dumped in the streets. They are normally made from HDPE (High-density polyethylene), a recyclable plastic (number 2 recycling symbol) but we prefer to reuse it as a lamp before recycling it.


First, you need to give it a thorough wash, inside and outside. We recommend you wear gloves as some may have contained toxic products, like photo-chemicals, or just cooking oil.

Then you unscrew the lid and mark the diameter of your bulb fitting on the inside of the lid. With a sharp Stanley knife cut out the circle. Then you screw the light fitting to the lid so that the cable is on the outside of it. The energy efficient light bulb is to be screwed on the inside of the lid just before you put it back on. It is important that you use a CFL light bulb because incandescent light bulbs give off too much heat and would cause a hazard with this design. Et voilà, plug in the bulb and enjoy!

Here a few different versions of the Bidon Lamp:

As a ceiling lamp:

A cut-up wall lamp:


As a seat…


The Bidon Lamp has been designed by Petz Scholtus, but is open source design, for all of you who like DIY.

Petz likes to thank Julien Gressier, her ex-flatmate when she used to live in London, who made a similar lamp back then that was used as stool or low table depending on what was needed.