Progressing on "Tropical" room. Bamboo floor lamp.

My son's room is intended to have a tropical flavor to it when done. Over the weekend the idea came to me to make a floor lamp out of some bamboo.

I selected a piece that was about 6 feet long and about 2 inches in diameter. Using a steel rod I knocked out all the little node dividers. Simple. Then I trimmed both ends of the bamboo pole. In the shop I cut 2 disks of pine to fit inside the pole as "end caps" and drilled and screwed these in place. The end caps gave me a place to attach the lamp hardware on the top and a place to attach a base on the bottom. Then, using a stool top as a template, I cut out a 3/4 inch piece of plywood circle and attached it to the bottom of the pole. It was now freestanding.

On Sunday I purchased lamp hardware. I drilled a hole for the wire at the bottom of the bamboo pole and in the pine disk at the top for the lamp hardware. Then I attached the hardware and wired it all up. It doesn't work! I tried it out with a new bulb, then with a known working bulb. No good. In examining the package for the bulb socket more closely it seems that I got one that required some special wiring. Then looking even closer it seems it was intended for 220 current. Aha! So, today I will get the correct bulb socket and wire it in tonight.

Next will be to add finishing touches. There are 3 ideas here.
1. Attempte to make a lampshade that resembles the thatched roof of a tiki hut, or get a grass hula skirt at a costume shop and work something out.
2. Decorate the base some more. Maybe get a steel pan, or ammunition box, or make a base that looks like it was made from a crate that washed ashore. Stenciling on words or partial words (FRAGILE/THIS END UP) may add to it. Some kind of base to give the idea that we are on a tropical island and used available material. I will put the pole IN a container and fill it with pebbles and moss.
3. Wrap the single pole with smaller poles of bamboo and tie them all together with pieces of copper wire. Thinking along the lines of those small jars of "lucky bamboo" that people seem to be selling everywhere...bundles tied together.

The new moldings have received their paint. I need to paint the bottom of the walls with a second coat. Then I can start all the touchups. Will get some pictures soon.