About Me - The Founder

How it began…

Though I didn’t start The Wine Bottle Lamp LLC until 2023, I developed the concept of repurposing glass bottles into lamps many years earlier while still a college student at Oregon State University in 2018. My inspiration for building my first wine bottle lamp came after watching a friend discard an empty bottle of Dom Perignon champagne. As I watched the expensive and iconic bottle tumble into the trash can, I thought to myself “surely I can make this bottle into something cool and save it from this unfortunate end.” After standing in the kitchen and pondering this thought for a couple minutes, I conceptualized the bottle transformed into a beautiful lamp that could be enjoyed for years to come. I shamelessly pulled the bottle out of the trash and got to work later that week. While I was at it, I collected a few more unique bottles to test my idea. From that initial inspiration, a hobby was born. My first few prototypes were hardly the eye candy I envisioned, but after many failed attempts, I finally built my first successful design.

Throughout college I periodically built wine bottle lamps as gifts for friends and family. I swear, one time I even invited a girl I liked to a lamp building date. Sounds crazy… I know, but she’s my fiancée now! Despite occasionally selling lamps to get a little extra weekend money, my craft remained only a hobby for many years.

A few years ago, while working full-time in public accounting, the thought dawned on me that I could try to sell my lamps to a broader audience. What if I could transform my old hobby into a business? Before doing this, I wanted to iterate and improve upon my old designs, so I went back to the drawing board. After many months of planning and product development, The Wine Bottle Lamp LLC was born, and I can say enthusiastically that my lamps have come a long way since those initial designs.

With each of my lamps, I hope to highlight the natural beauty and essence of the wine bottle that the lamp displays. I developed a unique process for coating the inside of wine bottles with an opaque black compound, which gives them the appearance of being full. I source my bottles from a variety of places; some bottles are new while others are reclaimed. Each individual listing will clearly indicate the source of the bottle and if The Wine Bottle Lamp LLC is affiliated with the winery that made it. Included in my catalog of wine bottle lamps are a variety of well-known and unique wine bottles, with many amazing wineries and champagne houses featured. Please feel free to peruse my catalog to see what’s currently available. If you would like a lamp made from a specific bottle which is not featured in my catalog, or if you have a sentimental bottle which you would like to preserve and commemorate by transforming it into a lamp, please navigate to the custom page for custom inquiries. And finally, thank you for checking us out!

- Joey, Founder