I Never Realized How Harsh My Lighting Was Until I Tried This Under $20 Diffuser Trick – Now I'm Buying Them for Every Room

I’ve been on a mission lately to fix one of my biggest pet peeves: bright glare. I love a cozy, layered lighting scheme, but harsh bulbs instantly kill the mood for me.

So when I came across an Instagram video with an inexpensive solution found on Amazon – simple light diffuser discs – promising instant, softer light without me having to switch up my bulbs or fixtures, I was suitably intrigued. As someone who’s recently researched all the lighting basics you need to know to find a solution, and tried every warm white bulb under the sun, I was skeptical it could be solved with such an easy hack.

But after seeing how dramatically these little discs transformed her big light, I added them straight to my Black Friday basket. If you’re also glare-sensitive or just sick of staring at your bulbs, this trick might be the fix you’ve been waiting for.

In her video above, the creator, Diana Elizabeth, says, 'I love turning on all the lights in my house, but I don't love the glare, and seeing an exposed bulb can really hurt my eyes.' Thankfully (for Diana and for us), she found the solution.

What really convinced me to give this lighting idea a try was how simple yet genuinely clever it is. They’re literally just little lightweight plastic circles, but once placed between your bulb and your shade, they help to soften glare and harshness so the light feels warmer, gentler, and instantly more ambient.

With diffusers available in multiple sizes for different lighting – from chandeliers, spotlights, table lamps, pendants, and sconces – they’re one of the most affordable fixes I’ve found for bright or exposed bulbs.

To make them work for different fixtures, she shows how she preps the discs using basic tools to suit her dining room light. 'I use these drill bits – the WORKPRO 13-Piece Spade Drill Bit Set from Amazon – and create a template so I know where the middle is. I then make a little mark,' she explains, demonstrating how she quickly drills a neat hole in the centre when needed.

If your lamp doesn’t require a central hole to fix it to the bulb holder, you can skip this step entirely, but Diana proves how easily it can be customized for different lighting styles.

From there, installation is super straightforward. She removes the shade and bulb, places the diffuser on the top of the fixture, and screws the bulb back in so it rests lightly on the disc.

When ordering, you want to be sure to select a disc that is smaller than your shade, for example, a 12" shade with an 11" diffuser for safety. 'Just so you know, it can wiggle, so there’s not going to be any melted plastic!' Diana adds. With her shade added back on, the lamp suddenly casts a softer glow rather than a harsh beam. 'Now I can put the lights at full power and not feel like my eyeballs are burning.'

With plenty of options available at under $20 for a pack, this is the kind of Black Friday add-on that feels like a no-brainer: budget-friendly, renter-safe, and genuinely transformative. If you’ve been battling bright bulbs, these discreet little light diffusers might be the upgrade your home has been missing.

Shop Amazon Light Diffusers

Looking for some gorgeous lighting to complete your Amazon Black Friday basket? Here are 3 I've got my eye on in the sale:

It’s rare to find a fix that’s this easy, this affordable, and this instantly transformative – especially when it comes to lighting, which usually requires either a pricey new fixture or a complete rethink. If you’re searching for a quick, renter-friendly way to make your lighting warmer and easier on the eyes, this might just be the simplest solution out there.