Monday, January 26, 2009

Cozy Lamp Light

This weekend was busy and fun. I had two photography sessions with a bride to be. One for a few shots in her wedding gown and the other session was for engagement pictures. Busy, busy. But the good kind of busy.

Little work was done on my lamp until today. Last week I did get it painted black, the base color I chose, so I could try to mimic a weathered zinc finish. Sorry, forgot to take a picture at this point. It took me awhile to decide on the zinc idea, so I kept procrastinating.

A few years ago I found this burlap covered lampshade at a thrift store.



I often buy lampshades that are interesting shapes, and sturdy with potential to be recovered. It is just so hard for me to pay as much as you have to for new lampshades. More often than not they are more expensive than my lamps. I had every intention of recovering this one. At that time the burlap didn't interest me, but now---I love it.

Out came the rusty trusty glue gun and some leftover black ribbon to add some umph to the shade. Also wanted to cover up a sort of old fashioned looking gold edge. I enjoyed this project while catching up on my DVR log.

I added some creamy paint with a wet and then dry rag until I achieved what *might* kinda sorta look like weathered zinc. : )

Before:



After:



Lovely cozy lamp light. It's just right.

31 comments:

Victoria said...

Oh man that is so cool looking! I have a lampshade very similar to that. Hmmmm you have given me some ideas. Now I just need to find a lamp to paint.

Sarah Kate said...

I like how you have painted it.

Shannon said...

This looks great!! I love the burlap shade too!

Your "LOVE" picture frame is darling!!

mayaluna said...

Great before/after! I was so scared you were going to cover the burlap:) I love how you transformed it and updated it all at once... beautiful!

Unknown said...

The lamp looks great! I have a thing for lamps myself!

Empty Nest Full Life said...

What a great re-do. Looking very stylish. I need one of those barrel shades to recover for a simple lamp re-do for my daughter. Jackie

Darlene said...

Your lamp turned out GREAT! I LOVE the burlap shade with the trim!

Susan @ The Good Life! said...

I have an old lamp shade like that. Now I know what to do with it!

Thank you!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for visiting today. That bench is making me itch to get started! Your lamp is a very cool transformation. You should put that on Metamorphosis Monday. It's the butterfly on my sidebar. You will get lots of traffic from there! Love your blog!

~Misti

Meg said...

I'm amazed at how different it looks after the paint! Wow! It looks so good, like something from pottery barn now!

cherry said...

Holy smokes that truly is one of the best lamp redos I have seen. I love the burlap shade...I am actually making drapes out of some and have done a pillow. Love the texture it adds. cherry

edie said...

Turned out beautiful. Nice to meet you and thanks for visiting today!

Essential Oil Premier University said...

I LOVE IT~! It looks amazing now. Who would have thought a little paint could do that? It had really good bones (shape). You have really good vision! Thank you for sharing with us all in blogland.

Blessings,

Sher

Julie said...

LOVE IT!!! You have a great eye for hidden beauty.

Zita - Mlle Magpie said...

Great lamp makeover - love what you did with the vintage shade!

Mary said...

Hi Christina,
Oh, I love a good thrift store find, and you turned yours into pure gold! What a terrific job!
xoxo,
Mary

SmilingSally said...

Oh my! It's beautiful! Thanks for sharing. Happy T2T day.

philben5 said...

LOVE IT!!
Blessings
Roxanne

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Roxanne, that's a really fun redo! It looks so great!

Happy T to T Tuesday!

xo,

Sheila :-)

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Oops, Christina! I thought I was on Roxanne's blog. Brain fog. Need more sugar. ;-)

XO,

Sheila

Unknown said...

Your lamp turned out AWESOME! I love the shade and the color you chose. Looks so nice and cozy

Chari at Happy To Design said...

Hi Christina...

This is my first visit to your blog...I was following the links for Tuesday's "Trash to Treasure". I'm so happy to meet you and would just like to say that I love your lamp redo!!! Love the burlap shade with your added black ribbon...it's just perfect with the lamp! And...your lamp turned out fabulous...I love that weathered zinc look! Was wondering what kind of paint you used and maybe you could blog on the technique? I'm very interested! So happy that I stopped by...

Warmest wishes...
Chari

Anonymous said...

I love the faux finish on the lamp. The lamp and shade are beautiful.

Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality said...

Very nice! Love the burlap & glad you kept it. The added ribbon looks great.

Empty Nest Full Life said...

Love your new background. Jackie

Melissa said...

I love the texture of the burlap shade and I think the base turned out fabulous! Such a great re-do!!

Bobby (Baniji) & Gayle Evans said...

that is an absolutely beautiful redo. Great job

Unknown said...

I love the lamp it turned out great!

Christina said...

For Chari and anyone else interested--
About how I painted my lamp. Ack. I literally used some creamy grayish white wall paint that I bought over a year ago, to paint my hall bath. The lamp was spray painted satin black, and then with a cloth I started wiping the paint into the crevices. I started with a damp cloth, but it didn't work well, so I started using the dry end. Just kept wiping on then off, using both the wet&dry sides, until I liked it. In fact once during the process I thought it was done and took a picture, and then took it back in the kitchen and wiped off more paint, with the damp side of the cloth. It should have a matte sealer over it, but haven't gotten to that yet.

Hope this helps some. Feel free to ask me anything about it. I'm a very fly by the seat of my pants crafter, so not sure if this will help.

Chari at Happy To Design said...

Hi Christina...

Girl, if you aren't just the sweetest...sharing your secret to that fabulous looking lamp!!! I sure do appreciate you coming by and leaving me the "how to" instructions...you made it sound so easy! That finish is very appealing to me!!! Now I'm wondering if the same look can be reproduced on furniture? Hmmm...I think it would look great! It's a beautiful lamp...of course, you could save me all the trouble of trying to make a lamp like this...and just send me yours! hehe!!!

Thanks again for the tips...hope that you're having a terrific Thursday!
Chari

Anonymous said...

Great Activity!
I Buy Lights