Thursday, May 10, 2012

The Evolution of a Lamp


I love lamps. To me they make a house a “home” and are one of my favorite ways to accessorize a space. Today I wanted to show you a little makeover I did.
I bought this lamp a couple of years ago at Herberger’s when it was on clearance. They were 2 left, one had a crack on the bottom so the cashier gave me both for $30. I loved the base, didn’t love the shade, but couldn’t find anything in my price range that would replace it.
lamp
Then I was at Lowe’s before Christmas and I found these shades that had Christmas ribbon on them. (Sorry, I didn’t take a picture of the shade before  but my sister posted about it here).  I bought them because they were an awesome price (mine were $6 each) and I loved the shape. It looked too plain, though.
So I bought some fabric and used this awesome tutorial by Janell Beals from Isabella & Max Rooms to recover it with fabric. This is how I did it, in a condensed version:
1. Buy your fabric. (I bought 1 1/2 yards for two lampshades and I had extra).
2. Lay it out on the floor, roll and trace your shade, leaving about 2” on each side.
3. Cut it out.
4. Iron until all wrinkles are out.
5. Wrap your fabric around the shade, and glue using liquid stitch. (Make sure you pull it tightly so there are no wrinkles.)

This stuff worked great.

Place the shade on your lamp and ta-da! So much better. But I have been debating one thing:
Would you paint the base?? I like the contrast of the black, but wonder if I should lighten it up a bit? What do you think? Do you have anything in your home that you are debating whether to paint or not?Ahh, decisions, decisions. :) Have a wonderful day!

10 comments:

  1. Hi! I love what you've done with the lampshade!
    To answer your question I would paint the base lighter. Maybe match the color in the flower pattern and paint it that color, or the good old standby--white!
    Love your blog...I check it almost every day ;0)
    God Bless,
    Erika

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Erika for your sweet comment and input. I'm going to paint it!

      Delete
  2. I love that fabric! Come cover mine!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. so glad i dropped by, love your work

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the fabric you chose for the lap!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love what you did with the shade! And yes, I would paint the base :) Maybe a streaky pattern over the black? Something to lighten it up a little.

    ReplyDelete
  6. SOO Cute! I think it would look good with a lighter base, but I don't think it's necessary. Both would look awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the base color! Blue and white and black are my favorite combo at the moment!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love it, but if you were thinking about lightening it up, why not maybe an ivory & then wear it so the dark original base shows through. A bit of the shabby chic I think lol.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the shade and plan to do something similar with a couple of mine in the weeks to come. I'm a huge fan of color so forgive me if I make you cringe, but painting the base a soft buttery yellow (or even a bright funky yellow) would really give your shade more personality. I think it looks fabulous black and didn't think it needed painted until you asked and with that I envisioned it yellow! Take care and God bless you and yours. Kelly

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. If you have a paint color to submit, please e-mail me directly at favoritepaintcolors@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you! Have a great day.