Sunday, January 30, 2011

Illuminating Before & After

This craft was made possible by my lovely friend, Katie.  We’ve known each other for almost 7 years now, and we’ve been talking about this lamp of hers for quite sometime.  Katie’s great aunt recently gave her a ton of antique furniture.  Some pieces are truly beautiful in the way that only antique pieces can be.  Some pieces, on the other hand, are in desperate need of some TLC, like this lovely lamp. 
IMG_3196
As you can see, we forgot to take a “before” picture with the lamp in it’s original location.  And we also forgot to take a picture before we removed the top, which was really complicated.  So, you get the idea.  Here is the before.
IMG_3197
As you have probably noticed, this lamp is a beast.  The base is huge, the shade is huge, the colors are intense and bold and not necessarily in a good way. 
IMG_3200
We decided to paint the base.  We considered using painters tape for a two-toned effect, but after we found a very bold pattern for the shade, we decided the base should be a simple and black.  We used a regular black spray paint. 
IMG_3201
Above, Katie displays how sad it is when you run out of a material mid-craft.  Luckily, we have men in our life who are more than happy to make Home Depot runs for us. 
IMG_3202
While the boys were out buying another can of spray paint, we started on the shade.  We found this fabric at Hobby Lobby and it was honestly the perfect fabric for a novice lamp redo.  The linear pattern made it really simple for us to cut and measure straight lines, and make sure that our pattern was level around the shade.  Additionally, it helps that the lamp shade is completely cylindrical.  The fabric fit nice and snug and it was really a no fuss process. 
IMG_3206
The finished lamp shade!! First, we measured the fabric to fit the shade, cut our fabric out, and used binder clips to hold the fabric in place while we used a hot glue gun to fix the material onto the shade (I am no expert here, I’m not sure if hot gluing is the most appropriate fix here, but it seems to have worked just fine!)
101_8236
We finished spray painting the base, and let it dry.  The lamp found a temporary home in their basement for the Christmas holiday, because the lamp sits right where their Christmas tree went in their front room. 
JessicaJohn080
Now the lamp is at home in their front room.  Later, we might tackle that blue chair (it could use a nice new print, to fit their front room’s white, black and red color scheme).  Unfortunately, I have no experience whatsoever in re-upholstering, but I’m open to learn.  If anyone knows of any great resources, please let me know! 
                                 image101_8237
                                     Before            &             After
And that’s all.  I love turning something old and blah into something new and lovely. 

imageSome places where we find inspiration.

8 comments:

  1. Great upcycling! Love, love, love it! Please share your creativity with others by linking up to my blog bash K.I.S.S.=Keep It Simple Sunday, the link is open til Tues. evening. Happy to be your newest follower. :)

    http://thetatteredtag.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks AMAZING. It looks professionally done and is so much fun. You're right, waaaay better than before. You and Katie did a fantastic job!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great job with the lamp! I did fabric on a lampshade last year with a glue gun and it worked good! My SIL makes lampshades and told me there is some special glue that won't bubble up but I can't remember what it was. Besides, the lamp was for my own living room so I'd rather do it quick and easy:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. WOW, what a transformation! That lamp and lampshade looks a million times better!

    Thanks for sharing in FFA!

    Hannah @ http://youngancrafty.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  5. That looks so much better! You guys did an awesome job!

    ReplyDelete
  6. One day, I will have to try using a spray paint. The lamp looks beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  7. OMG that was one ugly lamp and you prettied it up real good lol lol............I LOVE IT !!!

    ReplyDelete

Blogging tips