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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

{Just Paint It White Lamp Makeover}

Hey, y'all!  One of my good friends recently asked me to makeover a pair of lamps that she'd been given.  Lamps are one of my favorite things to makeover.  (Remember the School-worthy Lamp Makeover and the Chicken Wire Shade Lamp Makeover?)  Of course I agreed, and this is what I came up with.
When she gave me the lamps, they looked like this.  (Minus all my spray paint preparation.)
A lot of people would see these in a thrift store or at a yard sale and not give them another glance because, let's be honest, they're not that cute.  But you would be amazed what a bit of white spray paint can do.  So that's what I did.  I prepared the lamps for the paint by taping off all the pieces that didn't need paint, and then I sprayed the base with a white gloss spray paint.  To make sure they were extra glossy, I sprayed them with a clear high gloss spray paint.  Then I had to work on the shades.
 Yeah, they weren't that cute to begin with either.  My friend likes bright colors, and her living room is yellow, so I chose a bright red fabric for the lampshades.  I started by making a template of the shades.
I traced the edges of the lampshade by rolling it on the paper while holding my pencil against the edge.  Because of the shape of the lamp, I had to trace two different sections and tape them together.  (A drum shade would be much easier to to trace because it would roll straight instead of in a semicircle.)
I used the paper template to cut out my fabric, cutting out extra all around just to make sure the fabric fit the shade properly.  I used spray glue to carefully adhere the fabric to the shade.  Then I trimmed some of the extra fabric at the top and bottom of the shade and used my glue gun to glue the fabric that was left over the bottom and top edges of the shade.  Then the makeover was complete.
My friend loves her new lamps!
I love how the white paint immediately updated these outdated lamps.
And I think the bright patterned fabric modernized the lamps even more.  So if you find some not-so-cute lamps at a thrift store or a yard sale, buy them and just paint them white!  :)

9 comments:

  1. These lamps are so gorgeous! I have two lamps that I want in my craft room but they need makeovers. The shades aren't smooth, though, so I will have to buy new shades (hoping to find some at a thrift store that I can re-cover). I have red high gloss spray paint for the lamps. So ready to update them!

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  2. What a great post Bethany! I've been wanting to redo a couple lamps but I've been afraid to tackle the shades. You make it seem so do-able!

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  3. So stinkin' cute!!! I'm totally going to have to do this to our lamps after we move.

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  4. Love them! Although, my tacky little self likes the gold/brass base. ;)

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  5. Those turned out great! So cute! Thanks for linking it up at Monday Funday!

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  6. Hi, Bethany

    These lamps turned out great! Love the fabric you picked out too. You rock!

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  7. Bethany, this is fantastic! I wouldn't have seen the potential in those pink beauties - I love how they've turned out! (And the fabric is a great choice)

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  8. A nice coat of white paint can fix almost anything! Great job on these lamps and thanks so much for the kind comment you left on my guest post over at the DIY Dreamer last week.
    Corey from www.tinysidekick.com

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  9. Oh my! I've been out of the country for over a week and I'm catching up on your posts! This one is crazy amazing! How you made those pink lamps look adorable is like watching a magic show. Love them!

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