Another post about lamps

Sep 23

Monday I confessed to you my obsession with pairs. Especially lamps. While this is essentially true 99% of the time I have to say that sometimes I stray. I think thats a good thing because, afterall, rules are meant to be broken!

Today, I'd like to share with you a lamp project (yes, just one lamp) involving two of my all time favorite things-the salvation army store and the spray paint handle thingy. They will transform your life, I mean room. The entire project cost me $1.99.

BEFORE/AFTER

I purchased this heinous, but in working condition, faux brass lamp from the Salvation Army store for $1.99 (tax free) which included this tan linen shade. I eyed it from across the room and thought to myself what a great transformation it could make with alittle glossy white paint. Spray paint of course.

This is the spray paint handle thingy. It eliminates the mess and finger cramping that spray painting causes. It's really cheap, maybe $2.50ish at Lowe's or HomeDepot, and, best of all, resusable. You just slide it on to the paint can until it clicks and then slide it back off when you're finished. I purchased this one after seven or eight projects ago so I'm no longer considering the cost when tallying up the cost of a new project.

I used white semi-gloss paint by Rustoleum. I like the sheen of gloss over flat paint and the high gloss would have shown any imperfections in the application. You can use whatever you like. Just make sure you to buy the thingy. Also, notice that this can says 2x the coverage. This isn't just a marketing ploy. This can had already been used on two other projects so, again, I considered the paint free.

It's important to spray paint outside. I've only disregarded this rule once and it was such a pain. I covered my driveway with flat boxes to catch the overspray but a drop cloth would have worked better. It's really good to do this in the fresh air or else your babies might be born naked. And we don't want that.

A few more pictures of the transformation!

I can't get over this lamp's gorgeous curves! It seems to glow like a candle when it's turned on. Oooh, that sounded weird, sorry. It's already found a home sitting on the desk in our den. If you're really clever you may have noticed the white paneling and blue walls in the background.