Before I go I thought I would share a quick story about two lamps.. they used to live at the Goodwill and Saint Vincent de Paul stores, but now they have been adopted and live with us. I think they're happy here, too, because they get a lot of attention and provide a much needed service - light!
Here they are, in my old, pre-pink dining room when they first got here..
First up is the $8 art deco blue... which came with that lamp shade that's up-side-down behind it...
And then we have $6 skinny 80s brass with the tallest harp in the entire world and no lamp shade....
Both were in pretty good shape and they both worked - the brass lamp has some bad spots on it and I toyed with the idea of painting it, so it sat around for a while.
Ms. blue had a great shape and the brass accents were cool with me, but I didn't like her color, so I used some spray paint.. I taped off the parts I wanted to keep and took her to the yard for a dose of black..
I found a lamp shade at Ross for $7 that matched the shape.. now she lives in our family room on the round table that hubby made years ago - and she's very happy. I had a skinnier lamp in that spot for a long time, and I really like the way she is heftier. Yay for new lamp for a total of $15!!
Ms. 80s Brass just sat around for several weeks because I just didn't know if I wanted to paint her or not.. then I was at Target on my lunch hour last week (I frequently go to Target on my lunch hour and browse the Clearance end-caps - you never know what you're going to find!) and I found a beautiful black Nate Berkus lamp shade. It looked like it had been bought and returned, and it was marked down to $7.49!! I snatched it up so fast - like nobody's gonna pry this from my cold dead hands haha! I knew it would be perfect for ms. brassy brass! Well, when I put it on the lamp, the circle holder thingy was too big!!!
I had to figure out a way to make the shade work.. so I ask my hubs to fix it! He had a roll of some high-temp rubberized stuff left over from his days working in the airline maintenance industry. He wrapped it around the socket and used a zip tie to hold it in place.. it works perfectly and you can't see it unless you're looking inside the shade :)
So I decided to leave her brass and now she is living in the prettiest room in the house - SHE'S AWESOME!!
I hope you've enjoyed this little story about two homeless lamps. Remember, you too can find lamps and give them a new life, and do it much cheaper then buying new!
Love ya,
Kelli
That gold lamp with the black shade is so hot!! :)
ReplyDeleteLove the gold and black!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah! Me too!
DeleteHey Kelli! Love the way you spell your name btw;) Great blog, thanks for sharing!! Stop by mine sometime and say hello!
ReplyDeleteStyle Domesticity