DIY Lamp Facelift

When Mr. M & I got married three years ago, Mr. M had already inherited an old lamp from his mother--a nice-sized table lamp, which had the misfortune of being brassy, tacky, and outdated, reveling in its pleated lampshade glory.

Despite its ugly duckling appearance, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. The base, under its brassy surface, had a charming shape, and to buy a comparable lamp to adorn my end table, I'd have to spend $$$.

Since I am a firm believer in decorating on the cheap, I decided to take my old brassy lamp and give it a facelift.

(Exhibit A: Original Lamp)

So, the DIY project total breaks down as follows:

Old brassy lamp: Free ($0.00)

Metallic spray paint (in oil-rubbed bronze): ~$6.00

New lampshade from Home Goods: $15.00

For a total of $21.00, I ended up with a fantastic new/old lamp to read by. :)

(Exhibit B: My New Beauty)

Sorry I don't have any step-by-step photos, but basically I took it out to my parents' house, Dad and I (mainly Dad) spray-painted it, it dried, and I plunked on the new shade. The whole project, drying time aside, took maybe 10 minutes.

Before we painted it, I just lightly sanded the surface, then thoroughly wiped it down to rid it of dust and dirt so the paint would adhere cleanly. We also used painter's tape to cover up the socket and the first few inches of cord, to keep the paint only on the brass.

Super easy; super cute.