How to Quickly and Cheaply Transform a Lamp

Hello, friends!  I’m back from a bit of a hiatus (that actually ended up being quite a bit longer than intended, but eh, what are you going to do?)  

I have had a lot of fun stuff going on around my house over the past couple of months, and I can’t wait to share it with you all.  

One of the big projects that I have been working on has been transforming our family room.  With two very small children in the house and a fairly tight budget, it has been a  slow process, but we are definitely getting there.  I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

My goal is to have this room finished by the end of the summer.  So, you’ll be seeing quite a few posts related to all of the changes I have made in this room over the next few weeks.

First up, an easy (and cheap!) lamp transformation.

One of my main goals for this room was to brighten it up.  The natural light in the room is not great, and overall, my decor was very dark.  So, everything has been getting a light and bright makeover. 

These lamps (I actually have two on opposite ends of the couch) were originally very dark.  The lamp base was black with some gold distressing, and the lamp shades were a tan color.

I decided to simply paint and distress the bases and buy new lamp shades, and wow!, what a difference.

Here’s what I did:

After removing the shades and the bulbs, I took the bases and the finials out to the garage for painting.  First, I taped off the hardware on top, as well as the base of the cord.  I then covered the rest of the cord with my paint tarp so it wouldn’t get dusted with paint. 

Then, I took a can of spray paint, and using short quick bursts, gave the lamps both a coat of paint.  After the first coat had dried, I went back and did a second coat to ensure that the bases were fully covered.

Once the second coat had dried, I took a piece of sandpaper and sanded a bit of paint off in areas that would naturally see wear and tear (ie the corners and rounded edges) to give it a lightly distressed look.  

Finally, I wiped the dust off of both of the bases, as well as the finials, and took them inside where I added the bulbs and the new lamp shades.

Voila!  What a change!

The lamps shades came from At Home and were $9.99 each, and the can of spray paint cost about $5.  So, I spent about $25 total to completely transform these lamps.  Not bad for about a single day’s work!

Stay tuned to see more updates in this room both big and small.

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