Most of you know that thrift stores can yield some real treasures. That is where I bought the pair of lamps I'm featuring today. I liked the lines and design of them but I wasn't wild about the brassy finish. I bought them with the vague idea that I would do something with them someday. We needed lamps in the living room and new lamps are SO expensive. So I brought them home, put bulbs in them and snap! They didn't work. :( Always a chance you take when buying used items. I did think of the possibility that they wouldn't work but this thrift store advertises that their stuff works.... I also knew that hardware stores and home improvement store sell rewiring kits so I wasn't too bothered about the fact that they ended up not working. I went and bought 2 rewiring kits for around $5 each and rewired them. Now I just needed to find some cheap shades that didn't look cheap. (HA!) I looked but wasn't finding what I wanted. So, the lamps sat.... Until the other day when I saw this post on Stephanie's blog. It was a light bulb moment (no pun intended) - I wanted to try that on these lamps! I could so see it! Here they are before: (Sorry about the poor pictures...) And here they are after - in their 'oil rubbed bronze paint with Spanish Copper Rub-n-Buff' loveliness. And here are a few things that happened in between. When I took them apart to rewire them, I discovered the one was broken. So, I raided DH's shop and found this: Brushed it on and let it 'set'. Here it is after I put the lamp back together - you can see it a little but it's proof that I 'did it myself'. Much less noticeable after it's painted - Some shots of the work in progress. Yup, I did it in the kitchen. It was too cold outside and I was inspired to get it done NOW. Do you ever get that kind of inspiration? When you have a vision/mission and nothing's gonna stop you from accomplishing it? That's how it came about that I used my kitchen table for this lamp redo. :) So, what do you think? I think they're much more elegant now - not so dated. Now to find the perfect shade without paying a fortune..... I'm linking this post to: Strut Your Stuff Thursday, Transformation Thursday, Remodelaholics Anonymous, and Metamorphosis Monday Find their buttons under "My Favorite Places" tab.
