Refinishing Lamps
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My son’s bedroom remodel is taking FOREVER. I wish I had one week without interruptions to finish it, however, that is not my life right now. But this weekend I was able to refinish 2 lamps and wanted to share the process with you.
You know you are blessed with good friends when they are out shopping, see a bargain and call you. My friend, Janie, found 2 sets of candlestick lamps at a thrift store. Personally, I have difficulty finding lamps that I like. I bought both sets, knowing that I could probably use them SOMEWHERE, plus they had really nice silk shades.
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The lamps will sit on the headboard table attached to the existing Ikea bed, which is a java finish. All just too dark. Not thrilled with the style of the bed, however, I couldn’t justify buying a new one right now. Since the bed color isn’t something I can change, I decided to repaint the lamp bases. Working with my primary fabric, I selected a shade of blue, Down Pour by Sherwin Williams.
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My husband was kind enough to pick up a sample size of the paint, but I failed to tell him to get enamel. I went with what he purchased~~~a satin latex, not confident if it would work. At this point, it would have been much easier to use spray paint, but if you want a custom color vs. something over the counter, you have to use a brush (or add it to a paint sprayer, which I don’t own).
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Prepping for a painting project is important and I used Frog Tape to cover the areas I wanted to protect.
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The minute I started painting, I wasn’t wild about the color. It was a little too bright for me….and reminded me of the 70s.
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Fortunately, latex paint is very forgiving and the brush strokes melted away during the drying time. Both lamps were done and I clearly didn’t like the color. In order to paint the top shade lock, I inserted a screw into a piece of cardboard and then mounted the lock on top so I could paint around it.
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I stepped back after I was finished and didn’t like the color AT ALL. So I waited a day as paint tends to darken as it dries.
The next day I still wasn’t fond of the color and then remembered I had some wax metallic finish somewhere. Here is Rub ‘n Buff and it comes in a variety of finishes from gold to ebony.
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At this point, I felt like I couldn’t lose anything by trying this product. Worst case I could just repaint the lamp bases and start over.
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The instructions say to apply it with your fingertips, which was messy. But by the end I was adding it with a soft cloth. The Spanish Copper highlighted the details of the lamp nicely. It adheres very quickly so apply with caution.
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The metallic wax toned down the bright blue and I actually started liking it.
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The original shades were too dark. The room is painted a crisp white (not sure why my photos seem so yellow). I went online to buy new shades and my, oh my, are silk shades expensive! I only paid $25.00 for each lamp and I couldn’t justify spending over $300 for a new shade.
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I continued my search online and finally found a Royal Design shade on Amazon, in white, for $39.99* each! I quickly ordered 2 and got them within a day or two (how do they do that?)
So here is the finished product. Again, the walls are white, the shades are white~~must be the northern light from the windows in the opposite wall creating a yellowing effect.
Such terrible pictures but hopefully you get the gist of the DIY project.
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I think the blue contrasts nicely with the dark bed and compliments the pillow shams. Can’t wait to finish the rest of the room!
Hope you had a wonderful Veterans Day weekend. I keep thinking today is Monday!
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*When I purchased these lamp shades they were $39.99 each. However, when I included the link to Amazon, the price was $59.99. If you were to buy these shades, I would recommend checking to see if they lower the price back down to $39.99.