Drab to Fab: Recovering a Lampshade with Fabric

Hello everyone! :) I should be doing edits to my thesis right now, but instead I've spent a lazy Sunday afternoon editing vacation photos on Picnik. J and I spent a lovely week at Masanutten resort in Virginia, and we just got back yesterday. Although we had an amazing week, we are glad to be back with the pups! 

Before I move onto the point of this post, check out this gorgeous view atop Bearfence Mountain:

Bearfence Mountain - Shenandoah National Park, VA

Breathtaking, isn't it? Okay, moving on...
Today I'm going to show you another lampshade makeover. (Perhaps you have seen my first lampshade recovering project here.) 

Here is the before:

It's just a plain white lampshade that I got from Target for, I think, $12-14. This lampbase has worn a lot of different shades in its day. If my memory serves me, I have switched out the lampshade with various ones around the house about 5 times in the last 2 years. Nothing was working, so that's why I decided to buy this one.

I have a recovering-a-lampshade-with-fabric tutorial here, in case you are interested. 

Here is the after!

I used home decor fabric from Joann's. I bought it over a year ago, so I don't recall the price. It only took maybe 1/4 yards of fabric. Not bad at all!

What do you think of the before and after?

I like it a lot more! I'm not 100% thrilled with the edges, however. I wasn't as careful as I was the first time I recovered a lampshade. Oh well...I still like it! I'm just happy that it adds a pop of color in the corner of the room where the walls are renter's white.  :)

Have you recovered a lampshade before? Any other lamp projects? 

Thanks for reading! Have a great day!

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Brass to Oil Rubbed Bronze Lamp

Hope everyone is having a good summer! Everything has been good here, but busy as usual. Today, I just have a quick before and after to show. When J and I got married and moved in together, he brought with him this brass lamp (picture on left). I must admit that I am to blame for this red lampshade (ick!). This lamp was part of my living and dining room decor for longer than I'd care to mention - I recently changed it, however, as the whole look was too traditional for my taste.

One quarter can of Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint ($6/can), a lampshade I already owned, and 10 minutes later, and we have a whole new lamp!!! Check out the before and after below:

Has anyone else used ORB spray paint on a lamp base? What about any other projects? If so, please share - I'd love to see it! 

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Lamps & Another Giveaway!

I am OBSESSED with table lamps. Seriously.

There are so many different kinds, and they make any room look better, as long as you choose the right base and shade. I like to mix and match mine. More than once my lamps have made their way to different rooms in the townhouse. Some have gotten makeovers. And others I bought brand new because they were too gorgeous to pass up (given the price is right and all that).

Right now, I am digging drum shades and curvy bases. Check out these beauts:

Both lamps are from CSN's lighting department. And trust me, there are so many lamps to choose from! CSN is also supplying this giveaway of a $35 gift code, which if you win, can be used towards anything in their 200+ online stores. You will be sure to find something you love!

Here is how to enter the contest:

1. Become a follower (unless you are already following -- thanks, friends!)

2. Leave a comment on this post with your email address, so that I can contact you with the gift code if you win. However, if you know that I can definitely find your contact info by clicking on your name, then no need to bother with an email address.

For an extra 2 entries, simply add my button in the sidebar of your blog, and then leave me a second comment letting me know that you did so. Thanks!! :)

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Here are a couple of other details:

○ Contest is open from Monday 3/7 through Sunday 3/20 (ends at 12:00pm EST)

○ Only US and Canadian residents are eligible (sorry! Has to do with shipping…)

Okay, ready..set..go!

I will contact you if you win. Good luck & thanks for entering!

UPDATED 3.22.11: I used Random.org to generate a random number to pick the winner of this giveaway, and I would like to say congratulations to Erin J!

Linking to...

Tutorial: How to recover a lampshade with fabric

Hi everyone! I am so so so in love with my re-covered lampshade.  Just thought I would share how I recovered mine.

First of all, it was unbelievably easy. I wish I would have done this to my desk lamp a year ago when I first bought it. Maybe then my desk wouldn't seem so daunting. (You see, I have come to associate it with oodles of negative things, such as mind-numbing migraines from getting stuck on writing that darn thesis proposal and also bloodshot watery eyes from straining to read boring journal articles into the wee hours of the night…oh boy, that's fun {rolling eyes}.) Perhaps I would have saved myself some wasted procrastination hours if I would have made my desk more inviting earlier on. I mean, how can a cute flowery little desk lamp be associated with anything other than happy, lovely, wonderfulness?

Anyway, maybe you too have a lampshade you would like to revamp. If you have scissors, Mod Podge, a foam brush, and lightweight fabric on hand, then you could get to work and have this project complete in no more than 20 minutes. (This is the perfect project for people like me who need instant gratification.)

By the way, the materials I used were all leftovers from other projects, so I guess I can say this project was free…?  Or maybe that is stretching it a bit.

Step 1 - Roll your lampshade along the piece of fabric tracing the outline of the shade as you go. I recommend tracing it onto paper first. 

I added about 3/4 of an inch (although that was too much) to both sides of the shade outline. This will give you some room for error as well as extra fabric to tuck under the edge of the shade, so that you have a nice finished edge when it's all said and done.  Cut out the shape next.

Step 2 - Apply mod podge to the lampshade with your foam brush.

Step 3 - Line up the fabric to the shade, and press down gently. Smooth out any wrinkles. 

Note: I worked in sections of about 3 inches wide at a time.

Step 4 - Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have your entire shade covered.

Step 5 - You will have excess fabric hanging off the bottom and top of the shade. Using your scissors, trim it down as close as possible while still leaving enough leftover so that you can tuck the fabric into the inside of the shade.

Step 6 - I ended up just dipping my fingers into the mod podge and pressing the excess fabric into the inside of the shade. Use as much as needed to get the edges to tuck under completely without any sticking up.

And you're done! Congrats on your fabulous new lampshade!

Here's a before and after of mine.

Before

After

I'm linking to...

Cork lamp base! Yay!

I made this lamp base out of cork contact paper (Target has everything!), a lightbulb socket kit, cardboard tube from a paper towel roll, and some pebbles to give it a nice, sturdy base. 

I love the natural look of cork, so it's a nice touch I think. But if I ever decide to change it, I can easily pop the lightbulb socket out of the cardboard tube and re-use the cork contact paper (I didn't remove the backing or anything).


You can find a lovely tutorial for the cork lamp base that inspired this project, as posted on Design*Sponge, here. 

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Tutorial: How to transform a floor lamp with spray paint and a lampshade

Do you love the utility of your torchiere floor lamp but hate the sight of it? Yes? Well, I can relate. Begrudgingly, I bought one this year, mainly because I didn't want to shell out big bucks and I really needed that little reading/task light that is attached to many torchiere lamps. But let me tell you - it is severely lacking in style or class. For starters, the pipe base comes in black, and when juxtaposed against my light-colored walls, it stands out like a sore thumb. (You can find floor lamps in silver, too, but you'll pay twice as much.) In addition, the plastic cone-shaped lampshade looks cheap and tacky.*

Here is the before...wha, wha...

This is the exact same lamp I got from Target, and it's sooo bad.

...and the after! :)

Same lamp with a makeover

To see the steps and additional pictures, click Read more.