Thriftstore Lamp Makeover

It's no secret that I'm cheap. Cheapy McCheaperson, that's me.  And lamps are spendy. Too spendy if you ask me. And to be honest, I really don't like any that I've seen in stores.  I'm not going to shell out $40 (at a minimum) for something that I only kinda like.

But, I'd seen people all over blogland making over lamps and having them turn out fabulous. So, I thought I'd give it a try.

First, finding the perfect lamp. I knew the general shape I was looking for, tall and curvy. But I had no idea how much it would be.  I checked out The Arc Attic Treasures that's close to where I work. They had a pretty good selection of lamps. They ranged in price anywhere from $2-$10. Not too bad.

I found one that I really really loved the shape of for $3.99. But I didn't buy it. I wanted to check out a couple of other places first. Just to compare. To see if I could find one cheaper somewhere else. (Cause, 4 bucks isn't cheap enough ya know.) The Salvation Army was next. Bust there, they didn't have anything. Next stop, Dakota Boys Ranch, they had some, but nothing that looked like I wanted. 

By this time, I was starting to get a little nervous. It'd been about a week since I'd been to Attic Treasures. What if it was gone? Hmmm, maybe I should go there. Right. Now.  So, I did.  And lo and behold, my lamp was still there! Yay!

Pretty fantastic, right? For $3.99?

I already had some primer, but had to pick up a can of green spray paint. Which was an ordeal in itself. I looked at Home Depot first and their selection of spray paint was not great.  By far the best selection I've seen has been WalMart of all places. 

First step (after cleaning it off a bit), primer! 

When I saw the lamp primed, I almost decided to leave it white. It looked that great.  But, the whole purpose of this lamp was to add some color to our family room, so I kept with the original plan and painted it green.  First coat on, looking pretty good! Second coat on, and I ended up with this. 

It's kinda hard to see in this picture, but it's all crackly. All over. GRRR. Not the look I was going. I enjoy a good crackle finish, but not on my lamp. Sigh. Crap. <insert favorite cuss word here>.  How the heck did that happen?  My 16 year old nephew informed me that if you don't shake the paint for as long as you should it will do that. Huh. Good to know.  Now what?

Sanding is what. I don't have any pictures of the sanding process. Sanding kinda sucks. I was covered with green paint powder. All those lovely curves on the lamp are a pain in the rear to sand. But, sand I did and put on another coat of primer, just to be safe.

Two more coats of green paint later, and I had was finished.

I snagged the lamp shade off of the lamp that was originally there. And it looked great. I originally thought I wanted to put a drum shade on her, but really like how this one looks.

Not too shabby for a $3.99 lamp!

(You may have noticed a bit of a new look to my blog as well. I've been wanting something a little more me. After seeing this post on how to make your own header using Microsoft Word, I decided to give it a try. Let me know what you think!)

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