Redo a Thrifted Lamp

 

 

DIY Summer School over at Beth's blog Design Post Interiors is back in session. Today's theme is Thrifted.

 

I love the idea of this. If I have a spare moment (which admittedly is not often) it is fun to wonder around one of the local thrift shops and see if any thing of interest catches my eye. It is a bit of a treasure hunt. Of course, sometimes you are successful and sometimes you are not. Which is why the hunt continues...

 

Today, I am sharing how I redid two lamps I  found at a garage sale. They were the perfect addition to the two dressers I was using as nightstands in my bedroom. Check out all the details by clicking HERE.

 

 

And head on over to see what others thrifted.

 



One Room Challenge: Spring 2015 ~ Week 4

And the One Room Challenge continues....

The entryway and powder room in my house are coming right along. If you would like to see the progress so far feel free to check out my past weeks here.

There have been some set backs.

The mirror I ordered is heavy, and it looks like it needs to go into a stud or risk it falling off the wall and me getting seven years bad luck. Of course there doesn't seem to be a stud anywhere near where the mirror needs to go. Because that is just my current luck! I am sure we will figure something out...

Also, the rug I wanted for my stairs is sold out at the nearby store, and I haven't had time to drive around and find it elsewhere. The thing is I am almost taking it as a sign that maybe I need to rethink this rug since I was facing a dilemma with picking it anyway. Have to make a decision soon...

My camera is acting up, so I can't take any "pinworthy" pictures of me pulling up the old rug on the stairs, and putting up the wall covering in the powder room. I should have it all fixed soon, so do not worry. Anyway, I have to save something for the reveal, right? If you would like to see some great eye candy of beautifully styled entryways while you are waiting out my malfunctions, check out the pinterest board I put together. And feel free to follow all my boards if you like...I love to follow back and discover what others are pinning that way!

In the meantime, I did take a quick picture with my phone of the lamp that will go on the entryway table. I bought this at a Pottery Barn outlet almost fifteen years ago. It was one of those times where I walked away from it since I didn't really need it, then once I got home had second thoughts since I really wanted it! I had a sleepless night where I tossed and turn and finally woke up in a cold sweat panicked that someone else would get it. Quickly, went to the store the next day, and it was still there. So happy! It has now been on many tables in a few houses now, but it always seems to look right at home.

I purposely picked a small shade for the lamp this time since the maps I framed will go on the limited wall space behind it, and I didn't want a large lampshade to cover them up.

I also am playing around with how to style the console table. I am sure it will change several times in the next week, but will definitely have my must haves for styling an entryway.

-A lamp for task lighting. This is where I check my mail, and since the entryway doesn't have natural light, I need a something to brighten the space.

-Console table with drawers. I keep things I have to get quickly when I am dashing out the door, like my family's membership cards to the pool and the dog's leash.

-A tray. This is essential. Once I started making myself always put my keys in the tray, I suddenly never lost them. Amazing!

-A candle. I always like to add something nice smelling to the entryway. Love being greeted by it when I walk in the door.

-A plant. Once again it has to be a something that is ok with low light, and I am struggling right now to find something that meets that requirement and that I like. Now that the flowers are finally blooming, and it feels more like spring, I will most likely do a few clippings from my yard and put them in a small vase. Love the pop of color that flowers can add to the space.

What is your must have for an entryway?


Be sure to check out all the other linking participants on Calling It Home.

Paint Garage-Sell-Find Lamps

When I was a kid I always liked to do the puzzles on the Sunday comics page of my local newspaper. My favorite was the one that compared two pictures, and you had to pick out the differences. So here is that same kind of puzzle. Can you tell the difference between the two pictures? Keep reading for the answer.

I promised in yesterday's post, about painting the green dressers, that I would give more information about the lamps. A few weeks ago, I just happened to drive by a garage sell in my neighborhood, and I saw two lamps sitting at the end of the driveway.

I bought them for a great price, and then immediately took the lamp shades to a local donation/thrift store. They were not my taste at all, and they were HUGE. I wish now I had taken a picture, but they were this big...

The actual lamps had an interesting shape, and I liked the Greek Key design. The brass finish though was very worn, and needed to be painted over. Following this tutorial, I used this spray paint...

And yes, it was primer. The paint finish on the dressers, that the lamps were going to sit on, was so shiny that I actually wanted a more matte finish on the lamps. The primer delivered that, although it did take two coats of paint and a few touch ups.

I am now a convert to spray paint! It was so fast and easy. Why did I ever use a brush before?

Now did you spot the difference in the two pictures? When I put the first lamp I finished on the dresser, I realized why the original lamp shades were so large. The top part of the lamp was very long and threw off the proportions of a normal-size lampshade.

My husband offered to try to fix it. At first, there was some excited talk from him that he might have to use a sledgehammer. I think he was disappointed when he just had to disconnect the wire off of  the top that holds the light bulb, and pull off the long narrow piece of the lamp.

 I was very impressed with how it looked when he finished. This was such a small change, but it was a great improvement to the lamps.

 

Check out the Link up at Kammy's Korner.



and Savvy Southern Syle, Thrifty Décor Chick, and East Coast Creative

Make More Storage in my Bedroom: Dressers as Nightstands

I finally finished a project that I worked on for a couple months now. Actually, I worked on it for a weekend two months ago, then life happened, it sat in my garage for awhile gathering cobwebs, and then I dedicated to dedicate all of this Saturday to getting it done. I am so glad that I carved out the time, because I think it looks great!

This was my inspiration photo. It was in Lonny magazine several months ago. As soon as I saw this picture, I knew it was just the pop of color I needed for my bedroom.

Lonny

At first I thought I would paint the dresser we already had, but that furniture wasn't really working for us in our bedroom anyway. Our master bedroom is on the small side, and a bit of an odd shape...more long and narrow.  When we moved into our house, we weren't able to fit our second large dresser. As a result, most of our clothes were in a small chest of dresser. I felt like I was constantly shoving things back in just to get the drawers to close. I needed more storage.

Then I saw this picture on another blog, Little Green Notebook, and got an idea. We had a small nightstand beside our bed. I realized if we upsized it to an actual dresser it would be a much better use of the space, provide needed storage, and I would still have a place beside my bed to put my book at night.

Little Green Notebook

 

 

Here are a few more inspiration pictures, from other sources, of dressers used as nightstands: 

 

Better Homes and Gardens

 

 

Apartment Therapy

 

HGTV

I did a lot of measuring and a lot of looking. Most of the dressers I found and liked were too big for the small space I was working with. Finally, the Tarva dresser from Ikea was the perfect fit.

I painted it Par Three from Ace Hardware.

I found the drawer pulls on Ebay for about a third of the price of what I was looking at elsewhere.  The person I bought them from also has an Etsy store called Lakeway Candles. They were very helpful and responsive to my order.

So here is the finished dresser.

 

 

I moved about half my clothes into the dresser, and it is working out great. There is a matching dresser on the other side of the bed for my husband's things. The extra storage is such an improvement to the bedroom.

I will tell you all more about the lamps in tomorrow's post.....

Also, check out this link up at the blog Serenity Now, Shabby Nest, Tatertots and Jello, and
Not Just a Housewife, and Remodelaholic