Thrift Store Brass Gets A Whole New Look!
7 Materials
In need of a thrift store upcycle project and a new living room lamp thanks to two large wagging tails, I choose this dated brass lamp to bring back to life! I really like the classic shape of this one. I also liked that it had two light bulbs that turned on and off independently.
I knew I wanted something to fit our farmhouse/cottage style. I immediately discarded the dated pleated shade and gave the lamp a good cleaning with dawn dish soap and dried it thoroughly.
I had an old burlap lampshade that was the perfect size. I painted it with two coats of RustOleum Chalky Paint in the color Linen. I allowed it to dry overnight.
I added a band of 2" wide black satin ribbon to both the top and bottom edge using a glue gun to hold the ribbon in place.
Using RustOleum Chalkboard paint in black (spray paint), I covered the entire base of the lamp in two coats. I was worried that it wouldn't adhere to the shiny brace very well, but it went on like a dream. I had first tried chalkboard paint that you have to brush on, but after one stroke of the brush, I knew that spray paint was the way to go.
To protect the paint finish I applied a good coat of liming wax, buffing it well to give it a soapstone appearance.
Again, what made me choose this lamp was the dual light bulbs. Unfortunately it was missing the chain pulls to turn them on and off, but a quick trip to the hardware store I found these two white porcelain "fan" pulls that couldn't be more perfect.
And now I have a fully functional farmhouse style lamp that actually turned out better than I had imagined it would. All for under $20.
Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 33 comments
-
Thank you so much for posting! I was looking for ideas on how to get the brass outta here and this is perfect! Beautiful job!!!
-
Very nice look. Just my experience - have tried painting lampshades darker colors and had bad results. Looked awful when light was on no matter how carefully painted. I think perhaps sticking with shades of white might make the difference.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Have always worried about using paint and such on lampshades... seems dangerous?
How do I save this article, so I can do it later ? Thank you.