Crusty Lamp? No Problem!

by Toni @ Girl, Just DIY!

6 Materials

$12

3 Hours

Easy

Have you ever seen a lamp at a thrift store or garage sale and loved the bones of it, but the condition made you go "meh?" Yep, me too. But good news, you don't have to be scared any longer. There are so many quality lamps and other decor items out there to be had for cheap. Most often they just need a little updating, and paint is usually the best first option. And it's the least costly of anything you can use to update something.

don t be scared off by a crusty brass lamp beautify it

When I saw this lamp at the Teen Challenge Thrift Store I loved the shape, but not the condition. It was crusty and gross, and missing the globe at the top. And the wiring was really old so I knew that would have to be replaced.

I made another lamp last year. It's a Hanging Light from a Basket using a hanging light kit. I love how creative you can get and make a lamp to suit your style or whim.

After I took the entire thing apart I got busy giving it a good cleaning. Yes, you'll need some elbow grease to get all years of grunge and tarnish off. I used brasso but you might use something else.

It was so tarnished I finally had to give up on using old rags because I was running out. Green scrubbies came in handy, as well as some steel wool.

I'm not a big fan of brass but I do have a tray that I love. But it requires polishing and upkeep. I prefer to just look at my decor and not have to do anything more than an occasional dusting. So after it was all clean I gave it a good coat of paint in black metallic.

Then I got busy rewiring it. You can get a rewiring kit at any hardware store. It's a little intimidating at first but it's really simple to do. Just thread the wire through your lamp base and attach the ends to the socket screws. It's that simple.

The challenging part was fashioning a globe out of a broken globe I bought at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. It took some patience, and a lot of e6000 glue but I'm happy to report I made it work. You can see more of those details in my post (the link's at the bottom)

Using a clear appliance light bulb creates the coolest affect on the wall through the globe. I was surprised when I turned it on the first time. I was able to capture it in a picture that you can see it on my post via the link below.

I love the lamp so much, it added the height I needed on my dining room buffet, as well as some extra light in that corner. It no longer makes me go "meh" it makes me say "ahhhhh, love it!"