Thrift Store Lamp and Lampshade Makeover

I've posted about my affinity for wrapping lamps on here before. And I've threatened to do it again. So I did! This time I used a more rustic sisal rope from Home Depot and I added a degree of difficulty by recovering the lampshade too! All for the grand total of $10.
Wait until you see how this looked before!
This was the lamp I came home with. $10 but 50% off. So.... FIVE DOLLARS.
This was the lampshade it came with... I doubt these two were originally together, but I liked the shape of this... again, $10 but 50% off. Another FIVE DOLLARS.
I stripped the fabric off of the lampshade and cut a template from the new fabric leaving an extra inch all the way around.
To attach the fabric, I started on the top and applied a thin bead of hot glue. Working fast, I pinched the fabric around the wire frame and continued along the top edge. For the corners, I cut away the excess fabric before gluing. I repeated the same process on the bottom edge making sure the fabric was nice and taut.
I went back and trimmed the excess fabric as close to the wire of the shade as possible.
For the side edges, I effectively 'hemmed' the the fabric using the hot glue and then glue this right over the corner of the shade. If you have cording or gimp, feel free to leave your fabric edge raw and just glue your trim right on top.
Wrapping the lamp is super easy... I use a lazy susan to make the spinning easier, but you simply use a hot glue gun to attach the rope. Glue and wrap. Glue and wrap.
Much cheerier and more contemporary than the version that came home from the thrift store in my opinion.
With the bright colorful shade, this lamp doesn't look anything like the lamp I bought!
At Charlotte's House
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Tondi Tondi on Jan 22, 2017
    I really like your change. The fabric is great. Here is my concern; the shade I have is 6" at the top and 12" across the bottom, so the fabric does show the gentle slope. There are also 6 thin metal strips that take the fabric from the 6" out to the 12". How would you change your process if at all?
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