Old brass lamps. You find them at just about every garage sale and Goodwill. And guess where we found these? Yep, in my mother-in-law's storage unit.
This weekend, we decided to rent a truck and bring some furniture from storage to my son, John, in Indiana.
"Hey, bring the lamps. I really need lamps," he said.
Really? Those ugly things with the yellowed lamp shades? If you say so!
I threw the lamp shades away and decided we could do something with those lamps to make them a little more modern.
I took some measurements and photos, and we headed over to Lowe's, where we bought new shades and this Rustoleum spray paint in Espresso. Mmmm. I like the name!
For starters, I lightly sanded the brass and cleaned it up with a dry cloth. Then, using old grocery bags, I taped off the areas that I did not want to get painted...the sockets and the cords.
I gave everything a full coat of Espresso, and let it dry for about an hour. And it looked fine this way, too. But we decided to give everything a little, aged look.
We found a leftover can of Sherwin Williams paint in the garage in Repose Grey. Perfect!
Using a cheap foam brush, I applied the paint in a sweeping circular motion. And then, while it was still wet, I went over it with a paper towel to remove it from some spots.
I let it dry, and then used a sanding block to remove some more paint. This allows the Espresso underneath to show through, giving it almost a birch tree effect.
Voila! New lamps!
The burlap shades worked well and gave some contrasting color to the walls.
Have you priced lamps at the store these days? I think we saved a lot of money with this DIY project!
I may have a few more DIY projects to share, so stop back!
Happy Monday, cafe friends!
Great idea! I am going to see if we still have our brass lamps in the basement. The quality is better than new. Love the idea of spray painting them.
ReplyDelete