December 1, 2011

Before and After: Goodwill Lamps

I've been husband-less all week (he's out of town for work), but what better opportunity to have a girls night/crafty sleepover? Amber and I stopped into our local Goodwill during lunch yesterday and walked out with two perfect lamp makeover candidates. Check these out:

This is my pick. Grand total? $8.00. And that shade was almost immaculate!


Amber picked up an awesome 70's floor lamp for $15.00 (and the shade was great condition).


After an excursion at Hobby Lobby to buy fabric, adhesive and spray paint, we were on our way. Keep in mind that we were spray painting these lamps in the dark, outside an apartment and it was cold. It's a small miracle they look this good.




My lampshade looks good from afar, but I had a difficult time getting the edges of the fabric to wrap neatly over the shade. Thankfully we did mine first and by Amber's shade, we were professionals. In true over-analyzing fashion, I research the crap out of fabric lampshades. Some people are on Team Spray Adhesive and some are Team Glue Gun. After last nigt, I've decided to be a free agent. I love the spray adhesive; it was easy to use and relatively clean (just don't spray your fingers like I did), but there are times when a glue gun would have come in handy (mostly with the seam in the back). We also learned (the hard way) that the easiest way to trim the fabric is after you've glued it onto the shade. Don't bother trying to trace and trim it to size because you will inevitably cut it to short. The last lesson of the evening? You can't rush spray paint. I am probably the most impatient person I know, but when you spray paint something you really have to do several light layers. I did have a few drip marks on mine, but it all worked out in the end.

Ready for some side-by-sides?



If anyone out there needs a lamp, just let me know! I am dying to work on the next one. Maybe we should go into business...



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