Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Transform Tuesday -- Lamp Transformation! (Linky Party)

Before we bought our home, we were living in a townhouse.  When we moved in, all of our furniture could fit comfortably in about 1/2 of our house.  We had one standing lamp (you know, like the ones you had in your dorm room) that we moved from room to room as we needed it.  We offered to help move some people and they ended up giving us a TON of stuff.  These lamps were part of what we got from them. The only thing I liked about them was their size.  But beggers can't be choosers, so the lamps stayed.  Now, 2.5 years later I FINALLY redid them and I LOVE them.  It's amazing what a little spray paint and some fabric from the bargain bin at JoAnns can do.

Before:

After:

Do you want the How To?  Keep reading for step by step directions on how to re-do a lamp and shade.

Painting the lamp:  Here's a reminder of what it looked like.

1.  Roll the cord up and put it in a zip lock back.  Put a ziploc bag over the lightbulb socket.
2.  Spray with primer.  I Rustoleum Ultra Cover 2X Primer.  This stuff dries super quick, so you can begin painting within a few minutes of finishing the primer.
3.  Spray the lamps with paint making sure to get all of the nooks and crannies.  It took me 3 passes to get everything covered.  You want to do light coats several times instead of one heavy coat of paint.  This also dries pretty quickly, so you can do all of the coats of paint one right after the other.

The Shade:  Here's a reminder of what it looked like.
1.  With sharp scisors (I used Kitchen scissors) cut along one of the ribs of this accordian style lamp shade.
2.  Carefully (you don't want to cut yourself) pry/pop loose the ribbing from the actual shade underneath.  Take your time and be patient.  It will come off.

3.  With the right side of your fabric facing down, line the seam of your shade up with the edge of your fabric.  Make sure to leave yourself atleast an inch between the bottom of the shade and the bottom of your fabric.

4.  Using a ball point pen or fabric chalk slowly roll the shade (letting it follow it's natural curve) and mark along the top and bottom.  This will make sure your new fabric is exactly the right size and shape.  Roll the shade a couple of inches past the seam to give yourself some extra fabric to finish it off.  You can trim off any extra if you need to.

5.  Leaving an extra inch on both the top and the bottom, cut your fabric using your lines as a guide. 
Isn't this fabric pretty?!  I got it for $5 a yard from the bargain bin at JoAnns.  Yeah me!!

6.  Using spray adhesive, lightly spray your fabric and let it sit for 2-3 minutes.  This will make the fabric tacky so it will stick to the shade, but can be moved if necessary.  Make sure to put something over your table so you don't spray it as well.

7.  Once you have the fabric where you want it, start at one end and peel back a little bit of the fabric and spray the shade with the adhesive.  Put the fabric back down and smooth out any wrinkles while pushing it firmly to the shade.  I had to put my hand inside the shade so I chould push against my hand or I would have bent/broken the shade.

8.  When you get to the end, trim it to 1.5 inch overlap.  Fold it over and glue it down.  Then fold the edges over the top and bottom of the lamp and glue them down too.  Now, put the shade on the lamp and turn it on.  If you can see the raw edges shining through the shade, you will need to cover them (on the inside) with some ribbon.  Then you will only see a solid band at the top and bottom.

Now step back and admire your beautiful new lamp!!

What have your transformed?  Link it up!!
1.  Link to the actual blog post, not your general blog address.
2.  Place one of my Transform Tuesday buttons in your post.


 

3.  Go visit everyone else and leave them some comment love!

I'm also linking this to these blogs.  Go check them out.
DIY Day @ ASPTLTalk About it TuesdayTransformation Thursday

7 comments:

Katherine @ Grass Stains said...

What an AMAZING transformation! I love it. With our boys around, I don't get around to nearly as many DIY projects as I'd like, but I do enjoy looking at yours! :)

Unknown said...

I love it! Great tutorial.

Mandy Beyeler said...

Now I need a lamp to redo! Thanks for sharing on SugarBee Craft Edition, www.craftedition.blogspot.com!

Ann @ makethebestofthings said...

Love the lamp redo! Talk about upcycle. Thanks for hosting the blog party, you are so sweet.

christy mack said...

beautiful makeover, so elegant!

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Lauren @ 31diy said...

Your lampshade redo looks fantastic! I didn't even know it was possible to revamp an accordion style lampshade. I've got some of those in storage that I might have to bring out and give a makeover! Excited! :)

Love your blog, by the way!

Lauren
http://31diy.blogspot.com