Brass Lampie…The Funky Lampie

The guest room/craft space refresh continues, this time in the form of a little lighting switcheroo.  We needed to switch out the black lamp (on the desk in the left pic) since it was too tall for the slanted ceiling.  So off it went to thrift store and we replaced it with a brass finish pharmacy floor lamp.  Game day bucket go boom (football season is back…I couldn’t resist)!

So here’s the obligatory closeup of the too tall desk lamp.  I’m pretty sure the lamp shade is permanently bent in that position from being wedged under the slanted ceiling for so long.  The lamp also needed to be on the other side of the desk since that back corner is kind of dark and dank.  Because of the slant, I envisioned a floor lamp replacing this guy.

And to be more precise, I had envisioned one of these hotties to grace our guest room.

All the lamps are from Lamps Plus and can be found here, here, and here.  The only one I could really afford is the $99 dollar guy, because let’s face it, I’m a cheapskate.  But even so, the price was still a little high for my cheapskate ways.  So I put it off.  Put off purchasing the lovely lamp until I got back from the Haven Conference.  Just one day after coming back from Haven I had the thrifting itch.  That’s what spending three days with 400+ DIYers does to you.  And what to my wondering eyes did appear…a brass pharmacy lamp in a hot mess of thrift store lamps.

And for $7.99….really?!  How could I not bring it home?!  It was just a fraction of the cost of buying it new.  So I threw caution to the wind and bought it without even testing it out to see if it worked.  I live dangerously.  Thankfully, it worked like a charm.  It even came with a working light bulb.  But the $7.99 lamp needed some work in the refinishing department.

The bottom was a little…well…a picture says a thousand words.

The top part was in better condition but it still could use a little paint makeover.

But it was nothing a $2 can of spray paint from the craft store (AC Moore to be exact….with a coupon) couldn’t fix.  Touch ‘n Tone to the rescue!  This is where I picture Under Dog swooping in with his cape to solve the lamp refinishing mystery.

Spray painting light fixtures seems to be my latest thing (read about how we spray painted a few task lamps for the Etsy office here) and my go to prep work routine includes wiping down the entire surface with liquid deglosser and wrapping the cord in a plastic bag and taping it up.  Works like a charm every time.

Three thin and even coats of paint later…things were looking a little more even and a little less nasty.

Normally I would give the lamp a day or two to dry in the sun or down in the basement but it’s like it’s hurricane season or something AND we live in the South (not in Maine) because it won’t stop raining.  But no worries…we’re working on our ark.  Actually, we were debating whipping out the plastic sleds today to try riding them down the hill/road as the river of rain runs down it.  Now that is my idea of a good time…well…until one of us ends up in the hospital (my money is on Colby injuring himself first).

Anyway, back to the lamp.  I love having a floor lamp in here now because of it’s versatility.  We can tuck it over by the couch/futon/fold down bed for when guests stay over:

Or we can tuck it over in my little sewing area.  Not that I actually sew…but if I ever work up the nerve, at least my space will be well lit and I can’t blame the crooked seamstress lines on lack of light.

So there you have it…an $89 savings on a brass pharmacy lamp for our guest room.  Total cost of the lamp project…$10 ($8 for the lamp and $2 for the spray paint).  Now that’s what I call thrifty!

Pssst…Alright readers, what have you scored lately at your local thrift store?  Any sweet finds?  Or cute makeovers?  Do share!

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