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Revamp a Lamp

October 29, 2010

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You may remember when we won a little contest RC Willey was putting on.  They not only posted the announcement on the front page of their website for a good week (!), but they also sent it out to everyone that voted along with a little voucher for $25 off a purchase.  If you voted, and you live near an RC Willey, listen up.  These vouchers expire tomorrow (October 30th).  And even though my picture was right on it saying that they had already forked over $1500, I took full advantage of the $25, and get this–there is no minimum purchase on that voucher either.  (If you voted or live close to an RC Willey and didn’t get a voucher, send me a message and I will gladly forward you a voucher to be used by tomorrow. You can only use one per household.)

So, what did I get with my $25?  Have you been in RC Willey?  When you walk in, you might think–nothing here is THAT cheap.  Wrong.  Just think smaller.  I started looking toward a decorative pillow or some Halloween decoration.  They had some centerpieces and fake plants in the $25 range, and even some vases.  After an hour of picking things up and putting things down, I stumbled across the as-is section in the back of the store (usually near the registers/customer service).  These items were all floor models that maybe have seen better days, but are still in good condition.  That’s where I spotted this lamp for a steal!

Before
 The base is chrome.  Haha.  Chrome, really?  Nothing says definitely-not-warm-and-cozy like a chrome table lamp.  And the dingy off-white shade didn’t help.  But in my mind, I was thinking, “The shape is really interesting.  I think I can work with this.”
Plus!  It was marked down…a lot.  Regularly priced $129, they had it on sale on the floor for $99.99, but in the as-is section it was only $30.  Take off the $25 voucher, and that left me paying only $5 out of pocket!!!  Uhh, yeah.  I’ll take it.
After the lamp got home, the makeover began.  I took off the shade and taped off the cord and top where the lightbulb screws in.
Then, I spray-painted it with Krylon’s White Satin spray-paint.  I picked it up for $2.97 at Walmart.  It took several coats to cover all that chrome.
But what a difference already, right?!
Then, I got to work on the shade.  First, I took off the trim that was lining the top and bottom (hold on to this for later).
Then, I hot-glued some fabric on (I picked up a yard and a half for $3 and I had A TON left over.)  I made sure to pull the fabric nice and tight so I only hot-glued one seam in the back of the shade and then the edges on the inside.
When glueing the inside, I snipped the corners, and around the interior wire, to make sure everything stayed taught.
I was left with some messy edges on the inside that I was less than thrilled about:
So, I just used the edging from the outside that I removed, and hot-glued it on the inside.  Genius!
So, for a total of about $11 (lamp-$5, spray paint $2.97, fabric $3.00) I revamped a lamp!  And, think I may have restored it to it’s original value.  What do you think?  Anyone headed to RC Willey to use their $25 vouchers?
After

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What do you think?

  1. You are so creative! You have inspired me!

  2. You are so creative! You have inspired me!

  3. You are so creative! You have inspired me!

  4. okay, you’ve inspired me. we have ZEROOOOOOOO lamps. Well, except 2 walmart $5 lamps that aren’t exciting. I am dying for some side table lamps for our bedroom. :-) thanks for kicking me in the booty to get out and LOOK!

  5. Bob and I both say “Wow, you are so talented.” Love the lamp and the play by play reformation.

  6. You are so creative! You have inspired me!

  7. You are so creative! You have inspired me!

  8. You are so creative! You have inspired me!

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