Do you have some old lamps that need a little tender love and care? I got you covered! Just a simple paint job or adding cute fabric to the lampshade can make all the difference of turning trash to treasure!
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Trash to Treasure?
I got both of these lamps second hand. In the first lamp, I did not like the chipped, rusted, and bright yellow gold of the lamp stand. On the second lamp, the lampshade was beaten up, bent, and looked dirty. I will show you how I took someones “trash” and made it my “treasure”. I think both of these lamps turned out beautiful!
Just a Little Paint Job Goes a Long Way!
So for the first tall lamp, all I did was wipe all the dust and dirt off with a wet rag. Then, I took off the lampshade not to get paint all over it.
Next, I spray painted the lamp using this black spray paint that sticks to metal and works both as a primer and paint and gave it one coat. In thirty minutes I came out and gave it another coat. Half an hour after that I gave it a final coat to ensure I covered it all.
When I was sure that it was fully dry, I brought it inside and placed it next to my rocking chair in the living room. I thought it would be a nice place to read in the evenings, so the lamp would come in handy. Especially with days starting to get shorter, it will be nice to have more lamps around the house to have dim lighting before going to bed.
How to Repaint a Lamp
Materials
- 1 can spray paint
- 1 wet rag
Instructions
- First, get the lamp ready for paint so remove the lampshade.
- Then, using a clean and wet rag, wipe the lamp down from all the dust and dirt.
- Using spray paint of your choice, give the lamp a few good coats letting it dry in between (I like doing this outside or in a well ventilated place).
- And that's it!
DIY Pleated Lampshade
I found this cute little lamp on a recent thrifting trip with my sister-in-law. It was only $5 but the lampshade was beaten up and dirty. I love the look of pleated lampshades, so I decided to turn it into a project. It is super easy and only requires a few materials!
Materials Needed for Pleating a Lampshade
- Lampshade
- Fabric of choice: cotton fabric works great for this!
- Iron
- Hot glue gun
- Scissors
For the fabric that you choose, try to use something thin because you will be folding, ironing, and glueing it so you want it to be lightweight. I was debating if I wanted to use a white linen material that I have on hand, but went with this polka dot swaddle sheet because I thought it would be cute with a design and the linen fabric was a bit thicker and harder to work with. Check out these posts that I used the white linen fabric for: DIY Fabric Pumpkins, DIY Curtain for Beginner, and RV Transformation.
Instructions For DIY Pleated Lampshade
Measure the lampshade to see how long you need the fabric to be. Then cut the fabric into strips that are three inches wide.
Next, folding the strips to hide the raw edges, iron the strips down for a nice clean look.
Depending on the size of your lampshade, you will need more fabric to cover the entire lampshade, so make sure you have enough fabric to work with when you begin.
Then, using a hot glue gun, glue the strips onto the lampshade. I put a dot of glue on the top, then a small little line down and another dot of glue on the bottom of the lampshade to ensure that the fabric was attached securely. Overlap the strips to get the pleated look. This project does not have to be perfect, just use your discretion to how close or far you want each strip to be. Do make sure that they are glued on evenly.
*Tip: if you do not have a hot glue gun, fabric glue or even Elmers glue will do the trick as well! I actually ran out of hot glue sticks midway and used regular glue for the rest of the project and it turned out just as great. I will say though, it does leave a little wet stain that I could spot when I turned the lamp on. One could hardly tell though.
Once you reach around the entire lampshade, measure the top and bottom of the lampshade and cut out two more strips to cover the top and bottom. Same as the other strips, iron down the raw edges and using the hot glue gun glue around the lampshade!
Lastly, trim off any loose threads and you’re done!
DIY Pleated Lampshade
Equipment
- 1 hot glue gun
- 1 pair of scissors
- 1 iron
Materials
- fabric enough to cover the whole lampshade
- 1 lampshade
Instructions
- Measure the length of your lampshade.
- Cut strips of fabric the measure length of your lampshade and 3 in. wide.
- Fold the raw edges in and iron down the fabric.
- Using the hot glue gun, glue the strips onto the lampshade overlapping each strip to give it the pleated look. If some of the strips turn out to be too long, make sure to trim them to fit the lampshade perfectly.
- Once you come all around the lampshade, measure the top and bottom of the lampshade and cut the fabric, iron, and glue down (same as previous strips).
- Trim any fabric threads.
- All done! Hope you like how it turned out!
Notes
- If you do not have a hot glue gun, fabric glue or regular Elmers glue will work if working with cotton or something lightweight.
Conclusion
Hope you enjoyed both of these super simple lamp tutorials! Sometimes, all it takes is a little tender love and care to turn someone’s trash into your treasure! We sure will treasure both of these thrifted lamps in our home especially in the upcoming months and for years to come!
Thank you for stopping by Two Peas in Two Pods! This post was brought to you by Inna. Subscribe to join our Two Peas in Two Pods Community and comment below which lamp makeover you enjoyed more! Also, make sure to Pin any of the photos to come back to!
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