If you caught my spring mantle yesterday, than you may have noticed the addition of a new table lamp on my buffet in the dining room. I mentioned that the white lamp we used to have in the dining room, is now in the kitchen on the antique dresser. I used that lamp in our dining room on our buffet quite frequently, so I needed to replace it with something quick. I decided to give some older lamps a little makeover, so today I’m sharing just how I did that.
You may remember these lamps from our bedroom a few years ago. They are really nice quality, but when we gave our bedroom a little refresh last year, we added wall sconces next to our bed and no longer needed the table lamps. I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them, but found myself no longer loving their color.
So in storage they sat, until one day last week, when I decided it was time to give them a makeover.
I knew I could get new lampshades fairly inexpensive, and I still really liked the shape of the lamp base, I just wasn’t feeling the color so much anymore. So I grabbed my favorite color, and some lime wash I already had on hand, and started painting.
I painted each lamp base Peppercorn by Sherwin Williams, applying the paint in vertical brush strokes.
One tip I would offer is once you have given the entire base a coat of paint, go back and check your corners and the edges to make sure there is no build up or drips.
Once they had completely dried after the second coat of paint, it was time to add some character. I toyed with possibly layering some gray paint on top, or doing some sort of dry brush treatment, because I knew I wanted them to feel distressed.
Then I stumbled across some lime wash I had from when I did this furniture makeover, and decided to give it a try.
I picked up the white lamps shades while at a recent trip to Target, and my DIY lamp makeover was complete! I love the texture they have, and totally add character to the space.
I love the lamps. All week I have been looking at my family room lamps, thinking that I could pain them. After your success I am going to try. ( then buy new lamp shades). Beth
YAY! I’m so glad you feel inspired to try!! Good luck!!
Hi Bre
I really enjoy reading your posts and seeing all the great things you are doing in your home. I was wondering if I could use the same technique with a sanded down bare table? I like the look of bare wood with some white added to it – like white wash. What would you recommend.
Sandy
YES! You could totally do that Sandy! I would adhere to the sanded wood nicely. I did notice too that the lime wash will “rub in” to the surface giving more of a cloudy look, and a brushed look depending on how much I applied at a time. So I would start with a small area that isn’t highly visible, to get a feel for how you want to apply the lime wash, to get the look you want for the piece 🙂
I love this new look for your lamps. Just shows what can be done on a tiny budget.
YES!! I love it when a big impact can happen on a tiny budget 🙂
i love the look of the lime wash…… i assume that you can use the wash directly on any lamp with its original color…… you don’t have to do any prep work, right????? even with a lamp that i haven’t painted, would you recommend using a horizontal brush stroke? thanks so much for this info…… i like everything that you do to your warm and cozy home!!!
Ohh thank you so much Lynne. The lime wash has a gritty texture to it, so I think it would stick to just about anything. I think a shiny metal surface would be more difficult, but just be careful not to touch it too much, or maybe be prepared do to a second lime wash coat, but otherwise I think it would work on just about any wood surface, painted or unpainted. And you are right, no prep work! I chose to paint it horizontal, so it would go against the vertical brush strokes of the paint, but it’s very pliable, so you would have lots of flexibility with it 🙂
Love, love, love this look!
I’m going to give this technique a try.
love this! I have some lamps that need a makeover and this seems easily achievable. Thank you for the inspiration!
Oh you are so welcome Lisette!! I was about to go out and buy new lamps, and I thought to myself “Wait! I have to try giving these ones a makeover first!” It really went easier than I even anticipated 🙂
Looks amazing!
Thank you!
They look great!