Simply Beautiful By Angela

creating simple beauty on a budget

Thrifted Brass Lamp Makeover

Hello everyone and welcome to the March Thrift Store Challenge!

If you caught my magazine holder flip last month, you may recall that I mentioned the fact that I actually picked up one other item at the same time and had a hard time choosing which one work on for the February challenge. I said that I was going to try to complete it before this month’s challenge came around, buuut the month totally got away from me and that unsurprisingly didnโ€™t happen!

So I pulled it out of the garage and worked on it for this month’s challenge and I cannot wait to share it with you guys today!

The Rules:

  • Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
  • There’s no monthly theme.
  • There’s no budget to stick to.

Meet the Hosts

Angela | Simply Beautiful By Angela – Deborah | Salvage Sister & Mister – Angie | Flippin Fanchers – Denise | My Thrifty House –
Jenny | Cookies Coffee and Crafts – Lynne | My Family Thyme –
Meredith | Southbound Blog – Marie | The Inspiration Vault – Gail | Purple Hues and Me – Molly | Just a Little Creativity –
Pili | My Sweet Things – Amanda | Domestically Creative – Carmen | Living Letter Home –
Emy | Semigloss Design – Jeanie | Create and Babble – Marie | DIY Adulation – Heather | Glitter On A Dime

Make sure you follow our board on Pinterest for more upcycled decor inspiration!

Our living room lacks ceiling lighting, so we had been living with this little lamp as our only source of lighting in this room since we moved in.

It did an okay job, but it still felt too dark after sunset and it drove me crazy. I started searching for a pretty floor lamp to help remedy that, however I was completely shocked to see how pricey the style that I liked was!

So one day I headed over to the lamp section at Goodwill to see if they had anything that I could work with. That’s when I discovered this dated brass beauty for $4.50.

Anthony thought that I had completely lost my mind when I pulled it out of my truck and showed it to him, but I assured him that he would barely recognize it once I was done with it ๐Ÿ˜‰

Supplies Used:(Affiliate links may be provided for convenience.  For more info, see my full disclosure here.) 

I began by taping off the lightbulb socket as well as the switch. I then used an angled brush to give the whole thing a coat of my favorite primer, Zinsser 1-2-3 Primer. It sticks to just about anything, even old dirty brass!

I stopped when I got to the socket and took it outside to spray paint that part oil rubbed bronze. I also sprayed the cord since I knew that it inevitably would be seen and the gold would clash. I didn’t bother taping anything off since I was lazy and I hadn’t painted it with the chalk paint yet.


Once it was dry I brought it back inside and gave it two coats of my DIY chalk paint (1 cup latex paint + 1 teaspoon Plaster of Paris). I was tempted to stop there, but I really like the wood ones that I’ve spotted at Pottery Barn. So to mimic the look, I decided to give it a coat of Valspar Dark Sealing Wax.

I know, I know–not looking too great yet! However after dry brushing some white paint over it with a chip brush, this is how it turned out!

It tucks in perfectly in the back corner. The outlet that it sits next to is even connected to a switch by the garage door, so it’s easy to turn on as soon as we come home.

The weathered wood look is an amazing upgrade from the brass and fits with my style sooo much better.

I ended up taking the harp off since I found an uno shade at Goodwill that happened to fit around the base perfectly.

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Please excuse the missing baseboards! The plan is to add shiplap and board and batten first before putting those up.

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I love how the white from the farm fresh eggs pillow that I have in the basket and my DIY spring pillow that I have on the chair pull together with the shade perfectly. This corner feels so much happier now!

I just can’t believe that I didn’t put a lamp here sooner!

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And now for more thrifty goodness!

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!

๏ปฟLinking up to these awesome parties!

Comments

  3. This turned out beautiful! I would never have guessed that it’s brass underneath. Love it! Now to find my old brass lamps!!

    • Thank you so much Mirellie! It is truly amazing what some people throw away–just a little bit of work and creativity goes a long way ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Thank you Heather! Yes definitely stop there before dropping loads of cash elsewhere ๐Ÿ™‚

  9. You did an awesome job! It looks wonderful! I have done that too, many times….the best scores! It is a perfect way to customize a piece….and it only takes a bit of time….
    Nancy
    wildoakdesigns.blogspot.com

  11. I absolutely love how it turned out. It looks like you purchased it for so much more money! Well done! Stopping in from #Alittlebitofeverything

    xo-Regina

  12. Hi Angela, thank you for sharing your project on Oh My Heartsie GIrls WOnderful Wednesday this past week, not sure you have noticed but your post is being featured and we would love to have you stop by and share again.

    Hope you have a great week!

    • Oh wow! what an honor, thank you Karren! I will be by for sure ๐Ÿ™‚