Repurpose an Old Thrifted Lamp Into a Chic Side Table

Last week I was finally able to share some huge news with everyone and I want to thank you all for your support! Your messages and excitement have been incredible. It truly is a dream come true and I can’t wait to show you the shop and all that will be available.

If you missed the announcement, you can find it here…

Let’s get to today’s project though because I know you all have a lamp (or two!) sitting around that you don’t know what to do with.

The Lamp

I found this lamp at the thrift store about a month ago and it was only $3! How can you go wrong for $3? I can see why no one wanted it and why it was so cheap but those things actually made it all the more perfect for this upcycle.

To be a great upcycler, you always have to look beyond the obvious and see the potential in things and this lamp was full of potential. Look at those details on the base and at the top. They are full of amazing detail and just begging for a little paint!

Prepping the Lamp

To get the lamp ready for the project there were a few things that needed to be removed. First off was the cord. A quick snip and the majority of it was gone. I know this goes without saying, but please, make sure it isn’t plugged in when you cut the cord!

Once the cord was snipped, it was easy to pull it up through the lamp and remove the remaining piece.

The other part of the lamp that I did not need for this project was the shade bracket. It is typically easy to remove and can usually be twisted until it comes apart.

The lamp I used was all held together by a few bolts so to give it a little extra strength, I applied some contact cement between the pieces. This went a long way to keeping it all together.

The final piece to getting the lamp ready was the paint. I used Annie Sloan Chalk paint in Original because I knew, without a doubt, that it would stick to all of the different surfaces of the lamp.

The Table Top

To create the top of the side table, I needed something fairly small. You have to remember to make the top proportional to the lamp so that it doesn’t tip over. I found a wooden sign at the dollar store that was nice and thick. Luckily, it was also the perfect size to fit the lamp.

I also, glued on a small wood round to give the top some stability.

To make it easier to put everything together later, I measured out the pieces so that I knew where the middle was. This was important to so that the table was not tippy once it was all together.

The wood sign was then painted with the same Annie Sloan Chalk paint.

Putting the Table Together

With everything ready to go, it was finally time to put it all together. The circle making the centre really came in handy. I used glue to hold the top and base together but you could always drill out a circle the size of the lamp and sink it right into the wood for even more stability.

Look at those gorgeous details on the base! The original fake gold was no match for a little paint.

This chic little table is the perfect size to tuck into a small space. It was the perfect way to repurpose an ugly lamp and save it from ending up in the trash.

To see what else you can do with your old lamps, check out these projects here, here, and here…

Don’t forget to follow along on Facebook as well for all of the news about the new Recreated Designs retail shop ♥