The holiday season is such a wonderful time of year. We spend more time with friends and family, enjoy special gatherings, and host fun events. There can be a tendency though to look around your home and feel like things aren’t good enough or everything isn’t quite how you’d like it to look.
I have always said that decorating is a process and getting a look that you love and feel comfortable with can take years. Sometimes though, we are just looking for a quick fix. Today I want to show you how you can update your lamps to get that quick fix without spending money buying new ones.
This lamp below had originally come from a thrift store and it was just a boring IKEA lamp. It was certainly nothing special but it did the trick. It was time to give it a much-needed makeover though and recreate it into something special.
Prepping the Lamp
The cord was not removable so I used some low-tac painter’s tape to cover it up and protect it from the paint.
The base and post of the lamp are metal so I gave them a quick sanding to rough up the surface before going any further.
Painting the Lamp and Shade
I wanted the lamp base and post to have some colour but not be too crazy. I grabbed some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint because I knew it would stick with no issues. Duck Egg Blue was the perfect shade to match my space. The base and post ended up needing two coats of the blue paint.
Next up it was time to paint the shade. I chose Fusion Mineral paint in Hazelwood. The Hazelwood is a rich brownish grey that was the perfect undercoat for the shade.
Once the Hazelwood was dry, I began applying Fusion Mineral paint in Casement in small sections. I didn’t want the Casement to dry before I could add texture so working in one area at a time allowed me to do this.
To create the look of faux grasscloth, I grabbed a wood fork and dragged it through the wet paint. I wasn’t worried about making straight lines, just lines that added texture and a natural look and feel.
After adding vertical lines, I changed and went horizontally so that I created a woven effect. I kept doing this until I had worked my way around the entire shade and then left it to dry overnight.
Adding Glaze
To highlight all of the beautiful lines I had created, I grabbed some Fusion Antiquing Glaze (I love this stuff!! Check out other ways I have used it here, here, and here…) and a small chip brush. With just a small amount of glaze on the brush, I dragged it all over the shade so that it settled into the lines.
The glaze worked perfectly to highlight all of the texture and really gave it some depth and character.
The Recreated Lamp
This lamp is definitely not boring anymore and doesn’t even look like an IKEA lamp. It has a completely unique look and feel that I absolutely love. The faux grasscloth has so much texture and looks incredible close-up or from across the room.
If you’re looking to change things up a little this holiday season, take a look around and see what you can recreate instead of heading out to buy something new. It’s amazing what you can do with a little paint!
And don’t get too stressed out trying to make your spaces perfect. A great space takes time to create and as you add pieces or little touches, it will evolve into something truly amazing.
