So I don't know if you are anything like me, but after college I had a lot of stuff that was great for a dorm room, but not so great for an apartment or house. Like this lamp for example.
I got this lamp from Wal-mart for like 10ish bucks. It screams college student! After graduating, I wanted to become more adult in my decor choices. So I decided to sell the lamp above and buy a new one. But DANG lamps are expensive! I can't afford a crazy expensive lamp, I just graduated. After coming to the gruesome realization that I would have to keep my college lamp or live in the dark, I came up with a way to make my lamp transition with me from college to adulthood. Here is how I did it!
Supplies:
- Black Lamp
- Rag
- Gold Spray Paint (the kind that mimics a gold metal)
- Black Acrylic Paint
- Water
- Painters Tape
Additional/Optional Supplies:
- Fake Succulents
- Macrame String
- Wooden Beads
Steps:
- Clean off all the dust and gunk from your lamp (don't lie we all know ya lamp is nasty)
- Remove the "shades" (whatever those things are that surround the light bulb...I don't know what it is called).
- Now you have two options for step three. It depends on the final look you want to achieve. So if you want a more spotty, antique, brassie look follow step A. If you want a more updated industrial look follow step B.
A. Spray paint the entire lamp, including the shades, a solid gold. Allow time to dry. Then take the black acrylic paint and mix it with water. I would say 3/4 water to 1/4 acrylic paint. Dip the rag in the paint/water combo and rub across the spray painted area. This should create that spotty antique look. If the spots aren't as dark as you would like them to be, add more paint to your paint water mixture. You may want to test different stroke patterns to see which you like best, but I had the most luck by wiping the rag all the way across the surface and then lightly dabbing the areas I had just wiped. But make it however you would like it to look because it isn't going in my house.
B. If your lamp was not black to begin with, paint it all black. If it is already black, paint the lamp shades solid black using the black acrylic paint. Allow time to dry. Then, lightly spray paint the lamp gold allowing the black to shine through. This should give it a rough textured industrial look.
Here are what the two different methods will get you:
Additional steps:
- Add the fake succulents to the base of the lower lamp (as seen in photo at the top)
- Add a macrame piece or yarn of any kind in strips to cover the lower flexible rod.
Hope this helped take you one step closer to successful adult-ing.
-B
