painting an old lamp




I recently found myself in need of a new bedroom lamp.  I passed my cute bird lamp onto my grandaughters bedroom where it fits perfectly.  So I went to the Goodwill and found this $9 ginger jar lamp.  I'm so sorry I don't have a before picture of it but you can see in the next photo that it was classic 90's peach.
 




I did my best to tape it before I painted it but as you can see I did a horrible job of it.  It's okay though because I was planning to paint the wooden base black anyway.  I wound up just spray painting the shade black too.






I am no DIY expert by any means but this was easy and the results were good enough for me.  The trick to spraying the ceramic base is to keep the spray can a good 12" away and do multiple light coats so that there is no dripping.  I used a satin finish but I can always apply a glossy finish if I feel like it.  





So there you go.  Have a wonderful weekend!



27 comments

  1. Simple and inexpensive changes. Lovely!!!

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  2. Turned out great, and looks beautiful in the room ... xoxo, A

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  3. It is lovely! I've painted many a lamp, but I'm a bit nearvous about painting a shade. May have to give it a try. It looks like you used plain old black spray paint?

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  4. You get the prize! Chic on a shoestring. You do manage to have such a lovely home with your bargain instincts. It's an inspiration!

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  5. Wow! I never knew that ceramics could be spray painted.
    The result is wonderful Janet. You could write a book on thrift and chic decor. I'm serious!
    XO

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  6. I remember those peach ginger jar lamps so well, my parents had one! Yours is fantastic, it looks brilliant in your stunning bedroom! x

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  7. Lovely! You have a granddaughter? How lucky she is!

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  8. Love repurposing thrift finds! This lamp fits in beautifully...I love the room you've nestled it into. Sweet, serene, clean.

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  9. fabulous find - I love the shape of a ginger jar & it looks amazing painted with the black shade. I love your gallery wall of family photos too ♥

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  10. Genius. Great shape of the base...

    Do you smell paint fumes when the shade heats up? :)

    xo Terri

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    1. P.S. Can you tell me more about your bed. I love the headboard. Is it stand-alone or a bed frame? Love it. I need to get a headboard made for a guest bed....!

      xo

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    2. hi terri! no, no paint fumes and the headboard is from pottery barn. they still carry it.

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  11. you do have an eye {to look past the peach} for good bones.
    think of how happy & relieved this lamp must be ~ you rescued it!

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  12. are there no end to your talents??????

    can you please arrange a garden tour to your neck of the woods?

    Thank you x

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  13. Fabulous, of course. I just repainted a chair and I hate it. Oh well, we all can't be giants!

    xo jane

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  14. Beautiful! I'm so thrilled by this! I've been looking for a nice-but-bargain lamp for ages. It never occurred to me to spray paint ceramic, so now I'll go looking with an eye to shape and try to block out the 80's and 90's colors. Sometimes it's hard to see beyond the datedness.

    Your bedroom is so serene and lovely. And I've said it before and I'll say it again- I think you could have a fantastic business as a designer/arranger/decorator-adviser, if you wanted to. Many of us long for this look, but just don't have the eye.

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  15. Wait.

    You have a granddaughter?!?!?!

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  16. You painted a fabric shade? Never would I have thought to do that. You are so smart. xo

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  17. Hi Janet,

    You DIY came out great! The Goodwill always seems to have ginger jar lamps, I bought a white one a few years ago for my bedroom for 5 dollars. All I had to do was buy a new lampshade which I added some trim to.

    Linda
    xo

    Love LPC's comment. :)

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  18. Really beautiful! I, too, am glad to read you can spray paint a lampshade. I have one whose shape I like, but the color needs to be changed.

    I also love your gallery wall. :-)

    Warm wishes to you.
    Angela

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  19. It looks great in your bedroom! I have been stalking several Goodwill's in my area for the perfect pair of lamps to use on our nightstands, but haven't found the right pair yet. I was lucky and found a fabulous large pair of ceramic lamps for my living room that were perfect without having to paint. They too were 9.99 a lamp and look great in the living room. I was so shocked over the price that as I snatched them off the shelf, I worried about breaking them before I could use them in our new home for weeks.

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  20. What a nice second life you've given it. Love that the shade and base are black! Looks great in your wonderful bedroom!

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  21. Dearest Janet
    PLEASE don't mention "painted lamps" to me right now!
    xxSP

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  22. I didn't even know you could spray paint a lamp base like that. You have grandchildren, no kidding? Times have changed so much. My beloved grandma in the early 1960s looked so old, the way she dressed and did her hair as so many ladies did in that day, looking unnecessarily "aged." She was only age 63 when she died and so pretty, but dressed so dowdy and matronly. I don't mean that as disparaging because I loved her so much; just an observation of fashion and maybe attitudes of the day. What would she have looked like as a grandma in her 50s of today compared to then? You are not very grandmotherly in the old-days sense, Janet! I just saw a photo of you a few posts back, smiling happily into the camera as you lounged on your beach towel at the beach in Antibes, ya know! That would not have been my grandma...and, OMG, they wore those little invisible hairnets; uncomfortable?...and I say, why the h*ll not could she not wear a bathing suit at the ocean side in her 2-piece like Helen Mirren with the fab gray hair; why did the "times" make them have to be so old so fast? Or at least some of them; I mean, you should have seen her grandma shoes; why? I am glad things are "now" for us rather than "then" because a lot of change is really good change. Anyway, yeah, the lamp looks awesome. Great job.

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  23. Hi Janet! Can you tell me where you got your bamboo shades? I want some affordable ones for my house. I love yours! Thank you!!! LOVE YOUR BLOG!!! Jennifer

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    1. hi jennifer. i got mine at lowes and they were pretty cheap. not sure if they carry them any longer but worth taking a look. thanks!

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