A Lamp Makeover

This lamp has been on my to do list for some time. It seemed that every time I had it scheduled the weather wouldn't cooperate. Finally the perfect day presented itself and between about ten other things I got it done. I bought this lamp years ago when I changed my interior to darker colors. I like the shape of the lamp but the colors aren't right for my  return to a lighter palette and the old lampshade just annoyed me. I knew I wanted a two toned silver lamp.  So after a lot of thinking this is what I came up with;

This is what I started with;

I wanted the lamp to look like mercury glass but that wasn't possible with looking glass paint because it only works on clear glass and my lamp was amber. I don't like the look of the shiny metallic paints so I decided to experiment a little.  I first spray painted the lamp with primer and let it dry. Next I painted the base and the metal at the top with brushed nickel spray paint. Once they dried I covered both parts with paper and taped with masking tape. I spray painted the amber part black. I wanted some specks of black to show through the silver. Since I had looking glass paint I used it as the top coat. First I misted the black paint with water and then spayed looking glass paint over that. The water allowed the black to show through the silver. I knew I wouldn't get a highly reflective surface because of the black paint, but what I got was a surprise. The finish looked like a dark gray pearl. I'm sorry I forgot to get a picture of that step.  After it was completely dry it didn't have much luster so I decided to add a  metallic glaze in mercury by Martha Stewart paints. It gave the lamp a soft luster and the black specks still showed through.  Its a different look, one I haven't seen before, but I like it. Once again before and after;

I bought the shade at Target and everything else I had on hand. So all tallied the new look cost me 15 dollars. Its gong in my bedroom. It was a dark and dreary day so the finished lamp was very hard to photograph. I couldn't really do it justice. I'll have pictures of it in place once my room is camera ready. I'll be joing these great parties,

                                                             Savvy Southern Style

                                                            Ivy And Elephants

                                                            It's Overflowing

                                                            My Romantic Home

                                                           Live Laugh Rowe