Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Hot lamps

I was on the prowl for a pair of lamps for the porch/sunroom, and by some miracle, I found what I needed after only two stores.  I saw these brass uglies beauties chilling at Value Village for $3 each.  Then I remembered that it was 'half off furniture' day, so I scored two 24 inch solid brass lamps for $3.15! 
So what if the socket was detached and crooked - it's nothing a little super glue couldn't fix!  These babies were cleaned, taped and primed within a day.   
I like to sand everything in between the primer and paint coat, even metal and plastic.  Primer can leave texture behind, and a light sanding with 400 grit will take care of it.  I barely put any pressure on it to avoid taking too much primer off.
So what color did I choose? 
Red, baby!  I've always wanted to have a pair of hot red lamps and this was the perfect opportunity.  It also helped that the Rustoleum Universal paint in 'red was on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $5, this paint is definitely superior to the cheaper cans.
After one coat I was in love!  After two more, I realized how much of a pain spraying curvy lamps is.  Then the stupid drop cloth blew up and ruined the final coat, so I had to bust out another can of paint to put a fourth coat on them.  UGH!
Regardless, I love the way they turned out and purchased the cream linen drum shades from Target to finish the look.
I love them!  The total cost was $3 for the lamps, $10 for two cans of paint (I shouldn't have needed two), and $50 for the two lamp shades.  $63 for two unique lamps?  Yes, please!
Have you sprayed anything a hot color lately? 

49 comments:

  1. So pretty Sara!! I love the red.

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  2. That color really brings out the line much more than the brass original. Lovely work. I haven't sprayed anything recently. The last project I did was a coffee table and while the color was great, the process of spraying it and protecting it from falling leaves and kamikaze mosquitoes was too much for me to want to whip out a can anytime soon.

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  3. I loooove the red Sara, what a great choice!Your lamps look fabulous. xx

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  4. The lamps look great. And, gotta tell you, after your post on the bamboo shades I checked on Overstock and ordered 5 for some windows we have that needed a new look. Haven't gotten them yet, but I'm hopeful - thanks for the info!!

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  5. Absolutely love the red lamps! I have been debating doing a similiar project for our upcoming nursery.... Thanks for the inspiration!

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  6. we just painted a lamp too! i went with white though, guess i'm boring. love the red, can't wait to see the whole room.

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  7. Great deal. The red looks amazing.

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  8. Super cute! I haven't spray painted anything lately.. I think I need to change that!

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  9. Love them! And I love that pillow peeking into the corner of the photo. Can't wait to see the whole room!

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  10. So Hot! How can you beat that price and they are totally made for your room.

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  11. The lamps are lookin' hot!

    My last spray painting project took place last month. I had to spray paint 50 plastic animals in white for a friends wedding.

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  12. These are awesome! I can't wait to see the whole room. The photos with the couch and red pillow sneaking in are such a tease! :)

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  13. Thrift store finds + spray paint = AWESOME! I transformed a few of those lovely brass lamps myself a few months back:

    http://heathert.blogspot.com/2010/03/sold.html

    I went with the Liberty of London lampshades from Target, they actually inspired the paint choices for my living room, kitchen, AND lamps!

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  15. Sara the red looks awesome! Love it with the linen lamp shades! (previous comment deleted as I didn't proof read before posting...)

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  16. I recently spray painted an old frame robin's egg blue, and turned it into a cork board for my office.

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  17. $3?!?!?! I would have been vibrating! Those turned out just beautiful, and you can't beat the price. Nice score!

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  18. Those look great! This post and one over at Yellow Brick House (about spray painting a metal hook to make a curtain tie back) make me tempted to spray paint the tan metal lamp in our guest room.

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  19. Whoops, I meant Yellow Brick Home. Apparently my coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

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  20. those look great! I spray everything in site...but always manage to botch the job just enough to annoy me!

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  21. Those look great! I love the bright color...looking forward to seeing more :)

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  22. Those lamps are hott! Can't wait to see the rest of the space!

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  23. Love the lamps! I've been scouring Rummage Sales for a good pair of matching lamps. Can't wait to see the results!

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  24. Gorgeous! I love them, and I love that they're hot, hot, soo red hot! And they even match your beautiful red pillow. Good call on the linen drum shades - they're perfect for toning down that red hot color and tying them into the rest of your color scheme. They now scream "Let's hit the beach!" rather than 50's or a super-glam look.

    Fab job!
    ~Chelsea

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  25. Simply fab! Can we see a zoomed out picture? I really want to see the new lamps work the room.

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  26. Those are sexy! At first I thought the blue primer was the color you picked, and I thought "Wow, those look pretty nice." Then I saw the red, and it set my heart aflutter. And as a matter of fact, I DID spray paint something last weekend, but it's cool color, not hot. Post to come.

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  27. Great idea! I never knew you could paint brass. Maybe I need to go to town with bottle of spray paint on some of my old lamps.

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  28. Beautiful!!! I spray painted my patio furniture a while back in that red aswell!
    http://sparrowdesign.blogspot.com/2010/06/4-bistro-set-reveal.html

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  29. Great job! Love the glossy red with the linen shades, so pretty! I'm still working on a console table. I wonder if I'll ever finish it :D

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  30. I love these. I don't have the eye for lamps. I really need to find some. Love the shades, too. And, from what I spy in the photo, I'm going to LOVE the porch. Red is my favorite accent color.

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  31. Love.those.lamps. The red is so sassy and I bet will look amazing in that space. I love that you went with that color!

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  32. Ohhhh, they are hot!!! I painted the chandelier in my MB in red once and I LOVED IT! Can't wait to see the whole room come together.

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  33. They are amazing! I think you may have inspired me to check out Value Village tomorrow at lunch. I really do love them in red, it's lovely.

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  34. They look great! I've been on the hunt for some lamps recently too - thanks for the Value Village tip!

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  35. Love the red ... what a score on the lamps!

    Come visit ... I have a giveaway!!

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  36. Holy cow those turned out great!!! I can't believe the price.

    I don't spray paint much, but I'll listen to your tip about sanding when I do. I always hate when there's a texture left behind.

    Kelly

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  37. WOW. I'm so bummed. I gave up lamps just like these at a yard sale LAST summer! These turned out awesome!

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  38. hahah - YAYYYY I'm so glad you chose red. They look PHENOMENAL!

    I must confess, I first did a skim through to see what was going on before I settled down to read your words and was momentarily appalled by the gray.....I didn't realize it was a primer. The finish product is fantastic! And on what a great budget.

    Officially jealous.

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  39. A.
    MAZE.
    ING.

    Amazing! I would do super oversized white shades!

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  40. Hotness! You definitely saw the potential there, they look great. Perfect shades, too~

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  41. The lamps look fabulous! I just painted a set of thrifted lamps white and was thinking I should have gone red. Now I'm really thinking I may go red.

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  42. Pure. Freaking. Genius. I'm truly inspired!

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  43. Wow, those are sexy!! I absolutely love them, Sara! One of the ways that I know I've grown into an old lady is that I like to fill my time by spray painting things. I'm like 2 yawns away from being one of these craft moms at Joann with the knitted holiday vest sweater.

    Those lamps couldn't have turned out cuter!!

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  44. You just made my day with this!!! Not only did I receive two (mismatched) brass lamps from my father while on my last home visit but I also was oggling over these lamp shades at Target. I wanted to spray paint mine I just didn't know what all to do with them. THANK YOU!

    I've decided to use the small one in my study and the larger one in the bedroom most likely. I'll keep you posted on my color choices.

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  45. I know your pain in trying to spray-paint a brass lamp - but they look AMAZING! I found that it was actually easier to use latex paint out of a can and brush it on, it's hard to get the paint even in the curves of the brass. Here's a link to mine:
    http://room2think.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/dont-pass-on-brass/

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  46. I love the red!! I've been looking for some more goodies that I can do red for my living room, and this just confirmed that! Thanks for sharing!!

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Thanks so much for reading....your comments mean a lot to me!
Sara