Ah a lockdown tradition as it has seemingly become many: house renovating/decorating/(lamp upcycling?). A pass-time to ease the boredom and a way in which to fill the hole of the otherwise busy weekends of socialising. Times we were accustom to in a pre-pandemic world.
Well (on a lot smaller scale) I decided to take on a mini-renovation of my own. In the form of upcycling my lamp. Deciding to switch up its plain white for something a lot brighter. Moving from my bedside to the living room. With a purchase of new lamp for my bedside from a small business off Etsy!
BEFORE
The lamp in question was bought for university a whole 4 years ago, from Wilko. Plain white, with a 30cm lampshade. I decided if I were to put it in the living room, it definitely needed a jazz-up. After scrolling Pinterest, I planned a new layer of paint to the base and a switch up of the shade.
DURING
The paint I decided on for the base was ‘Broccoli Brown’ by Farrow & Ball. Having heard every woman and her dog chat about it on Instagram! I instantly loved the matte, cool-toned brown as well as F&B being very sustainable too. Their paint being water-based, Vegan as well as not having any nasty Ingredients (read more here). The base of the lamp required two coats, and having bought a tester pot for £4.95, it was more than enough to cover the whole thing.
For the Lampshade, I decided to purchase a William Morris printed shade off a small business on Etsy; Stonehouse Shades. As our living room sofa is a pale blue colour (bought from the British Heart Foundation secondhand furniture store last year!) and me developing a bit of a love of William Morris’ prints, I thought the shade would match perfectly.
AFTER
…and Et Voila -the finished result! I can’t exaggerate how pleased I am with the outcome. The colour worked perfectly and the paint dried a beautiful shade of brown (and completely matte). It has truly lifted the lamp from plain to timeless (in my eyes anyway!) This has avoided a lamp ending up in landfill! As well as giving me something to do one Saturday afternoon during lockdown!
The white lampshade that was originally on the lamp was put on OLIO. An eBay-style app where people can advertise their items to be given away for free, to avoid anything going to landfill! it was instantly claimed and a lovely lady collected it from me on Monday.
This meaning, nothing is to be unnecessarily wasted during this mini renovation.. I’m pleased as punch with how my vision came to light – let me know what you think!
What a brilliant upcycle. I am so into this kind of thing for my own house. Every single thing in it has been brought with my money and my blood, sweat and tears. I’m not chucking it out, I’m redesigning it!
Rosie
Thank you so much – I love that, it’s so nice to customise things yourselves isn’t it, makes everything look and feel a whole lot more personal!