Painting Lamps

We moved and needed lamps but of course I'm too cheap to buy new ones. So I decided to get crafty and stopped by a local thrift store. I was in luck. I found a hideous tarnished lamp like the one you see below for $3. 

After sanding the lamp to rough the brass  I was ready to paint. I like to buy the paint samples from the Home Depot paint counter. It's cheaper and I can usually use most of it before it dries out. I used a mini sponge roller to dab and paint the lamp base. I waited about 30 minutes between coats.

I found this lamp shade at another thrift store for another $2. Using painters tape I was able to outline a chevron shape. 

Tip: make a circles of tape parallel to the bottom edge of the lamp shade. Use these as your marker when making points. This will help keep it looking uniform with minimal effort. 

I used a mini sponge roller to dab in between the tape. Do lots of layers so no light will peek through the paint. And leave the tape on over night.

I did the same thing with a wooden lamp and another brass metal floor lamp. 

I didn't take a before but here's a similar lamp. I painted the entire lampshade on this one. The shade was originally textured to look like brown leather. It was awful. I continued to apply layers of paint until there was no longer any visible light beams peaking through.