Once upon a time, when Beloved and I were young and newly wed. Back in the days when British Home Stores was a thing, I was gullible, and he hadn’t quite grasped who was boss, there was a brief but memorable discussion about a standard lamp.
He who was still stuck in the 19th Century wanted one. And I, with notions of being very 1993, guffawed loudly in the queue of said department store and told him categorically that hell would freeze over before I’d ever have such a monstrosity in any home of mine.
Then OneandSeventy happened.
Fast forward to the 21st Century and I found this standard lamp going for a song on a local Facebook sell swap site. The owner had tried a little upcycling of her own but was finding the gloss paint she’d used wasn’t quite working out.
With visions of a glamorous black affair for my burgeoning Victorian Gothic Dining Room, I took it off her hands and sanded down the base. To my surprise, I discovered the most beautiful distressed wood underneath that needed no further work.
Result!
Onto the lampshade and after removing the feather boa and fringing, I spray-painted the shade with black Rust-oleum Painter’s Touch on the outside and my favourite Montanta Gold inside. The finishing touch, a length of black tassel trim, hot glued in place.
Incidentally, I did try dyeing the original trim with Dylon Fabric Dye, but it came out navy blue. Could be the colour change was too dramatic, or maybe there were environmental influences at play. Them’s the risks you take when working with vintage.
With not quite the intense black I was going for, I ordered some 4cm Furnishing Fringe from Amazon. 3 metres were more than ample to cover the shade, with plenty to spare.
Aside from a few hot glue fingers (ouch!) this project turned out to be much more straightforward than I imagined and I think you’ll agree, a standard lamp really is the perfect touch for this space.
Beloved has an annoying habit of being right. It’s very irritating.
I hope you like this DIY. If you do, why not let me know by dropping a comment below? Alternatively, why not swing past Instagram or the Facebook Page for a natter? See you there.
A hui hou,
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