So I received tons of positive feedback from y'all regarding the DIY garage door project I posted a few days ago! AND...on that positive note, I'm giving y'all another easy project!
Once upon a time, I was hired to re-design my friend M's house! If you missed her GORGEOUS before and after Living Room tour, you can find it below titled M's Living Room BEFORE AND AFTER, part 2!
We all remember my friend M. We all remember she has treasures that I was bawling over. Literally. I think I cried during her initial home tour. Her heirlooms were beyond my wildest dreams, passed down through generations. These trinkets all just needed to find their place in the re-design.
As you may recall, M led me on a beautiful scavenger hunt in her home to decide what was going to be showcased in the upcoming reveal. M wanted me to see a pair of amazing heirloom lamps she owned. They were hiding in the basement. She loved them but had no idea what to do with them. She consented to me making them beautiful for the redesign.
Here are the lamps BEFORE this DIY project...
(Aladdin's Genie couldn't have been more impressed)
Amazing right? I mean, look at the detail! I did some research and these lamps date back to the 1940's. Holy vintage! Well they totally HAD to go in the re-design for M. They just needed some TLC. Cobalt blue wasn't in my new color palette for M's space, but gorgeous vintage lamp-glam was!
So if you have some lighting, that's in need of some love, Grab your weird lamp and let's do this DIY!
Here's what you'll need:
1 can of Rustoleum's gold spray paint
A few paint brushes
1 can Minwax 'Early American' wood finish stain
1 cup white water-based paint
1 cup light blue water-based paint (or whatever color you prefer; pink, grey, green)
I started by spray painting the lamps with the gold spray paint for a good solid base.
Can you spy M's lovely vintage dining room table in the background? Oh yes, my friends. Another bloggy day...
I've digressed. Back to the revitalization of 1940's lamps.
After the gold spray paint dried, I dry brushed the white paint on to the lamp. Make sure your brush is very dry.
To dry brush: barely dip the tip of the VERY dry paint brush into the white paint. Then, haphazardly drag the dry brush along the natural raised areas of the piece, sometimes barely brushing the piece. The tiny bit of white should adhere mostly to the cracks and crevices of the lamp.
When the white paint is dry, go back over and dry brush/drag the pale blue paint over the raised areas of the lamp. Exactly as you did with the white. Make sure to be random with your markings. This patina needs to look natural.
Finally. When that coat is also dry, go back and run over the cracks and crevices of the lamp with just the smallest amount of stain on a fresh brush. I followed using a dry paper towel, at this point, to really smear the stain around.
Wear gloves to protect your hands from the stain.
Below is the reveal! M absolutely loved the final product and so did I! No one else on earth will have lamps like her! I topped them with linen Pottery Barn drum shades.
Be sure to tag @thebirchwoodblog in your @Instagram photos! We love seeing your hard DIY work!
Love Y'all!
Ashley