Lamp Fix And...

Yay!  I fixed my lamp!  Nope, it wasn't broken, just hideous!  It surely didn't start out hideous, I can take ALL the credit for that.  Me and my impatient self.  Let me show you how my lamp started out when I first acquired it. 

Here it is when I brought it home from the yard sale.  Do you remember I told you I bought this lamp with the shade for only $3.00?  I would have bought it at the $5.00 they originally had it priced at but they offered it to me for less.  It was closing time and they certainly didn't want to take it back inside.   I really liked it as it was but wanted to give a little something extra special.

So I added glaze to it!  I used my Burt Sienna glaze and really should have known better but I was trying to use what I had on hand.  It wasn't a horrible look but was waaaay bronzier then I wanted it.  I just kept thinking in my head I should have used a Mocha glaze.

This is how it looked going on...

This is how it looked after drying a few days, very bronze!

I let it sit as it was for the summer until a few weeks ago when I finally went out and bought some Mocha glaze.  For some strange reason I seemed to think I could just add the Mocha right over the Burnt Sienna and all my troubles would be solved.  I probably came to this conclusion after trying to wipe off the Burnt Sienna but it wasn't coming off easily.  I thought to myself, I'll just cover it up then!  So I did, and it certainly wasn't as bronze as it was before but...

This is what I ended up with after two coats of Mocha glaze when I made myself stop and take a breather.  It sooo wasn't turning out the way I had envisioned it in my head!  It was time for a break and to rethink this project.

Hideous!

I really wanted to just add an off white glaze and be done with it.  But I wasn't thrilled with the streaks from the glaze that I left on the lamp either, I left too many!  Since the glaze was not wiping off as easy as I had thought it would I was contemplating starting over.  You know, spray painting the whole lamp and then doing a mocha glaze.  But there had to be an easier way.  Then I saw the lamps that Kim @ Savvy Southern Style did and realized what I needed to do, so I did it and Woohoo!

 I went down to the basement and picked up a fresh piece of sandpaper and went to town.  I sanded and buffed until I got the look I wanted and then added the off white glaze.  Perfecto!  Thank you Kim, sanding was the extra step I had not thought of.  It really gave the lamp a wonderful blended look and helped the final coat of glaze achieve the look I knew it would!  I really need to work on being less impatient!

 

While I like some streaking I wasn't digging the whole lamp being as streaked as I had it before. Not any more though!

I love having the gold shine through again too.  I have lots of gold frames and accents in my dining room  where this lamp is.   The gold of the lamp was never really the problem I just didn't want a solid gold colored lamp.

 

I think it looks aged to perfection now!

And the off white glaze on top softens the whole look beautifully.

Whew!  I am finally well pleased with this project!

I am happy to be joining http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for Metamorphosis Monday.  It's the party where we all get to show off our latest transformations.

Follow the link above for more wonderful stories of change.

Ooops!  I almost forgot..I finished all the yellow pillows for the couches!  This project is not totally finished since I still have the red pillows to do yet, but I thought you'd like to see a little more progress.  Amazing how much easier it is to sew in a room with air conditioning that works.

Looking better, 4 down and 4 more to go! 

Thanks for stopping by, please leave me a note if you do!  Hope you had  a great weekend too!

Mary