Monday 11 February 2013

Pro-craft-ination - Lamp Makeover


As well as running my own little shop, Bluefinch Boutique, I'm a freelance writer.  I work at home from my little office or, if that's too messy, the kitchen table.  As I'm trying to expand my client base and get together a decent portfolio of writing at the moment, I sometimes have to work on briefs that may not be exactly in my area of expertise and it can take a while to think of an angle for my article.

I'm trying not to turn anything down at the moment as a) it's all experience, b) you never know which unlikely little jobs might lead to bigger and better things, and c) I have a serious addiction to bamboo yarn, I love holidays and I need a new bathroom.

I love writing and once I get started on an article, the words generally flow with ease. Before I can actually sit down and get to that point, however, I tend to procrastinate in crafty fashion.  Generally, I'll be idly looking around the house when my eyes will land on something and I'll think "Oh, I'll just quickly paint/strip/cover/mend that before I get started on the writing" and before I know it, it's 2pm and I've forgotten to have breakfast.

These ugly little lime-green lamps had been sitting in my bedroom for a few months.  I used to have two really pretty white lamps in there but somehow they both got broken.  I actually bought these as a temporary replacement at a ridiculously low price but they outstayed their welcome so, sick of waking up to them, I gave them a quick makeover:

lime-green lamps....non
white and florals...oui
I painted the bases in white acrylic paint, adding a layer of clear varnish as a top coat to avoid the paint scratching off, and covered the cheap lampshades in a really lightweight floral fabric using glue.

I love the finished result and they look so much better in my bedroom now.



The dream is that, one day, my home will be so perfect that I won't be so easily distracted and won't have any desire for procrastination crafting.  Let's see how that goes...

Jenny
 x

4 comments:

  1. They are so pretty! Really need to do some work on stuff in my house but clothing has kind of taken over at the moment...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Carolyn! If my sewing skills were up to it, I'd be making clothes too. My aim for the next few months is definitely to make something wearable x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lovely! This is exactly what I'm planning to do with a lamp for my little boy's new room (with less elegant fabric!) - It's nice to see how well is works!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks :-) I was really pleased with how they came out, especially considering how cheap and crappy the original lamps were! x

      Delete