What do you think?
This baby took a while, because through the process: 1. I changed my mind (shocker), 2. dealt with rain and bad weather (CA has seen some bad storms lately) and 3. I had to re-sand him down after the first coats due to paint drips. What can I say, I was over zealous with the spray paint in a few areas. :)
Another thing I learned? Red is hard to paint with. To get full coverage, no streaks, and no white spots (on the first try) takes talent I sure don't have. I understand the art of painting a car now. Plus I was once told that red is the most difficult color to match.
Anyway, I digress.
I started with this lamp, and these two main inspiration photos (one from Pottery Barn, and the other from Shades of Light)
My $10 thrift store find
Pottery Barn, $189
Shades of Light, price unknown, but over $200...
What, you say? My lamp looks nothing like either of those? Refer to point #1 above. After getting the primer on the lamp, and choosing an off white called "Ivory" (Rustoleum Heirloom white would have been 1000 times better) the lamp base started to look more like the original version from the store! Totally not what I was going for. In fact, very far off, from what I was going for. Sigh.
Z suggested some color (love him!) and so, I took out my colonial red spray paint, and proceeded to cover the horrible ivory.
Now, as I mentioned in point 3 above, I had drips all over! I guess I wasn't patient enough to do many light coats this time, which could have helped on that front. It seemed like after the third light coat though that it wasn't covering so I kept it on some areas longer than spray paint should be. And got drips. Sigh.
So, I sanded it down last weekend in the areas where I could really address the drips, and started fresh.
And here, today, with the lamp shade I purchased at Target:
...not the greatest photo of the color, because it nearly looks the same color as my new orange drapes.
I'm done. Finished. Finito! I'm putting this lamp somewhere. I swear. Yep. All finished, and no home. Maybe that's because he started hissing when I plugged him back in tonight. Notice I'm referring to the lamp as a him? That's because it was an annoying project, and sometimes men are annoying projects. Teehee. Just kidding.
All in all, I really do like the color, and the shape, and the drum shade I found ($10 at Target and it's linen). Just have to find a home. And a cure for the light buzz he has. Any idea on how to get rid of that annoying noise? I don't think it's a lightbulb issue because it has an CFL in it.
For now, that's all. Laters!
PS: do you think it looks unfinished? Like it needs a fleur-de-lis stencil, or a number (say our anniversary date) on it? I was contemplating roughing it up a bit and using paint glaze for the first time. Thoughts? Like it the way it is? Horribly ugly? Tell me!