Thursday, March 25, 2010

Part II of taking back my house : working with what I've got

After my conversation with Bec(see previous post) I decided to put my lamp back in the kitchen mainly because I have missed the light and it makes the boring kitchen a little cozier. The problem is I packed everything I had on the counter away and have no idea where they are in the basement. I headed out to Hobby Lobby to find something that would work. Funny how when your looking for the perfect something you just can't find it. I don't have much time to shop my favorite little stores, so HB was it. I found a lamp base that I liked, but the shade was leopard print with fluffy black trim-not exactly my style-but sold to me for $12.00. Here is the lamp base and the spray adhesive I am now addicted to. I knew recovering a shade could be tricky, but thought the adhesive would make it a breeze.


Here is the fabric I intended to use. Adorable-yes! Soon after I started I realized two things. 1. this was going to be harder than I thought even with the rock star of adhesive and 2. the dreaded leopard print showed through the fabric when the lamp was turned on. Ok, on to plan B. Plan B being I didn't want to spend any more money on this project not to mention go to the crazy craft store again so I had to search my stash of goodies.


I settled on burlap, and decided to embrace leopard print. As if I didn't love burlap already, it is awesome to use on something like this because it stretches.



Where burlap is, twine is sure to follow

So I'm already dreaming about spraying the base white, covering the shade with black fabric, then my adorable print, and loving it in a new kitchen. For now I am more than satisfied with how it looks. It actually goes really well in my kitchen despite the fact that it's not my exact style. I definitely feel good about using what I had and not wasting time searching for what would be perfect. Sometimes cute happens when you least expect it.

6 comments:

Kristin said...

love all of your recent finds and projects. I wish you lived closer so I could "steal" all of your ideas and wisdom.

Jenny said...

Love it! Zoe would be trying to steal that lamp, she adores animal prints.

Amanda said...

I absolutely love how that turned out! It's so cute with your embellishments & the leopard print showing through. Great job!

Mary Beth @ Live. Laugh. Make Something said...

so pretty and clever! ...makes me so happy that I stopped by! I hope to see you at my place one day this week when you get a moment. until later...

Angie Holden said...

I think it looks cute! spots and all!

Sarah @ Hennessey House said...

wow! this turned out incredible. mad props to you for being a creative genius :)