Before and afters, we all love them. But real life is not a TV show. Projects take a lot longer than 30 minutes, which is why I am sharing my lamp project before it’s actually completed.
Remember my Goodwill lamp? I can't pinpoint why exactly I love this lamp so much, but the swirly curves just remind me of a bumper off a classic car, which is why I chose to paint it with a chrome spray paint.
I removed all the wiring, (which I'll replace with wiring from a lamp that my husband broke.) Here's the lamp base all sanded down and ready for the first coat of primer.
Here's the lamp base after one coat of primer. Note that the sky is cloudy.
After primer coat number two. The sky is now clear and blue. (Around twelve whopping minutes have passed.)
And here's the lamp after the first coat of "chrome" paint from the auto supply store. Note that the clouds are back.
Here's the second coat of paint.
And finally, here's the third and final coat of spray paint. Isn't it groovy? And guess what, the blue sky is peeking out again, and it miraculously didn't rain!
I’m really pleased with how the lamp base turned out, and I’m looking forward to reinstalling all the electrical works in a day or two. Then of course, it will be time to start looking for a lampshade that I can either tart up Pinterest style or perhaps even find as-is at Goodwill. Right now, I plan on using the lamp in the living room, where it will replace a very stately floor lamp that’s grandma-i-fying the room too much for my comfort.
I will certainly be sharing this project again when it’s completed, (which might take awhile, as playing with this lamp happens between my work days, family commitments, general malaise and weather issues. ) Frankly I’m amazed that I was able to get five coats of paint on this lamp today without having to stop for rain!)
Do you find the timeline of TV projects to be laughably unrealistic? Have any lamp stories or suggestions to contribute? Please share your thoughts with the Non-Consumer Advocate community in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the chrome paint you chose. It’s not something I would have thought of, but it goes so well with the shape of the base.
I can’t remember what your living room looks like so not sure if it would match, but I’m picturing this base with a teal lampshade.
I’m picturing a drum lampshade that gold on the inside and maybe black on the outside.
Katy
Do you think the gold inside might make the lamp look yellowishand detract from its marvelous car bumper look? Silver on the inside would be different. I really like the black outside. It will be like a black car with a chrome bumper.
On the TV shows they have a small army on hand for gophers, set up, doing much of the actual work off camera, etc. I’m not in the business. Can’t remember how I know this…probably an expose’ I read years ago.
I got to see how reality TV comes together when I filmed my segment for “Extreme Cheapskates.” And let me tell ya’, it was mighty awesome to have production assistants underfoot.
Katy
Sometimes it feels as if my whole house is a “during” and will never reach the “after” phase!
That’s ok! I think we should always be ‘during’. ‘After’ is when the show ends, and that’s boring! 😉
Love the lamp! I never would have thought of chrome. Brilliant!
Thanks for this; I’m not very experienced with this kind of DIY project, and they always seem to take waaaay longer than I’d expected. I’m glad to know that this is not (necessarily) due to my ineptitude!
I don’t watch too many project-y TV shows, but the ones that I have seen in passing are incredibly unrealistic. I’m not into home decor, though, so it’s not something I really have to worry about.
It looks very Art-Deco!! My favorite style as if I would ever have the money to move from Goodwill style 🙂
My sister was on Designed to Sell about 4 years ago. I helped for 3 weekends straight and never worked so hard in my life. It was a lot of fun and very interesting but definitely takes more than the 3 days they say it does. Clive, Lisa, and the whole crew were super nice though. DIY seems to always take longer than I expect and I’m married to a custom home builder!
Intersting!
Katy
Not only do they have a lot of people helping out on those shows, they also cut a lot of corners. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about shoddy work on those low-budget renovation reality shows.
Jessie, you are very right about that.
I think I remember hearing that about some of those “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” homes.
Katy
Oh wow! I wasn’t that into the lamp originally but it looks so great in chrome!
I also didn’t expect the paint to be so shiny. Now I’m wondering what things I have that I could shine-ify. Without supervision I might end up with an entirely chrome house…
I have t0-do projects that are as old as my youngest child. She’s 6. True story – when my highway department in my tiny town had leftover hot asphalt, the guys dropped it in front of my home’s side door walkway. The supervisor is a friend and he didn’t want to waste the asphalt. It was just enough to create a new walk! I hope to finally plant some flowers there.
I have to-do projects that predate my almost 14-year-old son. It’s just that these recent project cost almost nothing to execute and are within my minimal skill set.
Believe me, you’re in good company.
Katy
I second that. I thought I was so funny when I would refer to a closet of projects as my Y2K Closet – as in: I would have the projects done by the year 2000. Hmmmm…it’s 2012?!? Ah, well..at least I don’t feel guilty about them. The next step is to set them free….
That looks fantastic. Were you able to get the paint sprayed under the edges where it was sitting on the plastic dishes? I always run into some ridiculous thought like that when I plan to paint anything. It keeps me from even starting.
Sitting the lamp on the yogurt containers made it pretty easy to get to bottom edge. However, there’s a bit inside the swirly spot that I’ll need to hit with another coat of paint. The weather forecast is predicting some sun for the weekend, so I should be able to finish up all the painting.
Katy
Love the lamp! We parents gave us a floor lamp that they’ve had my whole life – it’s an old ornate Victorian style lamp with a very plain clothe shade. My mom painted it all white back in the 70s. We painted it shiny gold last weekend – even the shade! It’s looks like a huge Oscar and is a perfect crazy living room accent.
That sounds so cool!
Katy
Katy,
Good job. That is one shiny lamp. Cute. I have three antique floor lamps in the room I am in right now, two in my sewing room, one in my bedroom, and another in the basement (in progress down there). If a floor lamp grandma-i-fies a room, I guess I am all grandmawed to death. I love floor lamps. Oh, I just love lamps. I guess it is time for a showing of my Kate Chopin lamp that is curvy like yours but in a different way!
Love, love, love your “new” lamp! What a cool project. I think since it’s so sculptural it could actually go without a lampshade, just a naked bulb.
And for awhile, it will need to go nekkid. That is, until I come across a lampshade.
Katy
Oh, I love that chrome paint. I could see painting some figurines that colour for Christmas. I can’t wait to see the final product – you craft maven you 🙂
I appreciate the in-progress post, vs. just writing it up when it’s all done! It makes me more motivated to tackle my own projects that can’t be done in one sitting.
The lamp looks great in chrome! It will definitely have the desired de-gramma-fying effect on your living room. (I already love your living room, though!)
I have to agree with everyone else who said they wouldn’t have thought of chrome, but love the look. I also LOVE that you had the forethought to save wiring from a broken lamp. I tend to keep way more stuff than I should because I think I’ll have a use for it at some point, but that would have never occurred to me.
Can’t wait to see the end results 🙂
Don’t give me too much credit. The “broken lamp” is a metal floor lamp where one of the feet is cleanly broken off. My plan had been to somehow reattach the leg, but at this point the electrical guts are just too tempting to resist. And BTW, this lamp was a curbside find, and a friend has the same one and it was from Pottery Barn. However, I really don’t need an extra floor lamp, so there you go!
Katy
Very cool lamp. I’m a thrift store addict myself. Love turning old broken things into new pieces of art.
Thanks, I’m pretty happy with how it’s turning out myself!
Katy
That lamp looks awesome! This makes me want to refurbish something and make it look better… but what? Nice score on the lamp in the first place 🙂