Refinished Brass Lamps

Remember about a month and a half ago when I told you I scored a bunch one weekend at a garage sale? No? That's okay, I kind of forgot too.

Well I am excited to say I am FINALLY done refinishing a pair of old brass lamps I got from that sale :) They were $10 and I got them with a very cool hutch (also $10) we had to strap to Bill's car to get home.

I let Bill pick the color for these since I wasn't really sure where they would work in our new home yet - and I LOVE the color he chose.

Here is how they started:

Two awesomely brass (heavy) lamps

 Then, I primed them with a spray primer (I stuffed the lightbulb hole with a plastic bag to protect it)

Primed lamp

 It dried almost immediately, so I painted the color (YELLOW!!! My favorite!) right away

Yellow lamp!

I searched for weeks. I mean weeks and spent hundreds of dollars in lamp shades because I couldn't find the "right" shades for these suckers, so I ended up returning the rest and keeping the originals! Total cost for this renovation was $16, or $8 per lamp.

Ta da! A lamp! In a (still) very unpainted nursery...

It's a very pretty, sunny yellow

The other lamp is currently living on a side table (which I plan to refinish this fall) in our guest bedroom, looking lovely. I reposition each a few times a week to see where they will permanently live, and I am still undecided. One may stay in the nursery....the other, I'm not sure.

I decorate with purpose, I don't like to go to a store, choose an entire display and cart it home. I choose individual items that speak to me and I'm letting this house tell me where things belong.

Once I took the photos I realized the room still isn't sanded, primed or painted (my bad), so I asked for some help to move the dresser and started sanding.

I know, I know...I'm not wearing a mask. I had my T-shirt over my nose for some of the sanding, I swear.

Someday the walls will get primed and painted.
Maybe today. Maybe next week.