eventually this post will get to showing off the diy paint stick lamp shade i made! until then, my ramblings…
after having our living room painted i called in the big guns for decorating advice. my friend Christine. she came over to help me simplify my gallery wall. (more on that later this week.) after the gallery wall was complete we moved on to the hard stuff. the rest of the room. eeek. i currently have a
super
busy couch, shout out to grandpa for the hand me down. and it is not in our budget right now to get very fitted slip covers or new couches (or ever in our budget my husband would say, he’s a bit sentimental. i digress
said couches:
to help tone done the hotness i made white pillows from plus size sweaters i purchased at goodwill, and from a not so trendy valence that was in the living room! with the white pillows and the now white tables, my beige side chairs were starting to blend in too much with the toasted almond wall color! i purchased a brand new, with tags, target throw at goodwill for 5.00 a few weeks ago. holla. i draped the blanket over one of the chairs and added a white pillow to the other. i know white is not a pop of color but it is working for now!
said chairs:
again this post is supposed to be about a paint stick lamp shade. moving on. my decorator christine said we should pull one color from the couch and add it as an accent to the other side of the room. we agreed on the teal color. she suggested i get a lamp, not a plain boring one, to place next to the chairs, add a tall-large vase of said color on top of my computer desk, and make some throw pillows with a fabric of the teal family to go on the beige chairs. i have been searching for a large vase/pitcher/jar thing but have not found one yet. i have a whole pinterest board of fabric possibilities. again paint stick lamp shades, i digress
so after searching for over 2 weeks for an affordable lamp and shade i was about to quit. until a friend mentioned she saw an idea online i should try. she mentioned using old apple crates as a lamp shade. perfect i thought i could paint it teal and add it to a thrifted lamp. wrong. i bought an apple crate and decided it was not what i wanted. it ended up getting painted mustard and is now in the living for toys. then another friend shared she saw a lamp shade made of paint sticks. i even found one as an example with teal paint. it’s a sign i am sure.
hmmm. free paint sticks, thrifted shade and lamp = cheap but cute. i was gifted the floor lamp from a friend who was not using it anymore. i bought a $4.00 lamp shade at big lots, and was given about 40 paint sticks at menards, lowes was not about to give up that many! my lamp shade is little so i cut the paint sticks down with a hand saw. i bought a 2.50 sample paint from lowes in a teal that matched my couch. i used making tape to mark where i wanted the paint to end. with a foam brush i painted on the teal.
i teased you on instagram with this little picture 2 weeks ago, and so many of you were curious as to what in the world i was making!
let me share a few things i learned. 1. use a drum shade that is the same width on top as bottom. unless you are patient and can make the slight gap at the bottom work for you. 2. if removing the fabric from the shade first make sure it has side bars or you may end up with two metal circles. yup that happened. 3. recruit help, it makes it easier when trying to layout the project!
i love how it turned out. it’s the perfect size, hubby did not want a lamp to block his view out the window, and the color adds the perfect pop next to all the white. i am hoping to narrow down my fabric soon so i can make pillows for the chairs, then my room will be almost finished. for now anyway!
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