I love Lamp.

If you got the Anchorman reference, yay.

Honestly, every time I see a lamp, I think of that phrase that Brick from the movie Anchorman so famously said.  And in this case, I really do love lamp.  My new lamp.  I love lamp all the more because it was super duper cheap: as in I paid just $14.00.

I lucked out because the sellers left behind a few cute lamps for us.  I wasn't crazy about them as is, but I could see the potential in each.  Up today is one of these free lamps!  This one:

As you can see, it's got a great line to it.  The pleated shade had to go (and it did). I was inspired by something I found on Pinterest way back when ... this adorable lamp.

source

But at $475, um, no.  First thing I did was get out my brushed nickel spraypaint (just like I used on my side table in the living room) and sprayed the lamp all over.

Then, I bought some gorgeous printed paper from Paper-Source.  I debated over what print to go with, and in the end I simply loved this one ... the Chartreuse Birds on Pool paper for $4.95 per sheet.

It's not as graphic as the inspiration lamp, but I think it fits better in my living room.  The room is and will continue to be very soft with lots of whites and creams and greys and soft pops of those colors in the paper: chartreuse and pool blue.  I felt introducing a more modern bold print wouldn't make sense, and I much preferred the idea of a pretty soft subdued lamp on the desk to a modern graphic one.  I got out my supplies and got to work.

First, I measured the space on the lamp where the paper would go, and then I cut my paper to fit that space.  Once the paper was cut down to size, I used some Mod Podge to glue the paper to the lamp base.  Once I did that, I used a few more (I think four) super light coats of Mod Podge on top of the paper to seal it. 

Finally, I bought a new shade for the top.  I wanted a drum shade but it was hard to find one for a lamp with a harp. I lucked out and I found this guy, which is a Christmas shade, for $9.00 at Lowe's.  

Luckily, I just had to peel off the holiday border at the edges.

The bottom had a few spots with a little red stain where the ribbon was, so I took a scrap of ribbon and wrapped it around the base of the shade.  The shade was still sticky from the adhesive used on the old holiday ribbon, so all I needed was a dab of hot glue to seal where the ribbon meets.

I'm so pleased with the finished product! Doesn't it look right at home on my desk?

I'm also really happy because I have a ton of the paper left over! I'm thinking I may frame it and put it somewhere in the space ... maybe over the sofa with two other equally pretty prints.  In fact, I'm working on some free ideas to do just that!

So, tell me - have you ever rehabbed a lamp? Do you love lamp, too? What did you do?

See you swoon,