This floor lamp has been begging for a makeover for years now. When I first got it, I painted the rusty metal base ivory to match the shade. It’s been that way for over ten years now. If you’ve been following along, you know I have a slight obsession with a paint color by Valspar called Summer Cottage. I used it on my front door, my wall and my hutch. At the risk of overdosing on Summer Cottage, I decided to paint the lamp shade this color, too. And the base got a fresh coat of bright white paint. Here we have the “before” shot…

I taped off the sockets and cord before applying a couple of coats of Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch Semi-Gloss White.

The shade was attached to the two circle frames (top and bottom) with an ugly  green vinyl (?) cord of some kind. So, I clipped it in order to separate the shade from the frames.

Here you can see what the crappy old circle frames looked like…

They got a fresh coat of white paint, too.

And I gave the shade a quick, light coat of white as well (just as a primer).

For some reason, I did not take any photos while brushing on three coats of Valspar Summer Cottage on the inside and outside of the shade. Oops!

To replace the ugly green cord, I bought a roll of gray decorative trim/cord at Hobby Lobby for $1.50 (it was on sale for 50% off). I taped off the end so it would be kind of like a shoelace and would weave through the holes easier. To determine the length of cord needed, I loosely wrapped it two times around the bottom of the shade, plus about ten more inches for tying off. I repeated this process along the top (in my case the shade is slightly smaller at the top).

Before I could get started, I had some repairs to make. I fixed a couple of tears by adhering a small piece of thick paper (in a similar color) to the inside of the shade with double-sided tape. Then I used a small hole punch to form a new hole right over the old one.

I left about a 5″ tail of cord and taped it to the inside of the shade (for tying off later).

Then began the tedious process of weaving the cord through every single hole, onto the two circle frames. Not gonna lie – that part kinda sucked.

I tied off the ends and hid the tails along the frame.

Before and AFTER! Better, right?!…

What I really wanted was a brand new shade (boy, would that have been easier). But, after looking at several stores, purchasing one and returning it because it didn’t fit, I finally realized that finding the right size shade (with the right kind of frame) for this old lamp was no easy feat. That said, if any of you know of a source, please leave a comment below.

On a completely unrelated note, I decide to participate in The Lil Journal Project at the Lil Blue Boo blog. Anyone care to join me while we unleash our creativity?! ;)