Thursday, January 13, 2011

I SAVED these beauties from the Melting Pot!

Source unknown...Aren't those lamps beautiful!

Recently I purchased this pair of lamps at an auction.  I was bidding against a guy who just wanted to buy them for the cost of the brass...(one of the sad things about auctions, most of the metal these days is going to the melting yard....silver, brass, nickel....all of that old wonderful workmanship.... I digress.....

These suckers are HEAVY....but were terribly UGLY, and SAD sitting in this warehouse of mostly junk....With the lamp shades that were on them....they were comical.   I mean when a whole room starts laughing when you are bidding on an item you know it is bad....but I saw the gorgeousness of them and wanted to laugh at those naysayers...  they couldn't see past the ENORMOUS shades that covered most of the tall lean base. "Just wait", I said outloud!

I marched them to my local lamp guy, who was impressed by my find.... He rewired, added new harps, and I picked out shades.

These Sad Doudy Lamps....have a new lease on life!  Slim and trim, long and lean, and Gorgeous.

My new beautiful lamps...

The LESSON: Lampshades are the dress on a lamp.  These lamps had an unfortunate dress on a beautiful figure...they were just wearing the wrong dress!  HA HA, HA to those naysayers.   I really want them to flank my sofa like the above inspiration photo, but I don't know that the scale works in my living room...going to try in my bedroom, or my husband's study....  They might be destined for another space, or for a future client.  But for now I have one in the living room, and it makes me happy that I saved her from the Melting Pot!

I have come across a few great lamp makeovers lately.  A lamp can have beautiful lines, but a bad finish, or shade....Don't discard beautiful lamps, they can be painted, or a new shade added to make them gorgeous. Look at these transformations!



Both Transformations from Jill Sorenson with
Live Like You Blog

Via Rene with Cottage and Vine
She found these at her local RE-store.

So go out find a lamp and dress her up, maybe with some paint, or maybe it is just a shade.  Another home accessory that DOES NOT have to cost an arm and leg.

17 comments:

René said...

Ha! Thanks for the shout out Gretchen. Love, love, love your lamp and all of its gorgeousness.

-Rene

quintessence said...

Your lamps are fabulous and I adore your inspiration shot - what a beautiful room!! You're so right - shades make the difference!! And love all the clever transformations.

LiveLikeYou said...

What a great find! Lots of great lamps out there that just need to be rescued. Your lamps look really beautiful in your living room!! I'm thrilled to be included in your post. Posted to Facebook!

Matt said...

You know I'm a fan of rescuing lamps. I love yours - gorgeous shape!

A Perfect Gray said...

not believin' how wonderful it looks...great eye and great job!

donna

The enchanted home said...

Great job on the lamp redo. Very pretty, love the height..makes them look so dramatic. Great blog as well...glad I found it!
Please check out mine if you get a minute, am new to blogworld and started one about 10 days ago about the building of our new home and my love for decor and design. Thanks!
www.theenchantedhome.blogspot.com

Allison said...

Beautiful job on your lamp! I'm so glad you saved it from the melting pot. It looks wonderful in your house.

Moments and Impressions said...

I gasped outloud when I saw lamp with the new shade. Stunning.

The Buzz Blog said...

You have a great eye and a big heart, Gretchen, for saving these beauties from a meting fate. Love how you looked past that enormous shade and found a thing of beauty... Happy Friday!
xxoo

Meredith Jewell said...

Love that you gave "new life" to the brass lamps...it looks so good on the round table. And random, but are your roses on your coffee table real? Beautiful! Love seeing your decor and transformations...it gives me inspiration (as you already have...to blog about some of it soon). :)

Anonymous said...

what a great find Gretchen! love the lamps.. and nice choice on the shades. :) [btw.. my daughter's name is Gretchen!]
great blog.. new fan!
many blessings,
-Tracie

Anonymous said...

i hear ya.. think i've fiddled, or rearranged in this place a hundred times before settling on one! birds of a feather! :)
thanks also for the positive wishes for miss G.
thanks for visiting my random world & hope to see you again! :)

Loretta Fontaine (EcoHappy Blog) said...

Gretchen- I would have never guessed what lay under that huge shade. Great eye and super find!

Loretta

knack said...

good eye! your lamps are fantastic!

xo

Unknown said...

How smart are you?! Love that you stuck to your guns and that you knew that they were just not dressed to flatter their figure!

xo Elizabeth

SHERRY HART said...

Whoa...those are fabulous!!!!

Anonymous said...

I love that you saved the lamps! Thanks for showing so many great lamp makeovers too. I love your living room!