The first piece I want to share is a vintage floor lamp with a chicken wire lampshade. A picture is worth a 1000 words. Enjoy!
Starting this process was not so easy as a matter a face the whole project through me curve balls. Being a novice I improvised as best as I could.
The paint in no way was going to come off this floor lamp. I used several paint removers to no avail. They did take me to a pink shade that was so deep into the wood it wasn't budging. I didn't want to use my lye solution for fear of losing the detail on the lamp.
The finial, top cap and base were soaked in vinegar and baking soda as recommended by Hometalk people that responded to my question on getting rid of rust (not all of it but some.)
Absolutely my favorite feature is the double light with pull chains. In love.....ahhhhh!
I didn't want all the rust gone but the rough rust.
I think this is the appropriate spot to explain all of the oops that led me to a different look and then oops here we go again.
Since I couldn't get the paint off I thought that I would just paint it all with black enamel paint so I would have a dark base to work with.
Oops #2 the black paint would not adhere and separated in little circles everywhere. Solution #2 rubb black paint off. The look was awesome and I should have stopped there but not me I went on.
Two coats of off white, creamy looking homemade chalk paint went on. Fun time to sand!
Oops #3 as I sanded only the pink was showing up. Solution #3 cover it with dark stain. It gave me a darker pink but it was better than the pink that it was.
Here is the lamp!
The base looks much better with rust still on it but not built up on it.
The intricate design after many oops finally made it and I like it after all.
More about the chicken wire lampshade on tomorrow's post. Don't miss the adventure.
Great job on the base Nancy! Can't wait to see the shade!
ReplyDelete