For about a year, I have been on the look-out for a white floor lamp for my four year old daughter Elizabeth's room. She has the perfect chair from PB Teen which was just screaming for a floor lamp behind it. I found a million bronze, black, silver, brown lamps but very few white lamps. When I found a white lamp, it was just not right - too small, no swing arm, or cost over $100. No thanks. After reading a lot about spray painting stuff on other blogs, I decided to give it a go.
I stumbled on a great floor lamp at Goodwill. It is pretty heavy (thus more stable for a 4 year old and her one year old brother), has a swing arm, and had a nice style. The metal finish was sort of bronze-ish which was not bad in any way but not what I was looking for.
and, yup... $10
I figured it was worth the risk. I started by spray-painting it with
Kilz primer
which seemed to work just fine. I then spray-painted it with Krylon satin white ($3 at Walmart). Unfortunately the paint bubbled up in a spots which reminded me that I should have washed, sanded, and scrubbed the lamp with paint thinner before I started. Woops! Well, better luck next time. Fortunately the bubbling up didn't really bother me and I decided to consider it "antiqued".
But, I really like the result.
I did end up investing in a $10 lamp shade from Walmart. I loved the shape and thought it would give the lamp a fresh look. I considered spray painting the old shade but in the end decided it might end up being a fire hazard and scrapped the idea. I think it looks way more expensive than $20 though! I may dress it up a little bit at some point.
Here's the before and after again:
What do you think?
