A spraypainted lamp for the office {DIY}

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was especially great because...the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl! Woohoo!

Today's post features a project I finished a while ago, but I'm just getting around to sharing it with you. Hopefully you'll still find it thrilling :)

I searched high and low for a desk lamp for our office that was just the right size, shape and color. I wanted something curvy to offset the big, boxy desk. Oh, and I also had to get the hubs' approval (he's pickier about lamps than I am, apparently!).

I first brought home something like this:

But he said no way Jose.

Then I bought something like this:

And he liked it, but I thought it was a little bland. The office so far is all gray and black, so I was thinking some color would be fun. But I couldn't find just the right color. I really wanted something like this:

Robert Abbey Double Gourd lamp

But not with a $250 price tag. I just can't stomach spending a ton of money on a lamp, unless it's like a genie lamp and I get three wishes. :)

Then I spotted this lamp at Target, with a mere $20 price tag. I liked the shape, but not the color (I mean, I like red and all, it just wasn't what I was going for).

So, of course, spray paint to the rescue! I picked a color called lagoon, a fun, bright peacock blue.

Here's what my red lamp looked like pre-paint.

Yep, this was a looong time ago, because now our lawn is covered in a foot of snow!

I taped off the socket and the cord, sanded the lamp a little, gave it a couple coats of primer and a few coats of paint. Then, I finished it off with a couple clear coats.

And here's my little lamp now!

This color is so hard to photograph -- it looks straight blue here, but it's really more of a blue-green color, I swear.

It's hard to shoot in the office because that room doesn't get great light, but here it is in its new home.

I especially love the glow effect it has when the light is on!

I wish it were a little shinier -- I don't know why those clear coats didn't make it look glossier. But all in all, I'm very happy with it -- and that it cost me about $35, including the shade and the spray paint.

What have you spray painted lately? I can't wait for warmer weather so I can start spray painting things again!

Spray painted pedestal bowl

Two posts in two days, holy cow! I'm such an overachiever! You all must be special :)

Actually, I really wanted to participate in this Home May'd link party on spray paint projects. It's the first in a series of summer-themed parties, and was the kick in the booty I needed to get over my spray paint fear. The truth is, I bought the spray paint like three months ago but never got around to using it. I'd never used spray paint before (nope, no teenage-angsty tagging for me!), and I was sceeeeered. But thanks to this link party, I decided to just suck it up and do it!

Enter: the wire pedestal bowl.

It was my mom's and she wasn't using it, so she gave it to me. I put Christmas ornaments in it during the holidays, but since then it's sat in my closet. I decided it needed a little facelift -- the dark bronze color wasn't doing it for me.

So I whipped out my mini can of Krylon Short Cuts in Antique Bronze.

I mostly followed the directions on the can. I gave the whole thing a light sand to help give the paint something to adhere to. While most of it is metal, the rim is kind of wood or wicker material.

Then, I fashioned myself a little spray-painting booth using a couple old boxes.

I set up shop in the basement, but then I started imagining spray paint floating through the air and contaminating the hubs' home brewing setup, and I got nervous. Even though it was a little damp outside, I moved everything onto the grass to do the spraying.

I let it dry for about an hour, then sprayed it again. A couple hours later and it was dry to the touch, so I brought it in and gave it a new home on our dining room table.

Voila!

 

Pretty cute, huh? I love its shape, especially the base. I filled it with these little birch pieces that were left over from our wedding decorations for a simple but rustic look.

Overall, I'm happy with my first spray-painting project. It's not perfect -- one side of the bottom is a little cracked. Maybe I should have primed it, or cleaned it better. I'm sure the damp weather didn't help either. But I don't mind. It's not that noticeable and this bowl probably won't be out all the time, so I don't think I'll bother to sand it down and repaint. The original metal was also kind of beat up, which is why you can see a few bumps and bubbles.

It also looks good with my new zinc letters!

All in all, it was pretty quick and easy -- I can see the appeal of that. But I didn't enjoy the fumes at all, and I couldn't stop thinking about what dangerous chemicals I was exposing myself to, even though I did my best to keep my distance. I'll probably use spray paint again, but I won't be using it all the time.

Linking up to Sarah @ Thrify Decor Chick's Spray Paint Party! There are almost 200 projects linked up already -- go and check them out!

And if you want to find out how to really spray paint something (instead of just winging it like me), check out Centsational Girl's FAQ. Seriously, she is the queen of spray paint!

I'm also linking up to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch!

In other news, the hubs and I finally booked our hotels for our anniversary vacation next month! (Procrastinate much??). We'll be spending two nights camping out in Vermont for a friend's wedding. Our anniversary night, we'll be in Burlington, at a Marriott next to Lake Champlain (and we're using Marriott points, so it's free, yay!). 

Then we're off to Quebec City for three nights. We booked this adorable little hotel in the old part of the city. I think my favorite part is that they hang a little basket of pastries, fruit and juice on your door every morning. LOVE it! I am so excited to walk around the old city, walking around the little streets, eating, window shopping, going to museums, eating...wait, did I already say eating...?? :) 

If you have any recommendations for places to eat or things to do in Quebec City, or even Burlington, I'd love to hear them!