As soon as the Nester announced her Lampapalooza Party, I knew I was game. For starters, I needed to update a few of my lamps and this was a good way for me to move them to the top of my growing To Do list. Also, I’m a sucker for anything ending in -palooza or -a-rama, so she totally knew how to draw me in.
For the -Palooza, I thought it would be fun to give you a little tour of my home by way of some of my lamps and lighting. I’m not very creative when it comes to lamps and refuse to spend much money on them at all. I’ve always really thought of lighting them more as a necessity than as a piece of decor, but I’ve recently started to rethink that attitude. You’ll see what I mean.
When you walk in my front door, you will see my dining room on the left.
This chandelier was installed by the builder, but they left it with bare light bulbs. After the ugliness of it blinded me for about 6 months, my mother suggested that I buy the little lamp shades that just clip onto the bulbs. Always listen to your mothers, people. They know what they are talking about. Those little shades made a world of difference.
If you continue walking down my entry way, you will pass the kitchen on your left (where DH has finally agreed to let me replace some of the can lighting with a chandelier! SQUEAL!!) and walk into my living room. This room has an extraordinary amount of natural light, given the SIX windows (again, SQUEAL!!), so we only have two lamps. One of them used to be HIDEOUS, but I replaced the shade that made me want to gouge my eyes out with this drum shade a while back and it was a nice change.
I added a chunky gold tassel to it and called it a day.
Then, the gal-who-can’t-leave-things-alone got the better of me and added some ribbon that coordinates with my window treatment.
Love it? Hate it? I can’t decide. What do you think? I really does coordinate much better than it looks like it does in the photo. The ribbon is just hot glued on (duh, of course it is!), so I can remove it if the Internet decides that is is ugly. I won’t be offended if you hate it, because I might think it’s ugly myself.
Anyway, to the left of my living room is the breakfast room, where we have another Bald Bulb Builder’s Beauty enhanced by some $2 shades.
Side bar: I’m going to pause the tour real quick to show you the bargains I bought yesterday at Wal-Mart.
The ugly green lamps were $3 each (with shades!), marked down from $10. It was cheaper for me to buy the two lamps for their shades than it would have been to buy new shades for my bedroom lamps (that you will see next). Crazy, huh? The buffet lamp was only $5. I think it was originally part of a pair that had been separated (broken? stolen?), and the pair was supposed to be $25. I did pay $10 for the large shade, but you’ll see in a bit how I made it beautiful.
Okay, back to the tour. In the bedroom, we have a pair of lamps on our nightstands that have been through a series of transformations. They began as $7 brass thrift store lamps.
They were spray painted white and held shades that were much too large and didn’t quite fit the base, so they never sat straight.
I tried to make them more interesting by covering them with the same toile fabric used on my headboard, but they were so awful that I couldn’t even finish adding the trim.
And now, they hold the white shades from the cheap Walmart lamps and sport little tassels I made from leftover window treatment trim and cabinet knobs. I think they finally found their look.
Now, it’s time to head upstairs. At the top of the stairs is my son’s playroom that I’ve talked about a million times here, here, and here. I added some trim to the cheap Wal-Mart buffet lamp and lamp shade, and I’m happy with the results. It totally reminds me of a grass skirt.
Our last stop in my little home tour is my sewing/crafting/everything room. It’s a bit messy, but I simply can’t be artistic in a perfectly clean space. Yeah, that’s it. That’s why it’s messy.
One of the first things we did when we closed on this house was to go to Ikea and get this chandelier to install in this room. Tom hung it up for me that night. 🙂 I love how the crystals catch the light.
And on my large crafting table, you will find my Pièce de résistance, my most favorite lamp of all – my vintage white hobnail milk glass lamp. I found at Goodwill for $5. L.O.V.E. I.T. You may think it’s ugly, but that would just mean that you are wrong.
P.S. Love lamps and need a new beauty in your life? Visit Imparting Grace and enter her Lamp Giveaway! It’s a cutie!
Really beautiful, Lindsay! Your home is just gorgeous (and very well lit!)
HA! Smacks your hand!! You made me laugh out loud! Luuuv your lighting!!
Lindsey – Fantastic post! I love all the lighting. One problem – I hit Walmart but I paid $10.00 for the one I bought : O ( Oh well,I love it anyway.
Thanks for all you share with all of us. WOW!
Charla
Have you considered vertical ribbon instead of horizontal for that living room shade? (If you’ve ever seen the inside of my house, you would laugh at any decorating advice I have to offer.)
that hobnail lamp looks like a blue one from my grandma’s house that lives somewhere at the parents’ place. i love it too….no stealing from me =)
I like the living room shade with the ribbon. I think its a simple touch with a big impact. Your lamps are great! Thanks for giving us the “enlightened” tour!
Love the lamp transformations and I love your living room curtains!
Love the toile lamp shade. And the color of your dining room!!
I think the lamp shade looks awesome! Great job!
Can’t tell a lot about the color of the ribbon from the photo but I think it adds the right touch to the lampshade. I like it horizontally too; grounds the lamp from all the height of the windows and curtains. What a lovely room!
fun fun fun! Great tour!
The hobnail is too cute! 5 dollars?! Ugghh! How do you find such great deals? Your house is beautiful!
Hi Lindsay,
I love your dining room chandelier, what a nice builder-added accent.
I especially LOVE your milkglass lamp. Check out my latest post on my milk glass chandelier 🙂
Have a great day!!!
I think the ribbon on the lamp is lovely. I am not sure about the tassel though. you could perhaps tie a bow there with a thicker lengths of the same ribbon?
You have a hefty amount of lamps!
I love the ribbon on the living room shade.
Where did you find Chandilier shades for just $2? I’ve been searching and can’t find anything under $5 so far.
Your lamps are fabulous! I just love the milk glass lamp!
Ok, I actually love the ribbon you added. I am a sucker for anything with ribbon, though…so I may be a little biased! I think it makes your lamp stand out , which it might otherwise get lost on that ginormously massive wall of beautiful windows. But that’s just my little ol’ piddly opinion that doesn’t really matter. Do you like it? Cause that’s whose opinion REALLY matters, right?
I like the ribbons on the lampshade in your living room. I would leave them on there if it were me. :0)
Thanks for the tour Lindsay!! I am loving your craft room 🙂 The milk glass lamp is adorable…..Thanks for sharing.
Lindsay~I love your lamps and all of the touches you’ve added to them!
Love it! and wow what a steal on the Walmart lamps- doesnt it just you giddy to find deals like that. and what is your wall color in your HUGE living room? We have a 2 story living room almost identical to yours.
Loved reading your post over at the Nester! It inspired me greatly!!!! Can’t wait to look up your headboard and look over the rest of your blog.
Enjoyed seeing all your lamps. Love, love, love the hobnail glass lamp too. It’s just beautiful!
Thanks so much for sharing! I have one of those hobnail lamps, and I just LOVE mine, too! I forgot about that one, though :(. I thought I got all my lamps in my post…..wrong again! I also love your sparkly chandy. Soooo pretty!
I LOVE the milk glass lamp!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the tour. You have a beautiful home and some great lamps. Very creative.
Jennifer
Am I a freak b/c I kind of like the little green lamps. They look very Apartment Therapy. And WOW, $3 for lamps. Your lighting looks great.
I love the knobby milk glass lamp, my MIL collects knobby milk glass everything and I drool everytime I go over there.
Your home is gorgeous Lindsay! I vote for the ribbon to stay on the living room lamp. Looks great!
Oh, and when I read your post on the Nester I cracked up at the part where you you said you stayed up into the wee hours reading all of her posts – because I did the same thng with your blog! Once I started reading I just couldn’t get enough. You’re fab 😀
I LOVE all of them, actually. And now I think I need to go lamp shopping, ‘cuz I don’t have nearly enough! 😉
Tomorrow is Goodwill day, so hopefully I’ll bring home something fab!
I LOVE your living room windows! They are gorgeous! I like the lamp in living room, I think it looks great 🙂 All of your lamps are great, love what you did the the walmart one too! Ugh I wish I was crafty! – I’m getting there (ha!)
That has to be the best builder’s chandy that I have ever seen…they are NEVER that nice…I need to haul the one out of our crawlspace and see what I need to do to it. We have two, repeat TWO ceiling lights in this whole house. In the loft and the formal DR (hubby’s office). Hey, chandy in the loft……….this could be fun!
And what was wrong with the toile lampshade? I loved it.
I love your lamps!!! What a fun “tour.” Thank you for sharing. Oh… and I don’t think I’ll ever look at a bald bulb builder’s beauty ever again without thinking of you! What a term… thanks for the laugh!
The little shades on the bald-builder lights make a world of difference…love mine. I have the little white milk lamps too. They belonged to my grandmother. Thanks for the lamp tour!
Love all of your lamps!! I do love the ribbons on your living room lamp along with the tassel (i have a tassel on one of my lamps). It was a fun tour, keep doing those.
All your lamps look wonderful. Great ribbons!
I *love* your hobnail lamp! What a great find! Thanks for sharing your lamp pics. I enjoyed it. 🙂 ~~Rhonda
I love your lamps. And that room with the SIX windows!?!?!? Squeal-worthy! Holy mackerel. AH-mazing. I happen to love the ribbon on lampshade look. And trim at the bottom is fun. I’m going to add some fun hang-y beads to mine. 🙂 I love the tone of your writing, too. You don’t seem to take yourself too seriously which is nice. I’ll be back, I know! 🙂
Loves!
Okay, I just read your post from today, July 23, and had to check out the lamp you hated.
Well, I love it. It looks really nice! (But then, I am a ribbonholic, so maybe, just maybe, my opinion shouldn't be shared. 🙂