How to Update an Old Lamp With Fabric

Don't throw out that old lamp! Update it quickly and easily with a little bit of paint and some fabric that you love. There is no sewing needed and your lamp with have a beautiful vintage feel when you're done.

Old lamp

Paint (Fusion Mineral Paint in Midnight Blue and Plaster)

Hairdryer

Hemp Oil

Fabric

Hot glue/glue gun

Scissors

A few weeks ago I found this broken lamp. The shade was dented, the wood cracked and I wasn’t even sure it worked but I hauled it home anyway just because I loved the shape of the base!

Honestly, I didn’t even remember to plug it in and see if it worked until I was halfway through the project I was so excited;) Oops! Lucky for me though, it worked!! Phew!

I wanted the lamp to have a rustic look and was inspired by some vintage blue and cream striped fabric that I have had for a long time. The fabric was perfect for my DIY, no-sew lamp shade!

For the lamp base, I started with a coat of Fusion Mineral Paint in Midnight Blue. Even though I planned on the base being cream, I wanted an undercoat of blue that would show through when it was distressed.  

Once the Midnight Blue was dry, I rubbed on a coat of Hemp Oil. The Hemp Oil helped to keep the next layer from totally adhering to the blue so that the blue would show through. 

Immediately after applying the Hemp Oil, I added a coat of Fusion Mineral Paint in Plaster and began drying it with my hairdryer. The heat helped the paint to crack a bit and helped to separate the layers. I only used one coat of the Plaster and then applied the heat right away and the blue shone through beautifully!

Plaster is one of my favourite colours. It was the colour I used on the buffet I refinished with old family letters. It is such a pretty neutral when paired with any colour and it goes with anything.

Even though the old shade was dented, I wanted to use it. With the fabric ruffles, you wouldn’t see the dent when it was finished so it didn’t bother me.

The shade got one coat of the same Midnight Blue. The fabric will cover the entire shade but I painted it in case it peaked through anywhere. 

The fabric I used for the shade had such a beautiful, vintage feel that I couldn’t help but be inspired by it.

To cover the edges, I cut thin strips of the fabric and used my low-temp glue gun to stick them on. 

I started on the outside and then folded it to the inside gluing it on both sides.

To make the no-sew ruffles is so easy! Start at the top of the shade and make a glue line about two inches long. Lay the fabric strip on the glue and then push it with your finger or thumb until it scrunches up.

Be sure to work in small 1-3 inch strips so that the glue doesn’t harden before you can slide the fabric into a ruffle.  

Continue working around the shade, adding layers, until it is entirely covered. 

Doesn’t that look so pretty? And there was not a stitch of sewing involved!

I was so thrilled that I grabbed this broken lamp from the dump reuse centre. Another find saved from the global trash stream.

For more dump finds and thrift upcycling projects, visit Recreated Designs here...

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