Well, I’m in the midst of a family room mini-redo that started innocently enough – with a new rug. I found a gorg, lighter rug at TJ Maxx and couldn’t resist it. Once that was down in the room, it was all over – it seemed like everything was calling out to be refreshed.
I am a lover of warm, cozy spaces – which usually tends to lean in the darker tones. The family room had a dark rug and when it was replaced with a lighter one, I realized something…I could still have a warm space without it being quite so dark.
It’s been fun to lighten things up just a bit. And just in time for spring!! Uhhh…wait. Just in time for spring in two months! Yeah.
The first stage of the redo was to change out some lamps and lighten up the shades. This little lamp stood on our little corner table in the room: 
I showed you how I cover lamps (and did this one) in this post. I love this little guy but it’s always been just a bit too short for what we need here. And the dark fabric cut down on the light. Maybe it’s because it’s dark at 5 p.m. lately, but the more light the better as far as I’m concerned!
I found this cute blue shade at Goodwill for $2 a while back for a lamp in my craft area, and it was perfect for the lamp I relocated to this spot:
You can deconstruct most lampshades – I took the trim off of this one easily. Sometimes you can even take the fabric off of the plastic shade to start fresh, but it’s not necessary.
This one is pretty straight forward – just a green, simple fabric and it was done!:
It fits this spot so much better, and because it’s taller and the shade is lighter, it lets off a ton more light!:
The next lamp is one that has had a few different shades because I haven’t found one I love. You can see the latest one in this pic:
The shade was just so stinkin’ wide at the bottom, it drove me batty! And, yet again, it was so dark very little light was getting through.
Enter a shade from the office:
I love it’s (almost) drum shape! It was the perfect size! I was trying so hard not to spend much money but I did end up getting a new drum shade for this lamp too. Can’t have a naked lamp peeps! :) I’ll show you that soon too!
A few weeks ago I picked up extra of the linen-type fabric I used on the dining room chairs (just in case!). It was the perfect texture and color for what I wanted in our family room, and I had plenty to use for this project.
After I covered it, it still needed a little somethin’. I went to my trusty grosgrain ribbon I had on hand. I wrapped it around the top and bottom, and was reminded of an issue I’ve dealt with before:
Because the shade curves a bit, the ribbon kind of gaps. Which drives. me. batty. I tried and tried but it just wouldn’t lay flat. Argh!
Then…it hit me…I had some buttons left over from a project gone wrong (I’ll tell you more about that next week). I covered them with the linen fabric as well (they were the kind you just snap together – so easy and only about $2 for three! at Joann’s), then pulled the wire out used to thread them so they would lay flat:
I just hot glued those babies on! What would I do without my hot glue?! I don’t want to find out. A travesty for sure. Whew.
I had a skeleton key I wasn’t doing much with, so I hung it from the switch for some fun and a bit of color:
I think it’s SO cauuuute!:
And so much brighter now!
This time, to cover the edge where the fabrics meet up, I just used the hot glue and an extra piece of fabric to make a little band:
You’ll notice that when the light’s on, you can see all the imperfections on the edges of the fabric (if it’s not cut straight). If you will be able to see the lamp from all sides be aware of that. It’s so totally annoying to finish it up, ooooh and ahhh over it, then turn it on and see annoying uneven fabric. :)
But if it’s against the wall -- out of sight, out of mind!
Sorry for the craptastic pictures – the dark at 5 p.m. thing kind of cramps my picture taking style. ;) More on the family room soon, and another fantastic giveaway coming up this weekend!
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