Cassandra Design: Reading Corner Lamp

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Reading Corner Lamp

While deciding on the arrangement of the girl's room I knew this corner would be perfect for a little reading corner. I already had the cutest pink polka dot children's chair and I just needed a floor lamp and basket for books.

I looked on the web for a inexpensive floor lamp so I could pick one up locally but, couldn't find one less than $60. So, onto the thrift store I went to look for one I could alter. This floor lamp was leaning against the wall because one of the metal legs at the bottom was laying on the floor. I could tell the screw was still with it so I asked a worker to help me see if it was fixable. He went and grabbed some pliers and we fixed it quickly. He said that he couldn't guarantee that it would stay together but, that he would cut the price if I wanted it...from $6 to $3. I inspected it and bought it....three dollars.....OH YEAH!!

I already had white paint so....I cleaned it up with soap and water so it was ready for paint.

The lamp and a basket were painted and left to dry. (the basket is for newborn photos)

Tip: leave a burned-out lightbulb in the socket. This way...no paint gets in the electrical parts of the lamp.

The lampshade was red(from the thrift store) and didn't work with the room so I went to walmart and target to find a round lampshade. I found this one at Target for $12.00 new. This round lampshade shape is hard to find at second-hand stores so I instantly knew I would have to buy new. There weren't any pink ones....so I planned on altering this beautifully shaped lamp shade.

I had this gingham fabric on-hand so it was the perfect choice to infuse some pink.

I used a "light" pencil line to trace the shape and then cut it out.

I had one seam in the back.

You are supposed to use spray adhesive to attatch the fabric but, I didn't have any on-hand so, I used hot glue on the inside edges. Tip: Don't use hot glue on the sides of the shade sides because it will show with the light.

I glued ribbon to the inside edge to finish it.

I couldn't leave the lampshade as just simple gingham so I scrounged through my scrap pile from my daughter's custom bedding and found the trim roll and thought it would be perfect.

I also had this ruffled trim from the table lamp I did in this room last year. I tried the bright pink trim as a stripe, then added the ruffle to the middle but, didn't LOVE it. So I kept trying it in different places until I found a placement that I liked.

I finally decided that the ruffle would look best at the bottom of the lampshade. I doubled over the light pink ruffled trim to look like a tutu and then added another ruffle over the top.