A friend gave me a couple of lovely tall lamps with wooden bases and shades that pivot so you can tilt them for reading. Unfortunately one of the shades was very watermarked.
Watercolours wouldn’t cover it, and were too hard to mix to match the colours I had chosen for downstairs, so I ended up painting the shades with the sample pots of wall paint. The light doesn’t come through them now, but with the bases resprayed white they look good, if I do say so myself (see the full lamps in the downstairs reveal coming soon)
The first design I tried didn’t work so I scrapped it and went back to the beginning.
The shading I simply brushed on without cleaning the brush so it blended from one colour to the next.
Then I used silver paint to freehand a design onto each shade.
I can’t believe downstairs is nearly done and I haven’t started blogging it. It’s been a hectic 3 months. Hopefully the next few months will be just as hectic with b&b guests….
28gumtrees 
Comments on: "Let there be Light(shades)" (2)
Interesting way to re-use old lamp shades – I like the one on the right the best. Can you still pivot them and use them for reading?
Oh yes, the only thing that has changed is they are not as Sheer as they were – light doesn’t go through the shades anymore. Hopefully I’ll post the bedhead today and you can see the lamps in full