Makeover an Old Lamp to Match New Decor

Hey friends! We did a huge makeover in our youngest son’s bedroom and I had to figure out a way to make our old lamp match his new decor! You see, the lamp was leftover from our family room in Kentucky and it did not match the rustic decor look we were trying to achieve. Instead of buying something new, I decided to give the lamp a little DIY love!

Makeover Lamp base

Gather

Gather the following items to do this project.

• lamp
• paint – I used Behr Chalk Paint in Noir.
• paintbrush
• paint can opener
• stir stick

prep

• put down a barrier to protect your work space-I used paper on my kitchen counter
• clean lamp base

paint

The lamp base was a very dark green color. I wanted to paint it black to match the hardware on his bedside table.

• Stir paint
• apply one coat of chalk paint
• let dry
• apply a second coat of paint
• let dry

Painting the lamp was the easy part! Now we go to the challenging part of the project!

makeover Lamp shade

The lampshade was in good shape but looked too formal for the room. To give it a more rustic look, I decided to cover it in some burlap that I already had. At first, I didn’t think I was going to be able to use the burlap because you can see through the weave. Fortunately, the color of the lampshade blended perfectly with it!

Gather

Gather the following items to do this project.

• lamp shade
• burlap
• glue gun and glue sticks
• spray adhesive
• ribbon
• popsicle stick
• scissors
• clips

Prep

Put down a barrier to protect your work surface – I used paper to protect my desk.

Cover lamp shade

This is the first time I have ever tried to cover a lampshade and it was a bit more complicated than I thought it would be because of the shape of the shade. Since it’s wider at the bottom than the top. I had to try several different ways of wrapping the burlap to make sure that the seam on the back would look nice. Once I got that figured out it was smooth sailing!

Wrap burlap around lampshade and clip to lamp.

Hot glue one of the seams to the lamp. Please be careful using hot glue! The burlap was so thin that I accidentally touched the glue and ended up with a blister! So frustrating!! You can use a popsicle or orangewood stick to push the fabric into the glue!!

Cut excess fabric from the top.

Hot glue the fabric around the top opening of the lamp.

Spray the adhesive in a small section.

Then use your hand to smooth the fabric from top to bottom.

Repeat with spray adhesive until all fabric adheres to the lamp.

Use the glue gun to adhere the loose seam to the lamp.

Cut off the excess fabric around the bottom of the lampshade.

Next, adhere fabric around the bottom edge of the lamp with the glue gun.

Finally, adhere the ribbon around the inside edges to conceal the rough edge of the fabric. This step gives the shade a finished, professional look!

All done! The lampshade is like new! I just love how it turned out!

The finished product

The newly made-over lamp looks amazing in Harrison’s room! The colors are a perfect match and the lamp adds just a touch of rustic flare!

Here is the lamp styled on his bedside table during the day! I love how the black metal base matches the hardware on his table.

Here’s a picture with the light on at night. The room is so cozy and comfortable! If you did not see the entire room makeover, click here to see how we turned this room into a rustic retreat!

Do you have an old lamp you can makeover to match your decor? I hope this easy DIY has given you the confidence to take on the project! I just love to try new things, and this easy makeover was a win! You should give it a try!

If you are interested in seeing other makeover projects I’ve done, just click the links below!

Update old decor items

Beautiful Breakfast in bed tray makeover

Steps to transform a worn-out cornhole set

Blessings, Donna and Rich