Farmhouse Lamp Makeover

April 9, 2019 18 Comments

A lot of the pieces of furniture and home decor that we have in our home are things that I have had since I moved out of my parent’s house. Some have had a makeover and some have been just left as is. Like this lamp that I’m sharing with you today! I absolutely love the lamp to bits and remember painting it not long after my son was born 23 years ago. But with me being more drawn to neutral colours, the lamp is starting to stick out. So instead of spending a tonne of money on finding a new one I’ve decided to give it a little Farmhouse Lamp Makeover.

Farmhouse Lamp Makeover

This project is perfect for this months Farmhouse Hens Lamp Edition so be sure to check out below all of the other fun lamp projects below.

Supplies needed:

Old Wooden Lamp
Painters Tape
Fusion Mineral Paint – TSP
Sweet Pickins Milk Paint – Zinc
Sweet Pickins Milk Paint – Creamy
Brush – I used Cling On! R12
Sweet Pickins Milk Paint – Clear Oil Wax
Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint – Wax Puck
120 grit sandpaper
Glue Gun
Spanish Moss
IOD Decor Stamp – Rose Toile
Ink
Brayer
Americana Acrylic Paint – Lamp White

Step 1 – Remove the lampshade and any other things like the wooden button and spanish moss. Then tape off any areas that you don’t want to get any paint on. Like the cord and around the top where the globe goes. Mix up 1 TBLS of Creamy with 1 TBLS of warm water and let sit to combine. Then mix 1 TBLS of Zinc with 1 TBLS of warm water and also let sit. Mix 1/2 a cap of TSP into a small container of water and wipe down the entire lamp and give it a really good clean.

Handy Hint: If you don’t want a really chippy look like I was after give the entire lamp a light sand instead of cleaning with TSP

Step 2 – Using your brush give the entire lamp 2 coats of Zinc, letting each coat dry completely. Then using your wax puck rub over the entire lamp. Then apply 3 coats of creamy. This is what I LOVE about Milk Paint and how it just crackles and chips all by itself to give a real authentic aged look. Once the creamy is dry, give the entire piece a light sand to distress to your liking.

Stamping Time!

Step 3 – Then using your brayer and ink stamp a design of your choice over the base of your lamp. For this lamp, I mainly stuck to the birdhouses to make them have some more texture to the rest of the lamp.

Step 4 – Once the ink has dried give the areas that you stamped a light sand. Then using an old paintbrush or a lint-free rag apply Clear Oil Wax all over the lamp base and let sit for 10 minutes. Then go back over the lamp with a fresh lint-free rag and remove any excess wax. This will seal your lamp and stop any further chipping and leaves the lamp feeling silky smooth.

Step 5 – Grab your glue gun and reglue some fresh Spanish moss.

Because the lampshade now looked too stark for the lamp base I decided to stamp the same design from the lamp base to tie it in a little better.

Handy Hint – Because the lampshade is soft and round it was a little tricky to stamp and the best way I found to do that was using one hand to hold the stamp and the other to inside the lampshade and push up. I wasn’t after crisp stamp lines. I was more looking for the old worn look and found that this way achieved this look.

Step 6 – Keep stamping the design until you are happy!

And your all done. Pop your lamp back where it was and enjoy its fresh new look!

We just love how much the new lamp looks on top of my Great Grandparents old trunks they bought all of their goodies in when they came to Australia!
I hope that this tutorial has inspired you to repurpose an old lamp and give it a fresh new look.
Happy Painting!

A Collection of Lamp Makeovers from the Farmhouse Hens

Leanna at FaeriesandFauna! Blog / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

Thrift Store Lamp gets a Country Makeover!

Tarah at Grandma’s House DIY! Blog / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

Flower Pot Hanging Star Lamp

Chas at Chas’ Crazy Creations! Blog / Facebook / Pinterest

How To Make A Tassel Drum Shade With Poster Board

Michelle at Our Crafty Mom! Blog / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter