finally completed
$1 lamp
bit of spray paint
At this point I don't remember what I have told you. I took this rough lamp and used steel wool on it and painted it--Aged Copper, I think. This may look a little Early American, not my style, but it was the least offensive metal paint.
ready to spray
Above it is taped and ready to be sprayed. You can see it is not in really good shape. Maybe you can see the rust.
Today, despite feeling ill still, I decided I was going to take out the lamp that the on button failed (one below) and put this one (ab0ve) in its place so I could have light. I was getting really tired of the oppressively dark room in which I sit.
I have a lamp with three bulbs that sits about one foot to my left. There is another with three bulbs that sits about five feet to my right.The one to the left totally failed one day and about two days later, the one across the room failed. I was sooo depressed.
lamp across the room that failed
Exbf had asked if he could have one of the lamps in the basement since his bedside lamp had failed. Of course, I readily agreed. He brought up two, choosing one and leaving the one at the top of the post here with me. It was dirty and rusty and a horrid color. I cannot find the "before" picture.
Okay, back to the story. The lamp above that is inside and lit (and with milk glass) had to be unplugged to put in the one at the top of the post. This was a struggle because it is plugged behind the sofa. Not only that, but boxes were packed to be removed and were sitting in front of the sofa. There was basket of laundry on the sofa and another box of donations under that. Soooo, I got everything moved and reached behind the sofa.
WHAT?
The lamp was UNPLUGGED! Was that all that was wrong? grrrr I plugged it in and put a new bulb into it. It works! So, I have been in the dark for too long and worked to clean and paint the other lamp at the top of the post. Okay.
Now, I can pack it in a box, ready to store. Or, I can sell it. What to do? Okay, I made a decision. I will pack and store and maybe sell later. I think it turned out pretty decent. It is not shabby at all for a $1 lamp that had a portion of a $7 can of spray paint used. The only thing left to do is to find a finial that is cheap, like from a thrift store or yard sale, spray paint it to match. I even painted the rusty harp with it!
I cannot stand a huge, bright light in a room. However, one dim bulb doesn't work for me either. I like many dim lights all around: 40- or 60-watts. Some have just a 7.5-watt bulb!
Your turn
Have you ever assumed "broke" when plugging the appliance or whatever into power was all it needed? Usually, plugging something in is the first thin I check for, but this time I just assumed.
Ouch. And yes, I have done that before. Sadly.
ReplyDeleteEC,
DeleteThat is a relief to hear. I do believe this is a first for me, and it bugs me to no end. I even go to friend's houses to check out appliances and computers and printers. One friend always had something unplugged. At least the lamp from the basement is ready to use if I ever need it...lol.
I like the lamp you spray panted. I like the old, antique look and the brighter the light the better I like it. Although I do some of my best work in the dark, I prefer to read in bright light. Eyes don't work as well in the dim or dark as other things.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar situation. This was 40+ years ago. The freezer in our garage wasn't working. We ran an extension cord all the way from the baby's room out back to the detached garage. In the mean time we flipped circuit breaker after circuit breaker. Finally called in an electrician. He followed the wires out from the house to the garage....then followed them back to a circuit box that we didn't even know that we had......He flipped a breaker and all was good again! Our problem was when the lines entered the garage we couldn't see to track them. If I remember he didn't charge us ...or maybe he did charge a really small amount. That was a long time ago in a different life!
ReplyDeleteJanet,
DeleteI can imagine your frustration with that unknown box!
This house has a ceramic fuse box in the hall closet. Then, years later, I had a huge box for circuit breakers put in the basement. The whole house fuse blew one time and one of the little fuses blew the other. I was single when both these happened. The first time stymied me for a while. The second time I readily remembered the fuse box. If the remodeler had not shown me to fuse box, I would never have known about it. Mine was a long time ago in a different life, too.