Floor Lamp Revamp (under $42) and Living On The Fringe Cushioned Bench (under $19)

Another floor lamp bought at auction.

A tad on the ugly side to start with, for certain, but it had a great, heavy base with a glass feature. It looked like this when I got it:

I removed all of the old wiring and socket. It didn't require taking the whole thing apart for the removal, so I just taped over the glass area on the base before I sprayed painted it.

I went with a soft, pale, butter color for the paint. This lamp had some miles on it, had been fixed a few times, rewired, and painted at some point in its long life. I gave it a few coats of paint to cover well.

I fitted it with a new light socket and cord. The lamp originally had a main light, and three lower lights. Rewiring the three lower lights was a bit beyond my current (pun intended) capabilities, and I really didn't mind having just one light instead of three - so I simply recapped the three (now open) hollow branches of the lamp with gold acorn finials. They fit perfectly and looked nice.

Then, a trip to Joann Fabrics to choose a fabric and trims for the shade, and to pick up a piece of foam for the cushioned bench I was planning to make from basement bench #2 (see previous post).

Again, I purchased a self-adhesive shade. I added the fabric and used hot-melt to glue the fringe around the base of the shade. I chose a complimentary color for the bias tape on the top edge and used Eilene's Tacky Glue to secure that to the top. (If you were so inclined you could cut and iron your own bias tape from self-fabric instead.)

Another old table, just catching dust in a corner of the basement.

I painted the legs a dark chocolate gloss brown.

A serrated knife cut through the foam just fine (I sharpened the knife right before trying this). I had to piece my foam together to fit the top of the table, but it was perfectly fine.

The table/bench with foam on top.

Um, yes, this is how I work sometimes. Staple first, cut as you go.

A better view of the underside, as I stapled it over the rectangle of foam, to the wood table flange.

These tall corners seemed to look best folded almost straight downward, after the sides have been tucked under them. I don't have a photo of the next step, but in keeping with having all the edges underneath nice and neat, I also glued 1/2" wide grosgrain ribbon over the stapled edge.

I applied the same fringe trim as I'd used on the lampshade. Hot melt always seems to work best for this, and once it's applied to fabric - it's very hard to remove. So the trim stays put really well.

And they look good together. I have both of these in my living room. Yes, happy with them.

Cost breakdown for the floor lamp:
* Lamp: $1
* Paint: less than $2
* Light fixture: $9
* Self-adhesive shade: $14
* Fabric for the shade: less than $3
* Fringe: less than $4
* 3 gold finials for the lamp: $9
 total = under $42

Cost breakdown for the fringe-y bench:
* Table/bench: free
* Paint: less than $1
* foam pad: $9
* Fabric: less than $4
* Fringe: less than $5
total = under $19