Beautifying My Goodwill Goodies

Um, don't you just love three day weekends? It was so fabulous to have that extra day at the ranch this week. Have you ever noticed another perk of those holiday weeeknds? Killer sales at Goodwill and Value Village.

I'm a long-time thrifter. My best friend still tells the story how in 7th grade I had the coolest GAP logo hoodie that I had gotten at Value Village and how she secretly went to see if she could find one too. Somethings never change- I'm still a junkie for second hand goods.

When we got home from the ranch, we quickly un-packed the car so I could head out in search of some bargains. I was pretty intentional in my searching-- lamps. I love the cozy feeling of lamp light and we had zero in our house.

I found success right away at Goodwill and headed straight to the check out with these two beauties.

One was a blue tag (40% off) the other was a pink tag ($.99)- so they set me back $11.

Next stop was Home Depot. Ever since reading on YoungHouseLove about their plans to spray paint door knobs with oil-rubbed bronze- I've been intrigued. This was just the project to experiment away on.

I picked up one can of Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray Paint and one can of Rustoleum Gray Primer and headed up the hill.

Before going to work with my spray paint, I wiped down the lamps with a wet wash cloth, and removed all the stickiness from the labels. While the lamp bases dried, I started taping the cords and around the light socket.

With the lamps all taped up, I headed out to the garage. In a matter of minutes they were primed. I followed the directions on the can, and did two coats of primer within an hour- then left them for the night.

The next night, I repeated, this time with the oil-rubbed bronze. It was a little different than standard spray-paint- reminded me of a spray tan. I gave it one quick coat, and then anothe shortly after. This paint was a stickier than the primer, so I made a moment-of decision to hang the lamps- rather than set them on the plastic to dry.

This actually ended up providing a very different angle- showing the spots I had missed. I did a few touch ups and then left them to dry over night.

Here is the finished product:

I picked up the lamp shades at target for $15 each which brought the grand total to about $47.

$23.50 per lamp isn't bad compared to some of the similar styles I liked at Crate & Barrel and The Company Store.

I'm now on the lookout for a floor lamp to match!