Lamp Overhaul

I think it was when I became a Girl Scout leader that they put me on a mailing list for a church who gives things away to military families.  I guess instead of people selling their household goods, they give it to the church and the church sends out an e-mail to everyone on their list.  Sometimes there is nothing I need or anything that interests me but I have found some treasures.  Of course, people are getting rid of these things so they aren't store bought perfect but sometimes they turn into nice additions to my house.  Such as this lamp.

The ladies house I got it from was huge.  It was in a mansion-like area up in the hills of Carlsbad.  It was super nice so I was a little excited to see what this lamp was going to look like.  She described it as a free standing black wrought iron lamp with a suede like lamp shade that had vines twisting around the stand and leaves coming out of the side.  I envisioned it to be beautiful.  When I went in her house, it was gorgeous.   She either had impeccable design skills or an amazing interior decorator.  And standing right in the entryway was this lamp.  I smiled and told her how gorgeous it was and I was so thankful.  Don't get me wrong, it was a free lamp and I was and still am very grateful but the thing is ugly.  Need a closer look at the decorating she did on it?

Who does that?!  I don't know what to call it.  It is not shabby chic or cute country or anything.  It looks like she had a white lamp and decided she wanted it to be green so she quickly brushed it with a green paintbrush.  I took it home however and it has been sitting in my garage waiting for me to refurbish it.  The thing has good bones.  And the lampshade is super nice, I can tell she paid good money for it.  So, this was the week.  we made a quick trip to Lowe's after one of my doctors appointments (which may or may not be blogged about, I don't know how I feel about things quite yet).  We talked to one of the experts about my vision and she gave us all we needed.  And more, I think that woman is good at what she does.  So, we came home and like always, I wanted to do it now.  Will asked if we could wait until the weekend but I wanted it now....now, now now :)  It wasn't so bad, we took the kiddos outside to play and prepped our area and it seriously only took us 10 minutes.  Within that 10 minutes Hayley decided to be a daredevil and run across the street in her walker.  The thrill of speeding down the slope of the driveway was too much for her, she couldn't stop herself.  And I am sure someone was looking out their window at that very moment wondering who the idiots were who would let their 1 year old baby run across the street in her walker for the thrill of speed.  She tried numerous times to do it again, with her evil little giggle but thankfully we were done with our project.  We let it dry overnight and last night I was able to put it in our living room.  Granted it is taken at night so you don't get quite as good a picture as I had hoped and it is kind of behind our couched so you don't get the full top to bottom shot but you will see how lovely my lamp is now.

Imagine that, black wrought iron.  What the lamp was supposed to be in the first place.  Our home feels so much homeier with that light at night.  It sure beats the overheard fan light the military housing usually has.  Granted, it does have a dimmer which is more than any other house we have had but it still was very institutional feeling.  I am kind of excited to see what else people are getting rid of :)