I’ve had this lamp for a few years and it started to really bother me a while ago. It sort of looked boring and too light colored for our living room (it’s also too small for our living room, but I still haven’t found a better one). So an easy makeover was necessary. And this really was easy.

I took it down and cleaned it really well and used acrylic paint to paint it dark grey. I chose acrylic paint because it’s easy to mix the exact color I want and also because it dries matt (also used acrylic paint for my vintage suitcase makeover). Because the lamp is not touched everyday, it didn’t need to be super durable.

I used painter’s tape to protect the cord and the white underside. My painting trick was to use a foam sponge to apply the paint (I posted a sneak peek photo on Nimidesign’s facebook page). The first coat of paint I dabbed on the lamp with the sponge. I used a small brush to paint the parts the sponge couldn’t reach. The second and the third coat of paint I sort of brushed on using the sponge (like adding makeup foundation with a sponge). This technique leaves no brush marks. The result is a nice industrial style lamp with a bit more character. Here’s more photos of the finished lamp:

Looks a lot better, doesn’t it!

PS. We just came back from a day trip to a very rainy and cold city Stockholm, Sweden. It was a great place to do some shopping (well, that’s pretty much all we did because of the weather) and I wish we could have some of the same shops in Finland too! I will show you what I bought in a few days!