Bought a vintage lamp from an estate sale that looked awful until I swapped the shade

Picked up this brass lamp at an estate sale in Des Moines for $12. The shade was this dingy yellow fabric that made the whole thing look grimy. I put a $8 cream linen shade on it from Michaels and now it's a gorgeous piece that actually gives off soft warm light in my living room. Has anyone else fixed a flea market lamp by just changing the shade?

2 comments

2 Comments

skylergrant15d ago

I scored a brass floor lamp at a thrift store for $8 once and the shade had this weird brown water stain that looked like a crime scene. I swapped it for a cheap white drum shade and suddenly my apartment looked like I had my life together instead of like I was living in a college dorm. My lamp collection is honestly just a graveyard of bad shade decisions at this point. Makes me wonder what other people are hiding under awful lamp covers.

campbell.nora15d ago

You just described half the thrift store lamps in existence, probably all hiding some unspeakable shade crime. Mine came with a frilly pink shade that looked like it belonged in a grandma's haunted dollhouse. Swapped it for a plain black one and now my apartment looks like a normal adult lives here instead of a ghost with questionable taste.