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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

Spray paint Ikea hack--partial success at a lamp makeover

Simple house project to share today. This one's a partial success... let me explain. Our living room was looking a little boring, empty, under-furnished, even by my somewhat minimalist standards... and my interior decorator friend Adi suggested a big, cool floor lamp in the corner. Yes!! Something to fill the space and serve a good purpose.

I love tripod lamps but we already have one, and it's not super huge and imposing, so something even bigger... one of those cool modern arc lamps would be perfect, we thought! So here's the space...

And here's some inspiration...
Source: cb2.com via Suzannah on Pinterest



Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Suzannah on Pinterest

Pretty, pretty! I particularly like the white shades. So, I looked around and found these arc lamp choices...

The Enzo lamp from Z Gallerie

The Target version


And, the Ikea Regolit--which is HUGE compared to the other two, btw... not the same scale.

So, okay, some choices, reasonable prices, all that. But, I also checked Craigslist and found someone selling an Ikea Regolit for $20, and I picked it up on my lunch break one day rather than drive all the way out to Ikea! I was sort of desperate for decor pieces, too... I get that way sometimes. Just gotta style something, ya know?!

Anyway, I bought the HUGE Ikea lamp and was happy that it was big and showed off that empty corner so nicely, but liked the metal legs of the others much better. So, I DIY'ed an improvement for it, as I am wont to do...

The lamp is in lots of pieces, and you put it together, so before I did that, I spray painted allllll the metal pieces brushed silver. It looks way cooler now, I think...

(Now you can see what's poking into the top righthand corner of the first living room pic!)

But anyway, now I have a dilemma. I'm not in love with it, and it's a little toooo big, and... there are so many other cool lamps out there. Even at Target--like this beautiful white chunky floor lamp...

Which is, of course, a lot like the Z Gallerie Mariposa lamp...

Which is a lot like a very similar one at West Elm. But then, I think any of those might not be big enough to fill the space, anyway, so maybe I would still need a big arc lamp...

To complicate things, I found the Target arc lamp at Goodwill, brand new in box donated by Target, for $30 the other day when I was in a rush and bought it. I haven't set it up yet but I'm thinking I may have to sell my Craigslist/spray paint one and replace it with the perhaps more appropriately sized Target one. But, I realized I had to blog about my spray paint Ikea hack before I do!

So what do you think? What lamp shape and size do you imagine in that corner??

13 comments

  1. I think that, although I understand why you first went for the IKEA one, the target one will fit in better with the rest of your decor. And the way you found it, in its box, at Goodwill, too... I think it was waiting for you to choose it. ;-)

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  2. I like the ikea lamp, but agree it might be too big of a shade... people do ikea hacks all the time! some options for changing the shade. Find a large Chinese paper lantern which would still be smaller than ikea and you can either leave it in the globe shape or cut it in half ( you would have to use something else to reinforce it since the metal thing that goes in the center would not work anymore. look inside the one you have to see how they keep the shape.) Or you can paint the big one you have now red and make it more a a focal point for the room.

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    Replies
    1. Would love to replace the shade with something cooler... wonder if I could use a ceiling light half globe thing to look like the black one above! Good ideas!

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  3. Anonymous11/15/2012

    hi suzannah! I've bought the same lamp (mine used too). I painted it white, I changed the cable and the shade. you can see it here: http://pinterest.com/pin/230176230925608454/ (behind the sofa)
    however I think the target one is better!
    bye
    vania
    p.s.:love your blog!

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    1. Wow, thanks! I love your living room and awesome Ikea hack on that lamp!
      Thanks, I think I might have to go with the Target one... unless I can change the shade or something!

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  4. I have the Z Gallerie one and I LOVE it - I think it would look great in that space - the shade isn't too big and you can always spray paint the base if you want something poppy in the corner :)

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  5. As a Swedish person, I have to say I'm a bit partial to IKEA ;) We have this one in our living room: http://www.ikea.com/se/sv/catalog/products/40146251/ and it's so cool. You can bend the "frame" of the lamp so that the head bends in different directions, and it's similar to the chunky ones you ended with in your post. It's quite large, and it has three light bulbs inside. Anyway, I think it's really nice :)

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    1. Whoa, that is crazy! Don't know if they have that at US Ikea, never seen it before, but super cool!!

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  6. i would also say go with the target one...but add a pop of color, either red or black....maybe your ikea deal could go in another room?

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    Replies
    1. It's huuuuuge! Probably too big for anywhere else, but I do like the color idea... already have too many white lampshades in there!

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  7. i vote for changing the shade on your ikea one! i think it looks too light (litterally) for the size of the frame. maybe something in a color that matches your cool ikat painting?

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  8. I think you should go for the target lamp, and pick out a colour from the pairing...maybe the green and spray it that colour. Then maybe get/make some matching cushion covers to tie it all in.

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