Greetings and Happy Thursday! Yesterday I was busy driving to New York to take a few goodies to my son for his new apartment. Along for the ride was a thrift store lamp that had a makeover! It was a steal of a deal. Come see!
My younger son moved into a new apartment in New York the beginning of April. Like many apartments (and houses) there is very little overhead lighting. There are a few overhead lights in the entry way and kitchen, but none in the living room or bedrooms. Furthermore, there are NO blinds on the windows. So when you are on a budget these can turn into high ticket items! So, I put on my bargain hunter hat and set out to find some blinds and lamps.
With the window measurements in hand I found some nice looking white mini blinds by Bali. They were on sale for $8 per set at Kmart. Knowing that these blinds probably wouldn’t fit another apartment he didn’t want to spend a fortune on custom blinds. (He had gotten a quote from a local home improvement store for $400 for all of the windows!) These days blinds come in every conceivable size right off the shelf so I was able to find just the right sizes for his windows. Since he is on the first floor of the apartment building, privacy is a must. The maintenance crew in his building will install the blinds for free, so that saved me/him a big chunk of time. One problem solved!
The other item I was looking for was lighting. I had a few lamps from our house that I gave him but he needed one more. I ran by a local thrift store and found this brass lamp. It was nice and tall and had a good shape. It was $4.99 which is a good price for a lamp, but the blue sticker meant it was also half off. Score!
I brought it home and gave it a good cleaning. I taped off the socket and the cord and gave it a few light coats of black satin spray paint. The finial also got a coat of black paint.
I bought a burlap drum shade at Lowe’s for about $25. So for less than $28 he has a great looking new lamp.
Anyone that shops around knows how expensive lamps are these days. I always shop for lamps at thrift stores or consignment stores. A quick coat of paint and a new shade can work wonders. This is also a 3-way lamp so it will provide lots of great lighting. So, some budget blinds and some thrifty finds will help his apartment look polished and cohesive. When he moves he can leave the blinds to the next lucky tenant!
While I as outside spray painting I noticed that my sweet daffodils had suddenly bloomed! Aren’t they so happy looking? I can see why yellow is my Mother’s favorite color!
Thank you so much for stopping by! I wish you all a very Happy and Blessed Easter weekend! xoxo Dell