Small Brass Lamp Makeover - Part 1 - The Body

The Find

One night I found a small brass lamp with a pleated shade, the kind you might see on an end table or as a night light.  I don't have a full 'before' picture because I once I got it home I was excited and started taking apart the shade (the shade makeover will be described in part 2).

Here is the lamp once I started taking it apart.  The surface was pitted and I had an urge to bring some bring color into the space rather than trying to shine up the metal.

Brass lamp dis-assembly

All of the pieces were threaded on to this central rod.

Brass lamp dis-assembly: center rod

This number is scratched on the inside of one piece, I have no idea what it means.

Number scratched inside the brass lamp

To keep track of the pieces, I used a marker to write the order and the direction it was facing as I disassembled the lamp parts.

Lamp body piece number '7', direction facing 'up'.

The Makeover

I used a few coats of glossy green spray paint to cover the metal. All spraying was done outside over the course of a nice day. I've learned the hard way not to use spray paint when it is too cold, the paint will develop what look like scales.  Also, be sure to hold down the edges of your newspaper, otherwise there will inevitably be a gust of wind to fold the paper onto your paint whilst it dries.

Glossy green spray-painted lamp body pieces

I reassembled the lamp and purchased a lamp wiring kit so that I could install totally new wiring.  This was also good practice, fun, and so so easy to do!

Reassembled lamp with new wiring, almost ready.

Conclusion

The lamp body makeover didn't take much time for each step, but with the spray painting there was a bit of back and forth, as usual. It goes something like this: shake can, spray, wait to dry, shake can, spray again, wait to dry, discover yet another spot that you missed, shake can, spray again, wait for the paint to dry, decide you are done with the painting, wait 24 hours before reassembling.

I'm pleased with the glossy emerald green finish and the classic turned wood lamp body shape.  In the corner of the final photo you can see the shade waiting for some freestyle attention!

Freestyled lamp body with glossy green paint and new wiring

Happy freestyling, and don't be afraid to paint your finds to fit your style!

Framed!! An odyssey of gold foil experimentation

The Find

As per usual, one night I was walking around on trash night and found some beautiful frames out in the discard pile.  There were three frames, but they were heavy and one had broken glass. I however, have only two hands and a strong dislike of accidentally slicing open my skin in the name of salvaging and freestyling.  You might have guessed that I only took two of the frames.  You might also have guessed that I regret not going back for the third one and just... being.... really.... careful.  Alas, hindsight, 2020, etc.

Anyway, the two frames that I did take had cool vintage-style photograph prints of French architecture.  I thought about keeping these 'as is' since I like the subject matter, but the frames were just too heavy looking to feel right with the rest of the decor.

The Find: Framed vintage photo print

The original black and silver (silver-bronze? silverish?) frames would have been perhaps suited to an Art Deco illustration, but on this frame there was some surface damage on the silverish section which pushed me towards a makeover.  I decided that this would be a good chance to experiment with a new-to-me re-finishing material - imitation gold leaf.

Back of frame with dustcover removed

In order to reduce the weight of the frames I discarded all of the glazing (the front glass).  One had a chip in it that I hadn't noticed originally, so it was safest to discard the entire piece.  When taking apart the piece to clean it and prepare for makeover I learned that the frame is not wood, but some sort of plastic composite.

The Makeover ... Odyssey

I ordered some imitation gold leaf flakes in the VERY MISGUIDED thought that they could be used like sprinkling sugar onto icing. So easy in my head, lay down some glue, sprinkle on gold leafy flakes, brush off the excess, get smoothish shiny finish. Oh so wrong. So so wrong.   I started with the outside of one frame, thinking maaaaybe the gold flakes would look interesting next to the original silverish part of the frame.

Imitation gold flakes, getting uglier...

Oh such an ugly mess.  

Seeing the outer part of the frame covered in the gold leaf convinced me that it would not look good next to the silverish part.  At this point I continued in my folly and kept covering the rest of the frame with irregular pieces of imitation gold leaf.

Covered in imitation gold flakes

At this point I knew that it was going to look like even more of a hot mess if I continued down the flaky road. Naturally I thought MORE gold leaf was the cure, this time in the form of large squares.  I applied these squares of the same material to the other frame.  It looked slightly better, mostly because it was easier to cover larger areas with one sheet.  This also made it less likely that glue would get on the top of the imitation foil and change the finish.

Imitation gold squares (left) provide better coverage than flakes (right)

Below you can see a close-up side-by-side comparison of the same type of gold foil, but applied in two different forms (flakes vs. squares). The same adhesive was used in both cases.

Closeup of squares vs. flakes coverage

By this point I was oddly determined to make this imitation goil foil work.  

Let the experimentation continue! 

I covered the 'flaked' frame with a second layer of imitation gold foil squares, this provided better coverage, but didn't cover up the texture from the original layer of flakes.  Unfortunately imitation gold foil isn't sand-able, apparently this will just scratch the surface without really smoothing - at least according to the internets.  I didn't want to mess this up further by scratching though my painstakingly applied foil, so I decided to love the texture.  

After finishing the full application of imitation gold foil squares to both frames I realized that they looked a little too bright. Too fake shiny, almost plastic.  Ok, what's the solution to something too shiny? Matte clearcoat perhaps?

Outside we went to apply some spray matte clearcoat.

Applying spray matte clearcoat

The difference was dramatic. 

After applying the matte clearcoat I began to believe that this art project was not in fact going to end with some swear words and two large frames in my own curbside 'free' pile.

After matte clearcoat (left) vs plain imitation gold foil (right)

At this point after applying the clearcoat I realized I wanted to compare the imitation gold foil finish to the painted gold finish I had used on a frame that now held a poster of minerals.  The gold foiled frame, even after the clearcoat, still looked a little too bright, too harsh.  You can see the difference in the photo below.

Painted gold (left) vs. Imitation gold foil (right)

The side-by-side comparison with the painted frame showed just how different the imitation gold foil was - far more yellow - when compared to the paint.  To my eyes the paint looks warmer, with more orange and red tones, as compared to the colder brighter yellow of the imitation gold foil.

By now my determination for loving and living with the imitation gold foil finish (plus matte clearcoat) was fading, to be replaced with the realization that it was time to paint over the gold foil with my existing jar of creamy gold paint.

Could I get away with just a diluted "wash" of the paint?

Gold paint 'wash' over gold foil, ugly.

Huh. No. Looks like some sort of bug bodily fluid sprayed itself over the frame and concentrated into the crevices created by the foil.  Better to just use the regular paint, and regular old painting techniques, for the entire frame.

So that is what I did while I was waiting for my prints, source from the amazing amazing amazing FREE resource known as the Biodiversity Heritage Library, to arrive.

Conclusion (at last!)

Finally. The frames were painted gold, the texture even seemed a little more interesting when it was mellowed by the warmer gold paint, and the vintage natural history illustration of a heron was in place.

Framed heron illustration

Happy freestyling, and yes, experimentation can take longer than expected.  Prepare yourself!

Garden of freestyle delights - removable mini-shelf for a fence

 The Idea For the Mini-Shelf

It is always nice to have a proper spot to place a drink, or in these days, a cell phone.  The proper place is not the floor, especially on a patio or other outdoor place, and sometimes putting a drink on your own chair or lap can be ... dicey. The proper answer is stable shelf or side table, something that was lacking within arm's reach of one patio chair nestled into a corner.  So, given my quantity of scrapwood, I thought about how to make a shelf that would fit into the fence, but not require being fastened to the fence with nails or screws.

Pile of scrapwood, aka inspiration material

The Prototype

The fence has alternating vertical pieces,  these vertical pieces are fastened to horizontal wood pieces running parallel to the ground.  One of the horizontal pieces is approximately 3 ft above the bottom of the fence, making it the perfect height for a mini shelf.  I came up with a T-shaped design for the shelf, with the bottom support provided by a small block of wood.

Mini-shelf, top view.

In the picture ABOVE you can see how the narrow side arms of the 'T' shape had to be no thicker (when laid horizontally) than the space between the  vertical fence posts, which is roughly equal to the thickness of a 2x4.   The screw near the top is what held the small supporting block on the base. In the picture BELOW you can see the nail from the bottom of the shelf, on this prototype the small supporting block of wood split in half when I screwed through it - which is actually kind of helpful for showing the cross-section here.

Mini-shelf, bottom-view.

The IMPORTANT part was that my idea worked! The shelf laid flat and stayed put by being braced between the vertical fence posts and was held level by the lower small block.

Mini-shelf, side-view. 

Conclusion

After finalizing the measurements on the prototype mini-shelf I made another version of the shelf, with slightly neater cuts and maybe even some sanding to smooth the edges.  I then used a stencil to apply a purple floral mandala-type design.  After the paint was dry I coated the entire mini-shelf piece with polyurethane for protection from the elements.

Completed mini-shelf

You can see that this mini-shelf is the perfect size to hold a drink, a phone, or as one might expect in a patio space -- some gardening supplies.

Completed mini-shelf holding pruning scissors and twine.

Happy freestyling, prototyping, and gardening!