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Thursday, February 17, 2011

How to Recover a Lampshade

I had this lamp.
It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't really great either.
It's just the right size for the table in my foyer, but the shade was a really weird green color that looked even worse once I painted the table it sits on red!
 Instead of just buying a new one, I decided to salvage the lamp by recovering the lampshade...a quick, easy no sew project. Start by tracing a pattern of your lampshade on some paper. Do this by rolling the lampshade while using a pencil to follow along the top and bottom edges of the lampshade. Then use a ruler to connect the two lines at both ends.
 Cut out your pattern and test fit it on your shade.
 Make any adjustments in size, then pin your pattern to your fabric and cut.
 Apply heavy duty spray adhesive to the wrong side of the fabric. Then carefully wrap the fabric onto your lampshade.
 The piping on my original shade matched the new fabric, so there was no need to do anything to the edges of the lampshade. If you want to cover the edges, make the fabric a little larger and fold over the edges. You can also hot glue on some matching ribbon to cover the rough edges of the fabric.
Now my lamp is much more fun and it matches my new red table perfectly!
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35 comments:

TeenaBugg38 said...

thanks for sharing this! I have a shade I love that I really want to revamp and was trying to remember how to make a pattern. Yeah, I'm smacking myself right now cuz its so easy.....lol, Love your lamps new look...red and black are my fave!!

Chris said...

Cute! Thanks for posting this. I was just thinking the other night I need to cover lamp shades for my living room redo! :)

Yanet @ 3 Sun Kissed Boys said...

What fun fabric! You did good!

laxsupermom said...

Love the fabric! It looks so much nicer. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

I have 2 lamp shades I need to recover and I can actually do this lol. Thank you! Love that fabric.

Kmama said...

So cute! That's a great fabric pattern...fun and modern!

Angie said...

Wow...what an amazing difference! I love this idea. There you go again out doing yourself. haha!!

Polly Scott said...

That's really cool! And the way you explained it made it seem simple enough even for me. Well done!

Melissa said...

looks great....love the new fabric :)

Unknown said...

So cute! How would you cover a lamp shade that is more of a weird rectangle shape?? I want to do something for my girls room, but I would have no idea how to make the pattern. Thanks for any suggestions.

Tiffani

Darcie said...

I LOVE, love, love the fabric! Seriously so pretty and you did a marvelous job on it.

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

Oh, wow! MUCH better, Kelli!!! Love that pretty fabric you chose. I've never recovered a lampshade before. Now I know how! ;) Thank you so much for the sweet comment you left today on my blog's birthday post. :)

Kelli said...

I'm in love with this fabric. It does go perfectly with the table. Thanks for sharing! You are one creative lady.

staci @ lizard n ladybug said...

LOVE this fabric!!

And the fact that there's no sewing?!?! I LOVE it even more!!!

Carrie said...

So cute...I love the fabric! I was thinking of buying fabric to make new pillows for the living room...but I decided to buy some at Target, ha! I'm not even sure how to buy fabric! I really need to go shopping with you, you are so crafty! Love the new look, so pretty...it looks great on the table!

LBB said...

Love it! I have covered a few lamps before but they have not alway come out so great. I think I need to try it with the spray adheisive. Thanks for the tutorial!

More Than Words said...

Oh my gosh..that looks so good!! I would never have figured out how to do that on my own!! The fabric is so pretty, too!

Myya said...

Great fabric!

Ash said...

I have an award awaiting your presence sweetie. Love your blog. By the way, I love that refashioned lamp! Great job!

Happy ALoha Friday.

Bits-n-Pieces said...

stopping by to say hi. It's been awhile since I've had time to do that. I see you are still as busy as ever!!

Melanie Bacom said...

Beautiful. Thank you for the tutorial

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting such a great tutorial, love how the lamp turned out!

Susan said...

Looks great, and you make it sound really easy! I saw your link on Tatertots and Jello.

Amanda M. said...

I am your newest follower for SURE! I clicked over from Tatertots & Jello! I was just looking at 2 of my lamps today and thinking about how I REALLY need to recover the lampshades...but not sure how to do it. Thank you so much for this post!

Rachel {BubblyNatureCreations.com} said...

thanks so much for the tutorial! the lamp looks great!

Ladybird Ln said...

Thanks for the nice comments on my Blog... I have a confession, I am scared of lamps, I don't have one in my house.. Your lamp looks awesome.. I need to break out of my shell, and get one. I know it would add to my house.

ladybirdln.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

awesome! That is the perfect step by step that I've always wanted to know! Found you from Mary's Meanderings blog party list. I'd join your party, but I haven't made anything lately! Thanks, Nan

Anna said...

I love it! I have a white shade that I need to recover, thanks for telling me how to do it. :)

Anna
www.askannamoseley.com

Amanda said...

I've put together a round up of some creative lamp makeovers on Craft Gossip today and included your project. :) You can see it here
http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/9-great-lamp-ideas/

If you would like to share the Craft Gossip love and show your visitors you've been featured, you can grab a button here!
http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/grab-a-craft-gossip-button/

Jane@Little House of Projects said...

I'm so glad you posted this on the Sunday Showcase. I have a little lamp for my kitchen and was going to redo the shade today and couldn't figure out how to cover it! I'm a new follower of your blog too!

Unknown said...

Wow, I totally need to do this to my living room lamp. Thanks for the inspiration!! I would love it if you'd link this up to my Marvelous Mess party. I will be choosing one project to be featured on my sidebar for a week!! Here is the link: http://marvelouslymessy.blogspot.com/2011/02/marvelous-mess_20.html

Anonymous said...

Very chic and so easy! Just how I like it. ;)

Screaming Sardine said...

I really like this. I have a couple really ugly lamps that could use a face lift like this. Thanks for sharing such a creative idea, and in a very understandable, easy to do way.

Tracy http://allthumbscrafts.blogspot.com

MommaD said...

Love this! Need to do this on a few lamps soon! And love the red I see a glimpse of!

Unknown said...

What a brilliant idea!! thanks for sharing it.
good thing about it is you can replace what
design you really want.

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