Brass Lamp Redo

Well, I decided that I really needed to try spray paint on my old brass lamp.  I got married in the mid-80s when brass was really hot and originally had lots of it.  I’ve gotten rid of most of the brass stuff I’d collected through the years but I still had an old brass table lamp.  I saw this picture in a magazine and figured my old brass lamp would be perfect for this transformation:

Of course, I forgot to take a ‘before’ photo but just imagine this primed lamp in brass. 

It was pretty dusty from being stored in the garage since our move in July so first I used TSP to clean it.  The brass actually looked really pretty after being cleaned but TSP took the lacquer finish off so it would have been needing constant polishing.  (I like to sound like I know what I’m talking about, but really, my husband is the expert on finishes of all sorts so he was the one to tell me this.) 

I didn’t use any sand paper but I did use a metal primer, Rustoleum Primer Sealer, for use on metal and all sorts of other finishes.  I gave it one really good coat of primer.  The cap on the primer was black so naturally I thought it would be black . . . but it wasn’t.

After sufficient time for the primer to dry, I coated the lamp with, I think, three coats of Krylon Cherry Red gloss.  I made sure to spray into all the nooks and crannies of the lamp.  I even got up real close to it make sure I didn’t miss anything.  I also sprayed the finial that goes on top of the shade. 

I let it dry overnight then used Minwax dark walnut stain.  As I said before, my husband is the expert on finishes and has lots of different stain colors on hand.  I picked the darkest, non-red wood stain.  I applied it heavily it to the lamp and let it sit for about a minute, more or less.  Then I wiped off the excess while still allowing it to stay heavily in the crevices and lightly on the rest of the piece. 

My husband told me it’ll take about a month for the oil-based stain to dry and cure thoroughly.  In the meantime, I’ll make sure it’s out of the way of traffic.

I’m very pleased that it turned out just as I hoped it would!  And it’s a real close match to the original in the magazine picture, don’t you think?

Thanks for stopping by.

Cindy

I'm linking up to:

Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint Party
Blue Cricket Design's Show and Tell
The Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation Thursdays
The Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday.