I purchased this lamp at Target a couple of years ago. It’s a typical lamp that you can get for a dime a dozen, and that is exactly what I don’t like about it. I like to have unique pieces in my home, and this lamp is completely ordinary. I wanted to do something to spice up the lamp that wouldn’t cost a fortune. I was recently inspired by this lamp as I was in Pottery Barn and I thought that I could turn my boring run of the mill lamp into something decorative and purposeful. I thought 30 feet of 5/8 inch thick rope would be enough for this project, but that only got me halfway there- I had to go back to Lowes and get another 30 feet! I used hot glue to glue the rope to itself as I coiled it around the base and then up the pole of the lamp.
I started this project months ago. I would glue a little here, glue a little there as I watched a movie or episodes of Scrubs on Netflix. If you were really determined, you could probably get an entire lamp finished over a weekend.
As I got close to the top of the lamp, there was a decorative opening. A friend of mine suggested that I write a note and slip it in there before I closed it off with the rope. Here is what I wrote in it.
One thing about this lamp that caused a bit of a delay in me completing it was that I hated how it looked with the previous glass shade. In order to replace it I needed this type of adapter and a lamp harp to make it work with a normal lamp shade. As I got closer to the very top of the lamp, I tapered the rope off by detaching and cutting one of the three cords that make up the rope, leaving two behind, and when I was about 2-3 inches from the end I cut off another cord of the rope leaving only one. This prevented the rope from having an abrupt end.
Since I was inspired to make this lamp from the one I saw at Pottery Barn, I thought it was only fair to get my lamp shade from there- that and it was the one that looked the best on my lamp!
Love it or hate it? I’m still deciding, to be honest. What do you think?
