Give A Lamp A New Life

Everyone makes bad decisions on decorating once in a while.  One of my worst was made almost 14 years ago.  I purchased some basic brass lamps for our bedroom and over the years have come to loathe them.  My first instinct was to throw them in the trash and go out and buy new ones.  Then I came to my senses.  The lamps are in perfect working order, so what could I do to make them look better?  The answer?  PAINT!

Start with one ugly lamp that has potential and tape off the bits that you don't want painted (please ignore the kiddie basketball goal in the background):

Next, Get out some spray primer and turn it gray:

Once it dries, get out the paint that you want and paint it!  I used Rustoleum's Universal Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze.  

So how does it look now?

Look at the before and after:

And because the above photos don't do the paint color justice, look at it in the sunlight:

Isn't it amazing the difference that a little bit of paint can make?  I still have to get some lampshades to compliment the "new" lamps.  The old ones are hideous and have been very abused.  Once I get the new shades the lamps are going to be gorgeous!