A Half Post About a Half Lampshade Project

I didn't start out intending to break a simple post about a simple lamp shade upgrade into two parts. It's really not that big of a deal. It was getting to it that was the hard part. One of those weeks where I find myself washing dishes at midnight, still wearing office clothes.

My living room is the least offensive room in the house in terms of what the previous owners did to it. That said, it still needs paint, curtains, some electrical, and art hung on the walls. But it's good enough, and has taken a back seat to rooms in worse shape.

I'm in pretty good shape with living room furniture, and that is the positive that earned this room back seat status. I have a good leather sofa, some vintage tables and credenza, and three vintage lamps. This genie style green lamp is probably my favorite of all the lighting I own.

I am smitten by its green glaze and curvy shape:

It's pretty tall, so finding a shade that worked with it was nearly impossible. I found a shape that worked but that was covered in those fussy grandma's house mini-pleats. I bought it anyway and cut the mini-pleats off. That left me with a plain white shade. Some spray adhesive and some cussing later, I had covered it with an unbleached muslin that had brown flecks in the weave:

I thought the natural, slightly rustic fabric was more in keeping with the lamp's era than a plain white tailored (or pleated) shade. That was about 2 years ago. But I always thought it looked a bit plain.

It needed braid trim, but nothing new looked right. So I waited. Then I happened upon just the right thing in enough yardage from Etsy.

The package was beautifully wrapped, but the inner six-year-old me got ahead of the camera-wielding blogger me:

Trust me, it was gorgeous. Bad, greedy, girl.

It's from a Bristol, England Etsy shop called Pouch, and you can hook up with the link right here. Pouch sells bags, pillows, adorable little stuffed animals, and vintage trims. While there were others trims that made me feel all crafty and want to order more, this was the one perfect for my lamp. Yes, restraint is hard:

......And this is where your half post ends, my blog friends. I am sorry. My durings and afters just didn't get shot. We are predicted to have a gorgeous weekend, which means lots of good lighting for photography projects. I'll be back on Monday with the afters.

In the meantime, I offer the consolation of spring, which has finally arrived in the Midwest (I think). Or at least in my front yard.

Have a great weekend!