Decorating Rope Wrapped Lamp Makeover August 9, 2013

It’s only the 9th and my August house budget is already used up thanks to our new sideboard and two rugs I ordered from Overstock for the entryway (more on that to come).  That’s probably a good thing because it gives me more time to crack the whip on my husband who has been seriously slacking on the hardwoods upstairs (I love you, Jason).  Last night he got about four more pieces in, with a little help:

One problem we have in this house is a lack of ceiling lights.  The only rooms that have any are the kitchen, dining room, and master bath.   Lamps, therefore, are essential.  They’re also surprisingly expensive.  Seeing as my house budget is blown this month, I had to work with what was here to find a lamp for the living room.  I took this $5 thrift store find from our guest room and tried it out on our new sideboard.

The paint was chipped off in a lot of places, though, so I was trying to figure out what color to paint it when I came across this lamp makeover in the new HGTV magazine:

I figured it was worth a try, and I had several rolls of twine laying around (I use them to wrap gifts), so I got out my glue gun and went to town.

Materials

1. Lamp
2. Glue gun
3.  A LOT of glue sticks (I think I used about 10)
4. Sisal Rope (I used twine, which I wouldn’t recommend, it frays and looks sloppy)
5. Scissors

I started out putting a bead of glue on the base of the lamp and wrapped my rope around it.

It was pretty easy from here.  I glued and wrapped my way up to the top of the lamp:

Then I clipped the end of the rope with scissors and glued it in place.  The twine wasn’t working, though, it frayed and looked sloppy.   So I headed to Michael’s and bought a roll of Sisal Rope.

I then rewrapped over the top of the twine:

I think it turned out pretty well, at least better than the scratched up lamp we started with.  The lamp update cost $8 (for the Sisal rope) after my Michael’s 40% off coupon.  Much cheaper than a new lamp, and I saw something similar at West Elm for $150, so if rope lamps are your thing, it’s a bargain.

Have a great weekend, our baby-sitter is at the beach, so we’ll be the couple at The Killer’s concert with our baby strapped in an Ergo.  Unless someone wants to baby-sit for us… Anyone?  Anyone at all?