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Tag Archives: lamp restoration

Bo-Low Leopard Lamp Restoration

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Mel and I picked up this Bo-Low lamp sometime back. We had been admiring it for a while at a local antique shop and were finally able to acquire it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find out anything about the Bo-Low Lamp Co.

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As you can see, it looks like it traveled around a bit. It also had a chunk of chalk missing from a part of the top of the tree.

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I used my usual process to repair it.

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The next step was to paint the whole cat a cream color to help even out it’s finish, and so that the new color would take better.

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I then applied the main undercoat.

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As you can see from this photo, this cat had no real detail and was almost a cream color.

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Here is the same head shot after I added detail and color.

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Painting the leopard spots are fairly simple. Just make misshapen marks like I did above.

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The next step is to apply a small amount of black around parts of the brown to create the tradition leopard spot.

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Here is the original.

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Here it is after I refinished it.

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The original base was just tan so I added a grass effect to the bottom so it would tie in with its awesome shade.

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It’s coming along as you can see, just the tail left to complete.

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Just adding some finishing touches.

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Ta Da! Here it is all done!

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We have had this shade sitting around for sometime, and this seems like the perfect shade for this lamp.

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I am very happy with how it turned out.

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Mid Century Oak Leaf Floor Lamp

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Mel and I picked this up recently and we were not sure if we were gonna keep it once reassembled.  Little did we know how cool it was until our efforts were completed.

IMG_3199This is a floor lamp that stands almost 4ft tall.  When we got it, all it had was what is pictured.  It was also missing its mogul socket.  I went to a local lighting store and was able to find all I needed to get this lamp back in action.  I tried to find a makers mark and had no luck.  I also searched online for a similar lamp and was unsuccessful as well.

IMG_6412This is where the mogul socket should have been.  The mogul socket allows you to use a glass diffuser.

IMG_3342With the mogul replaced, I could then reassemble the upper portion of the lamp.  The great thing is Mel and I already had a shade that matched it, so it was soo easy making this look good.

IMG_3338Well after a bit of work the lamp is whole again.

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Shazam! Here it is all done.  This is a keeper and will look great in our new place…..once we get one.

IMG_3344I really dig the gold streaks with the oak leaf pattern.

IMG_3341We will enjoy this for years to come.

1951 Reglor Fish Lamp Restoration

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This lamp will look fantastic once done. It even has the glass panel that sits in the holder.

Mel and I reached out to a seller on Ebay that had put this lamp on sale many times without any takers (this is a good technique to use with Ebay sellers when they have an item that isn’t selling, usually you can get the item for less). Anyways, the lamp was not in a color that worked with our color palette so we changed it up to match the other Reglor fish lamp I restored earlier.

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This is the one already restored and in our bathroom.

We decided to paint it in a similar color scheme so they match the shades and look like they go together. Fish stuff from this time period always seem collectible.

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This lamp was in pretty good shape but it had some chips and some paint loss……but no CRACKS!!! Yay!!!

After a good cleaning and a few hours of painting it turned out great! We are soo glad that this restoration is complete.

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I also needed to replace the lamp harp and the light bulb socket.

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These look great together and will serve us well for years to come.

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Weinberg Horse Lamp Repair

Here’s the lamp Stephen received after being assured it would be packed very well.

Stephen asked us to repair this rare Horse Weinberg lamp that he had been searching for. If you get a chance, check out his eBay store as he has a lot of really cool items. He was devastated when he opened the box and found that the base was broken. We know his pain all too well as we’ve received many chalkware/plaster lamps shipped to us broken/damaged. Unfortunately, we’re currently dealing with an issue with a cracked pair of Continental Art Company Trillium Flower lamps we purchased on eBay similar to the one we repaired for Camila and Matt.

Oh No!

The lamp is actually made of a terracotta type material. I was able to use the same technique I use to repair chalkware/plaster lamps. However, the material is very porous so I had to use a gel glue that wasn’t quickly absorbed into the lamp. I allowed a couple days for the glue to dry before I filled the break.

Base filled after a few days of drying in the sun.

The most difficult part of any lamp repair is the re-painting. It is very difficult to find an exact color match, especially with black. The slightest difference in the color sticks out like a sore thumb. It is amazing how many different variations of black there is, but we were able to find a pretty spot on match. What also made this repair especially difficult was trying to find an effective technique to duplicate the greyish striated design of the lamp. Mel typically does the detail work on the repairs and I think she did a great job duplicating the the design.

Base after filling and sanding.

It is really important to look at your pieces in different lighting. Take your piece outside in the sun, etc. to make sure the paint has full coverage of the piece.

Close up of repair.

Finished piece!

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