Isn’t it neat when you change your perspective on something and look at it from a different angle and suddenly it transforms into something totally different? Isn’t that the best?
This lamp is a good example.
I’ve had this old lamp for probably 6 or 7 years. Before that, I feel like it was maybe in my basement growing up, but I don’t really remember for sure. I’m not even sure how it came to be in my possession or why I kept it, but I ran across it in one of my closets full of treasures the other day.
It’s ugly and really over-the-top out-dated and vintage, but not in the good way. I’ve never liked it. But then I looked it at for a second, and I remembered my oil lamps that I used to have that I broke last year, and I remembered they had similar glass at Home Depot and I thought, maybe, just maybe if I put all those thoughts together, I might get something that would make sense for my house. Or at least what I wish my house looked like.
I added in an extra Edison bulb that I had leftover from other lighting projects and it was perfect! Well, it was pretty dusty from all those years of me strongly disliking it and leaving it in the closet, but after a little polish it was perfect.
I love this little old lamp now! I think it has so much of the kind of character that I hope our house eventually has and it’s completely reminiscent of something from the time this house was built.
That aged brassy base is totally in style right now too. You would never notice that with the weird puffy pineapple glass that was on there before, would ya?
Want to know something funny though? I’m keeping the amber glass. I kinda like it on its own and I’m going to use it for a candle at Thanksgiving. You just never know what you’ll find when you change your perspective!
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.