How To Redecorate Old Lampshades

Press, Volume C, Issue 29466, 18 March 1961, Page 2

How To Redecorate Old Lampshades

During the autumn and early winter months lamps and lampshades take on a new importance in the living room. Even if they serve no practical purpose they lend an illusion of warmth to a chilly evening. But last year’s shades are very often discoloured and sometimes out-of-date. Or perhaps they do not go with a recent change in decor. There are many ways in which they can be improved and if you use your imagination, the materials need not be expensive. In many homes and flats lamps are made from old liquor bottles but these are now so commonly used that they can sometimes look boring rather than amusing. If the bottle is painted over in a plain, yet vivid, colour and left to dry it will make a useful background for an embossed, all-over design. For this, take a tube of quick-drying glue and outline the pattern with a thin line of the adhesive. Then shake gilt or coloured dust (obtainable at most art shops) over the bottle. When the whole thing is dry, dust the gilt away from the flat parts with a very soft, small brush. Perhaps it is because of the scarcity of unusual labels that the idea of sticking them on to a parchment shade has become hackneyed. A better idea is to buy a new frame, or rip the material from the old one and start from the beginning. Maps of the world trimmed to the right width for the frame make very interesting shades. So do oldfashioned patchwork covers if they are made of a very light cotton and lined so the seams do not show. If you have an old stamp collection, perhaps one that was kept from childhood for sentimental reasons or one that has been discarded by someone who has lost interest, try glueing the stamps to a shade, picking those with the brightest colours and overlapping the edges rather than having spaces between them.

Checked ribbon, or any of the novelty designs now available at haberdashery counters, can be used to make attractive lampshades. The ribbon is simply wound round the frame and the two loose ends invisibly stitched in place at the start and finish. A tassel fringe gives a pleasing finish to a crisp pattern. An old goose-necked lamp can make an attractive corner light if the old shade is removed. Stand the lamp on a corner table or shelf and hide it from sight with a tall parchment shade that reaches from the base to above the globe. First paint your design on the parchment, then join the two sides together with a stapler or even split pins. This makes an edge that will fit into the corner, leaving the front rounded. Be sure that this shade does not rest against the lamp in any place. For a rather extreme design to go with a modern decor, try making a clown’s conical hat to top a squat base. White parchment looks best for this and is just rolled into a cone and pinned in place. The only decoration could be large black polka dots placed sparingly over the shade. As you start making your first lamp or shade, other ideas for trimmings and decorations will come to you as you work. Don’t forget that you are not restricted to standard or table lamps but can also renew all the hanging shades in the house as well.