A few weeks ago I was wallowing in exasperated frustration because my kids had once again broken another lamp in our home. That would make a total of 8 damaged or destroyed lamps, which are now either being held craftily together with string, duct tape, rubber bands, or simply reside at the bottom of the trashcan. I came to the conclusion at lamp #5 that I would no longer spend a significant amount of money on lamps surely knowing their soon to be ultimate doom. Can anyone relate to this lamp destroying mania? The search for a new lamp began. I had to be weighty and not top heavy… oh yes and not thin glass. This time it would be a coral lamp I decided.
In my recent post Summer Design Trend: Coral, I had talked about my love for all things coral this year. A coral lamp was on my desire list. I priced out a few coral lamps online and came across this beauty pictured below, but at $501. Yeeowza! $501.. really? I mean it’s already $500 whopping dollars. Do you really need that extra $1? Oh yes, and it’s not even real coral, but resin. For that price I’d expect real coral thank you very much. It’s pretty, but ridiculous!
Time to move on and find something a bit more affordable. Joss & Main were carrying a very similar coral lamp and they had a PAIR of coral lamps for around $150 (you can click on that link if you’d like an invite to Joss & Main). That was a much better price and even that amount was a splurge for me, but they looked so pretty and I had a gift certificate too! Unfortunately, the online picture portrayed a very white coral and these were shiny and beige with yellowish-orange flecks. I was bummed but I reminded myself of my motto…
Don’t look at something for what it is, but look at something for what it can be!
Out came the paint! Well, in this case, out came some primer! Coral is not shiny, and I knew white primer would adhere to the resin coral, be the color of white I wanted, and have a matte finish like real coral does. I taped off the base used a stenciling brush to work the primer into all the little crevices. In a short amount of time I had two beautifully white coral lamps!
Since I’m not really big on matchy-matchy lamps in every room, I only placed one of the lamps in our upstairs playroom/ TV room. The other will find itself in our music room. I took all of 2 minutes and dumped some sand in a large pedestal bowl and placed in a few starfish. I love fast and easy displays don’t you. Now to keep my 5 year old out of the sand is another issue.
I think it fits in nicely with all the other beach themed décor and I love how the white stands out against the blue walls. The #1 question I get is what is that blue paint color? It’s Atmospheric by Benjamin Moore.
For now I’ll enjoy my coral lamp and will try not to worry about how long it will survive in a house of four rambunctious kiddos.
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Kim
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Love it Kim!!! So glad you painted it. I found the cutest little piece of coral at a discount store and I did the same thing. With all the white stuff in my home, the cream color just looked dirty. The lamp goes perfectly with your home- very fresh and beachy!
Love the coral lamp! I’m glad I’m not the only one that loses lamps to my kids. The amazing thing is that the lamps in my house that I hate never manage to get broken.
I’m still in awe over your “new” side table that this lamp is like the cherry on top 🙂 REALLY ties everything together!
Looks pretty all painted up 🙂 The Christmas Tree shop had so many coral items and lamps I almost bought one similar to yours yesterday. I didn’t though 🙁 But I might tomorrow 🙂
What a great fix! And a great attitude. Way to turn it around. They look perfect now =)
Great fix on what could have been a big disappointment, the lamps look great! I think my friends get tired of hearing me say, “you could always paint it….” 🙂
Looks great! Love it.
-Erin Spain
DIY On the Cheap
Love that you could see the hidden beauty. Or even better yet, that you knew just what to do to uncover it!
Great Job!
~Heather
It looks really fresh and cottage beachy, but I do have to say, if you couldn’t have a glass lamp, I am really worried about that glass bowl! I hope that makes it too.
PS I love lamps and buy them just for fun. I always think I will someday swap the old lamps back in, but it never happens. My husband is about to have a heart attack over the “lamp store” in the basement. lol.
~Diane
Can I just come live with you guys and save myself the trouble of copying everything you do? These came out great! I love your style and the fact that you scored two beautiful coral lamps or $150 because you could see the potential. Yeah you!
Hmm..how handy that you happened to have that amazing Martha Stewart stencil brush! Haha! I love this though–I love everything coral and beachy and white. Hence, your blog is amazing. PS I met Beth at SNAP. So fun for me! Wish I coulda met you too.
Fun meeting you too Heidi!
Great job Kim. Love how you found what you really wanted in a much better deal. And I always mix up lamps in my designs.
I love the look of the new lamp. You have such a good idea for finding the perfect piece of decor. Kudos to you for looking past the original coloring and seeing the coral for beauty it could be with a little love. I seem to have a hard time doing that. Thanks for the inspiration.
Who wants dirty coral with orange flecks in it? Good job on painting it! Much fresher and prettier! And if the kids destroy this one, at least you have a spare :).
Oh my gosh that is beautiful Kim. It fits perfectly with your decor. Love it.
Good call on the primer Kim! They look great! (I have actually used the $501 lamps in a project before… The wholesale is only $125ish… Can you say mark up?!?!)
this is so, SO good! Love it.
bigindianwedding.com
Nice fix. Love the artwork, too.
Where d you get those starfish from?
OMG! That lamp looks so nice!
I was very fortunate to have found my two white (resin) coral-base lamps on clearance at JCP, 5 years ago! I’ve loved the lamps ever since and recently changed out the white linen shades for seagrass one’s I ordered last year from Ballard Designs.
(Ballard no longer carries the seagrass, but Cost Plus-World Market has some for an awesome price!)
I never look at anything for what it is, but for what I can make of it (too!) 😉
Ahoy!