Entryway table lamp. A brief context to set expectations.
Entryway table lamp: Quick notes
I had planned to work on the front porch this weekend, and I even went to Lowe’s and bought everything I need to start on the porch makeover. And then it poured down rain. So I turned my attention back to the entryway instead. The lamps I ordered for the entryway arrived on Friday, so I was pretty excited to get them unboxed and put together so I could get an idea of what else I wanted to add to the entryway wall to complete this area.
But my excitement was pretty short lived. I unboxed the first lamp, and at first glance, I liked the base. I had my heart set on something simple and shiny, preferably glass.
But the shade was dented on the top, and the dent is right on the front of the shade. Ugh.
And then on closer inspection, I noticed this awful shiny caulk between the glass and the metal base. It’s a messy caulking job, and it’s shiny, so it looks pretty tacky.
I decided to unbox the second one anyway, and the shade on that one was worse.
I swapped out the shade so that I wasn’t distracted by the dents and could evaluate the lamp base without that distraction.
But then I noticed the base on this one. Look at the area where the glass part is attached to the base. The glass part isn’t even close to being centered on the metal base!
Obviously, these have to go back. The picture online was nice, but in person, these are a mess.
I wasn’t in the mood to get back online, order new lamps, and wait. So I headed to Lowe’s, determined to find something that would work, even if I had to paint them white. The first one I found is this one. It’s very similar to the ones I bought online except that the base has a ribbed texture. But I didn’t like the shade. It looked cheap to me.
This was a consideration, but I didn’t like the shade on this one, either.
I found two base options that didn’t come with shades. I liked this one, but it looks a bit too “southwest” in style to me. I’m sure painting it solid white would have made it look better fitting for my house, but I wasn’t sold on it.
And finally, this was the last option. I liked the shape, but even though it’s already white, it would still need to be painted because the color was about one or two shades off for me. It had a tinge of yellow to it, and I wanted a cleaner creamy white.
I ended up going with the last option, and I spent about 40 minutes giving them a couple of coats of spray paint in a creamy white to get rid of that yellow undertone. I don’t even know if you can tell the difference in the picture, but I could really tell a difference in person. Obvioulsy, the painted one is on the left, and the original color is on the right.
As it turns out, I like these a lot better than I liked the (idea of) the original lamps. I thought I wanted shiny glass, but I really prefer the subtle texture of these. So it turned out well.
But now, I really want to paint the console table. I’m just not crazy about how orange and splotchy the finish looks. I think it would look so much better painted. So I pulled out a few colors directly from the mural and tried them (using my photo editing software) on the table. First up, I tried this green.
Next, I tried a lighter green. I really like this one.
I also tried this yellow-green from the flowers on the top left. I like this color, but I’m not quite sure if I could live with this much of this color.
And then, of course, I had to try out some pinks. I started with a light pink.
And then I tried out this darker pink that ties in with my favorite flowers from the mural.
And then I went even darker. I don’t think this could still be called pink. What is this color? Magenta? Whatever it is, I love it.
I tried out a few other colors, like different teals and purples, but I didn’t think those looked good against the mural since it’s pretty dark on the bottom. I like the colors that stand out and make an impact. So I think I’m going to go ahead and paint the console table. I have my heart set on it, and y’all know that once I get an idea in my mind, I won’t be happy until I try it out. I just know that I don’t want that orangish wood tone in the entryway anymore, and I’m not up for refinishing it. So paint is the way to go.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
A short mention of Entryway table lamp helps readers follow the flow.
