I picked this baby up for $25 on eBay. Here it is before:

 

 

Looks better in the above pic than it did in reality!

 

 

It looks lovely lit up at night.

 

Using fabric trim is such an easy and affordable way to customise, well…anything really!
For anyone wanting to attempt this type of re-furb, a word of warning though….

….unless you have a drum shade, remember that wide lace trim is ‘flat’ and in order to get a consistent finish on an angled shape there is quite a bit of (jigsaw worthy) cut-and-paste required (I certainly learned this the hard way!).

Anyhoo, here’s the basic process….first, the polished brass base was thoroughly cleaned, any cords and fixtures masked to avoid overspray, then lightly sanded and coated with three fine layers of hammered charcoal spray paint.

I did need to buy a new shade for this project as, unfortunately, I had none the right size lying around. I elected for a natural ivory linen one from Target to contrast with the formality of the lace. Next, two different widths of lovely scalloped lace trim and some fabric glue – fini!