Painted Ikat Lampshade - Guest Post from Lovely Etc.

Hi! This is Carrie from Lovely Etc. and I am so happy to be here sharing with you today. I first stumbled upon Bigger Than The Three of Us last fall and was instantly inspired by Ashley’s bold style and terrific color palate. Ashley and I definitely share a passion for DIY and making your home uniquely yours.

Today I have a quick and easy lampshade makeover to share with you. Because sometimes quick and easy projects are just what the doctor ordered.

I’ve had a pair of simple metal lamps with white shades in our master bedroom since we moved in five years ago. Last summer I started making over the master bedroom and those clunky square lampshades were on the list of things that had to go. (Please tell me I’m not the only one whose room makeovers last multiple seasons!)

I am all about making your home beautiful for as little money as possible. So when I came across a pair of matching lampshades at the Goodwill for 1.95 each, I snapped them up. From afar they may look fresh and white, but up close there is a strange white checkerboard pattern covering them. Not to mention that terrible ivory colored band at the top and the bottom.

There are so many different ways to make over a lampshade, but for this project I was craving simple so I decided to go with paint. The only materials needed to make your own gorgeous ikat lampshade are an unwanted lampshade, craft paint in your colors of choice, and a small flat paintbrush.

Since my own lampshade was not exactly white to begin with, I started by painting the whole thing white. If your lampshade is already white, you can completely skip that step.

Next choose your first paint color. I used small bottles of craft paint that you can buy for around a dollar at any art supply store. (I did not mix my paint with fabric paint medium for this project. Fabric medium mostly just keeps paint from making fabric stiff which is not an issue for lampshades.)

To paint the ikat chevron type pattern, hold your brush so that the bristles are pointing vertically and paint around your lampshade in short up and down strokes. Do this around the top and bottom of your lampshade and then repeat with your second color. I also added a small hint of a third color (lime green) around the bottom layer only.