Black Lamp Shades

I've recently realized that many of my favorite rooms feature lamps with black lamp shades. Black shades- especially when paired with an oversized mid-century ceramic lamp make such a glamorous statement in a room.

Via

Behold. Probably one of my most favorite spaces ever published. From the terrazzo floors, to the grasscloth wall in the background and furniture placement in the foreground, this one photographer's shot encompasses a lot of the things that make me say "dream home". But it's the massive vintage lamps with their oversized glossy black shades that draw me in every time I look at it.

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With far moodier hues, this room is also a favorite of mine. The white ceramic lamp sort of lightens the load here. But can you imagine it with a shade in any other color?

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The glass bases disappear into the background here, emphasizing the black shades which frame the art hanging on the wall. It is such a sophisticated arrangement. 

Danish Magazine Rum Via Solid Fog 

An atypical arrangement hung so low over a desk, but in this space, it's all about the shades and the moody glow they cast.  

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A room with many statements, but it works for me. The tall vintage floor lamp with black drum shade adds symmetry and keeps the room balanced.

And then there's this one... sort of the end all be all vintage lamp with black shade combo for me.

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I loved this so much, I set out to model not one, but two of the lamps in  my own home after it. Wanna see?

I already owned these lamps and I really like them. But the browntown shades that came with them were not working for me at all, so much so that I actually considered replacing the lamps altogether. The fact of the matter is, lamp shades are expensive. I had tracked some I liked down online, but also spent weeks checking my local Home Goods store to see if I couldn't better the price. They often have shades stocked at some very affordable prices. But black shades are rare- even more rare is the size I was after. So I had a couple of choices. I could live with the brown shades, I could buck up and pay the $40 per shade or I could try and paint the shades with some black fabric paint I had, with the hope that my little DIY would pan out.

It did. Especially once I sprayed the insides of the shade with metallic gold. I'm going to confess, I did try wrapping the inside of the shades first with metallic gold contact paper like Jenny. But unlike Jenny, I just couldn't get it to lay flat enough on the inside, despite my best efforts. So I ditched that idea and grabbed the spray can.

I'm tickled pink at how they turned out. The fact that I saved $80 makes this project even more satisfying.