DIY Chevron Lamp Shade Upcycle - Using Paint And Gold Leaf

My mum has a fave antique center she refers to as "Pigeon Palace" because it's based in an old leaky country warehouse with pigeons roosting in the saw tooth roof and random splodges of pigeon droppings here there and everywhere... a little while ago this magical place relocated to the Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley and I recently popped in for a girls day of midwinter vintage shopping... It was a treasure trove of industrial vintage, shabby chic and retro and I found this beautiful crystal based lamp for $30.

The shade was already painted when purchased but I decided it needed something bold and eye catching in the form of chevron stripes so I DIY-ed it and wanted to share my simple how to...

Before - the shade was cute but I wanted something punchy!

Love how the facets reflect the light!

How To

Creating you own painted chevron lampshade is super easy... I'm a freehand kind of gal so I apologise if the rustic appearance of my stripes are driving you mad, as it does my husband.

To mark my chervon lines I used 3m painters tape left over from my DIY painted rug project 

Frog Tape or cloth tape would also work, basically anything that has a good amount of glue to stick to the shade.

1. Place a cross over the top of the shade as seen below dividing in half horizontally and vertically this will form the template for your chevron V's.

2. Start at the top placing strips of tape in a zigzag pattern as deep or shallow as you like until you have completed the first row as shown below.

3 Using the first row as a guide space out the rest of your rows with tape... I tried to stick to a 1.5" gap for my shade.

 4.Once you have finished taping prepare your paint and work surface and paint away, then leave to dry out before removing the tape.

I got impatient and peeled the tape off too soon! Lucky for me I'd already planned to add a contrast colour so I painted the blue stripes by hand.

At this stage you are done BUT if you want a little more bling for your buck why not add some gold leaf for a  bit of Palm Springs kitsch!.  

To adhere the gold leaf I used double sided tape and a small paintbrush.

Voila!

My shade could do with some trim added to the top and bottom, when I find the right one I think I'll add it.

xx