Hi fellow fans of Saved by Love! I’m Kelly and I blog at View Along the Way about our attempts to fix up our broken-down foreclosure on the tiniest of budgets.
Saved by Love is one of my favorite sources for repurposed-fabulous DIYs, so I thought it’d be appropriate today to tell the story of how my husband and I found a poor, lonely, down-on-his-luck lamp and gave him new life and a hope for the future. When we saw our little rescue lamp, forgotten, abused, marked down to $1 at a yard sale…
We knew we had to rescue him and give him a good home.
It appeared Lamp had been abandoned to fend for itself, and there was evidence it had been abused, such as its broken leg:
(It couldnít even stand up straight.)
Plus a few wayward bruisesÖ
Öits skinny appearance and, most of all, its skittish, shamed demeanor:
First, my husband used needlenose pliers and brute strength to mend Lamp’s dents and broken bones so he stood straight, proud and tall. Then, I got to play with his finish.
Lately I’ve found myself being more and more attracted to this weathered bronze/brass/whatever, like here on our DIY office bookshelves:
The trick to fabulous, expensive-looking bronze is avoiding that harsh, shiny finish… you know, like poor little Lamp. So I pulled out my trusty Rub-n-Buff and an old sock, and wiped away the 90s gold to replace it with the look of aged, well-loved bronze. (See how I did that in this post.)
Suddenly, Lamp was standing taller, straighter, prouderÖ
But we weren’t finished yet! We wanted him to live on our desk which is centered in the middle of our office:
And we couldn’t have that happen with his pesky cord needing to be plugged in to the wall. So we hacked little Lamp to run on batteries. (See how we did that here!)
And now? Our little rescue lamp has found home with us here. Sometimes I catch Lamp alone at night, remembering its past life on the streets. Look at it, just sitting there, pondering its past.
Truly a story of how love can transform even the most battered, broken down mutts and make them shine. Have your lamps spayed or neutered.
I have lots more DIY projects like this on my blog. I’d love to connect with you there! You can subscribe to the blog via RSS or email, or follow via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.
Johnnie, thanks so much for letting me hijack your blog while you’re off having tons of fun at SNAP! Such an honor to be here!
