One Down, One to Go: Painted Lamp Shade

DIY - geometric modern painted lampshade

Yea to me for keeping up with my project schedule!  As promised, I finished painting my bedroom lampshade from boring white to funky geometric modern-ish...something.

You may remember, this lampshade looked like this:

I went to the trouble of making a drawing/stencil on graph paper of the diamond design, tracing them with black marker, then taping it carefully inside my lampshade.  Problem was - I could barely see my drawn lines through the lampshade.  So I ended up pretty much freehanding the painting of the design.  This was fine because I didn't want manufactured perfection, I wanted a more loose application of the shapes and colors.

I do wish I had spent more time mixing my colors.  I wish the green had a bit more blue in it.  I wish the yellow was a bit deeper, etc.  I think the finished colors look a little too kiddie pastel when I really wanted richer colors.  But I was rushing it and didn't take the time to mix in other colors to add a little interest to them. Alas, what's done is done.

So, here's the details:  I used acrylic paint, testing it first on the inside of my shade to make sure it wouldn't run or bead up on the material.  After drawing my design on graph paper with black sharpie, I attached it to the inside of the shade using double-stick tape.  Then I mixed up my paint colors in separate jars with lids so they wouldn't dry up as I painted my shade.  I only added a little bit of water to my paint as I worked so my colors wouldn't bleed.

I was careful not to apply to much pressure to the lampshade while painting.  I laid the shade down on its side on top of a towel for painting, and used more rolled up towels on each side of the shade to keep it from moving.  I painted one section, let it dry completely, then moved to the next section.

I might call this a test run and look for another shade to paint with the colors I really want.  But for now, it's fine. (Well, just okay.)