My housemate is saving for her very own home. And one thing in particular she’s envisioned is having a lush, red velvet Victorian sitting room.

 

The red candelabra lamp was a Christmas gift to help her along in that direction. Like so many thrift store lamps, the body of this lamp had several different patinas of gold. In order to give it an antique feel, I painted the whole thing with a bronze leaf, and sprayed it with a clear top-coat, masking off the marble base and wiring.

 

The central light of the piece still worked, but over time, all of the small “candle” lights had become corroded. So, not up to that level of rewiring, I made them inactive and replaced them with red glass candles from Wicks N Sticks. Then it all it needed was a shade.

 

I found a nice red and gold one at TJ Maxx-- and then got it home to discover it was too short to cover the entire lamp harp. So I added a yard of long red flapper fringe I bought from a costume shop.

 

Voila! Pseudo-Victorian parlor lamp! And my housemate seemed genuinely thrilled. Now all she needs is... okay...  the house. And the parlor furniture. And…

 

Well, I did my part, anyway.