As it is secondhand September and it's also recycle week, I thought I would share with you some of the lampshades that I have recently recovered and recycled to give them a new lease of life!
I am always on the lookout for old, secondhand lampshades in charity shops or ones that are being given away, and have picked up multiple freebies off the street, ranging from huge traditional lampshades to small tapered frames. I also always say yes to anyone offering me a free lampshade frame as there is always a way to recycle it and it saves it from landfill.
As well as collecting old lampshades myself, I also offer a lampshade recovering service, which gives people an opportunity to reclaim their much loved lampshades, and over the past month I have had quite a few commissions to do this. This part of my job is one that I absolutely love, as I really enjoy transforming a once loved and slightly tatty looking shade into a beautiful new one. Most of my customers have a lampshade that has either been in their family for a long time and has sentimental value, is the perfect size and shape for their lamp base and room, or they have found it in a charity shop and they just want it to have an update.
Nowadays you will find that you can’t get many traditional style lampshades on the high street, therefore reusing an old traditional shade is the answer to this! By using old frames you get some amazing shapes and styles that you would struggle to find in a shop, meaning that it will be unique and something no one else will have! Just take a look at this amazing shaped lampshade that I recently upcycled...
All of the lampshades that I have recovered over the past month were all completely different in shape and were in varying states of disrepair. You can see the before and afters of the different shades that I have recovered, and can see the transformation that they have had!
With the two lampshades below, I recycled and reused their original trims, which is what the customers asked for. Fortunately I managed to remove the original trims without too much difficulty, and even washed some of the trim to bring it back to life! It was a great way to retain the original features of the shade, and give a nod to what it looked like before.
One of the things that I love about doing commissions is seeing how the finished shade turns out, and also seeing customers different tastes. With recoverings I can either use my own fabric designs, source fabrics for you, or you can bring along your own fabric. All of the fabrics for the lampshades that you can see here, have been chosen by the lampshade owner to suit their own tastes.
If you have a traditional or contemporary lampshade that you would like recovered, then please do get in touch. Send me the dimensions of the lampshade and also a few photos, and I can get back to you with a quote on how much it would cost. I offer a selection of fabrics that are either plain linens or are my own design, or you are welcome to source your own or I can source fabric for you.
