Accessories give character to porch lamps

Dear Sandi: I picked up an old porch lamp at a garage sale sometime last summer. My husband was cleaning out the garage, found it and was going to toss it out. It’s not in very good condition, but I really like the style and shape of it and I think it might still work. Help me salvage it please. —Jacqueline, Salem

Hi Jacqueline: Husbands are like that. They think that just because something is old, doesn’t work and has broken parts that it is trash and should be dumped. Silly men.

A basic porch lamp is painted a rust color and dressed up with beaded fringe. Instead of hanging it outside, consider hanging porch lamps inside. Here, it gives a Victorian look to a bedroom.

Since I haven’t seen the lamp you found, I can’t really give you any specific advice, but I do understand the need to keep something that has an interesting shape, whether it works or not (and electricians can always re-wire something).

It was about this time last year that I was looking at porch and wall lights at the local home-improvement stores. I am continuously amazed at what you can find at these places for really reasonable prices.

Whether you're looking for handmade paper, furniture, fabric or accessories, you will find it at loose ends. If it is unusual, organic and fabulous, then loose ends is the place. Showroom hours are 8 am to 5 pm weekdays and the first Saturday of each month 10 am - 3pm at 2065 Madrona Ave. SE, Salem, or visit us online at www.looseends.com Questions? Give us a call at (503) 390-2348.

We had a project to do for one of the HGTV segments we were scheduled for, and we were transforming “Plain Jane” lamps into something a bit more elaborate, with specific themes to develop.

One of our themes was a “girlie” bedroom, with an almost Victorian flavor. The colors for our room were deep mauves, coppers and rust, but I knew the chances were slim that we would find anything in those shades at one of these stores.

However, we did find two very inexpensive carriage-lamp wall lights, but they were stark white and very boring. But that was easy to fix with two coats of an acrylic base, rust-colored paint (be sure to sand the
lamps first if their surfaces are at all shiny).

The paint alone totally transformed the feel of the lamps, but it was when we added the beaded fringe trim around the bottom that they took on their new identity

Very quick, very simple, yet now these were “girlie” lamps and would be just the right touch on the wall over the bed.

Our other theme was a garden room, and the task was to make the lamps look like they had been on an exterior wall, exposed to the elements for a century.

Again, we were able to find a very reasonably priced light fixture at the home-improvement store.

This time, the lamp was already the right color, a sort of weathered black/bronze. Since this is the Pacific Northwest, what could be more natural than a coating of moss? However, I wanted a really long, drippy look.

Sandi Reinke is an author, frequent television guest and lead designer for loose ends (www.loosends.com), a Salem-based interior décor, garden, and casual lifestyle company. To ask Reinke a decorating question, e-mail info@looseends.com or mail her at the showroom address, 2065 Madrona Ave. SE, Salem, OR 97302. Phone: 503-390-2348.

Spanish moss would have been a good choice, but I wanted it to be more permanent and durable than the Spanish moss would have been. So, I went with something we call linen bark. This is actually a long plant fiber, used in many Asian countries to make strong handmade paper.

Our paper maker thought we were crazy when we told him we wanted to have the raw material, but he knows that we do, as he puts it, “very strange things,” so he keeps us supplied. I absolutely love the stuff and have used it for a number of different things, and it worked out perfectly for the look we were going for.

I added a bit of staining with watered-down raw umber and dark-green paint and ended up with something that looks like it has had a long life in inclement weather.

Before you decide what to do with the lamp, think about where you might be able to use it. That will make it easier for you to decide how you want to fix it up. And keep in mind that just because it started life out as a lamp doesn’t mean that it has to relive that same life again. Our garden light (minus the linen bark, of course) would make a great glass cloche to protect some little special something from figurines to plants.

So, I wish you the best of luck with your find, and once your husband sees what you have done with it, he might even help you find other pieces of “trash.” January 14, 2005