Lamp Transformation

Have you ever purchased something based entirely on how much you love the way it looks?  We're talking beauty over brains, and form over function...  My husband and I try to avoid this at all costs but every once in a while something with a cool design peaks our interest and we forget to think about functionality.  The perfect example was when we fell head-over-heels for the Pottery Barn Photographer's Tripod Floor Lamp. 

It's such a great lamp - the perfect mix of vintage and industrial - and we just had to have it for our down-town loft living room.  Mind you, this was pre-kid so spending $350 on a lamp that looked cool was justifiable... (or, was it?) The problem came into effect when we plugged her in and realized that the lamp performed like a true spot light. The lamp looks awesome and sculptural by day, but once night hits it gets a C- for lighting up a space.  You could maybe use it to read under if you directed it right at your book, but there was no way it was going to light up a room.  What were we thinking???  It does LOOK like a spot-light, so why wouldn't it function like one?

So, after 3 moves and placement everywhere from the living room to the basement guest room to storage, our poor tripod lamp has been continually overlooked as the pretty lamp that lacks substance.  Because of the hefty pricetag we've kept it around with the intention of somehow re-purposing it to be purposeful.  

I came home from work the other day and SURPRISE it had been transformed!  My wonderful husband had bit the bullet and decided to do something about it.  He had transformed it from the "darkest" lamp I had ever seen...

To this functioning piece of lit-up wonder...

Some may argue that this floor lamp is not nearly as hip and cool as the former lamp, but I've got to say that we now use it to light up our very dark living room and LOVE it!  Here it is creating a happy glow in the corner of our room...doing what a lamp is supposed to do.

It was a pretty simple fix - my husband removed the spot light head of the lamp and went to the local hardware store for an inexpensive lamp kit and then to Target for a simple white drum shade.  He spray painted the brass lamp kit parts a dark brown so they'd blend in with the stem of the lamp and then he installed the parts - which did involve a few problem-solving sessions, but none too tough for his creativity and handyman know-how.

A close-up of the top shows where the original stem of the lamp ends, and the installed lamp kit begins (where the light-bulb socket and switch is).  The drum shade is held on by the screwed-in bulb, so you can't pick up the lamp from the shade, but that's ok with me.

I think he did a wonderful job and I've been enjoying the light it puts forth ever since!  Look how it makes those toys in the corner glow...

Lesson learned on form over function...now we just need to figure out something we can make from the cool spot-light head of the original lamp!  Any ideas???  -Kristen