music stand lamp

when husband and i were picking out furniture for the basement, he insisted he didn't want table lamps.  he thought lamps would "girl" up the space too much and wasn't having any of that.  the basement is his space, so i wanted to respect his wishes and opted for no lamps.  after a few too many times of us sitting on the couch arguing who was going to go turn the lights on/off, however, we decided a lamp was a definite necessity.  i wanted something simple, masculine, and most importantly, inexpensive.  i found a picture of a lovely lamp here, and my wheels started spinning.  unfortunately, i had no vintage music standing sitting around my house and zero patience to go searching for one.  cue sister's chrome music stand from fifth grade.

check.  and why wouldn't i have considered using this lovely thing earlier?  it is beyond me.  but like anything else i come across, all the little beaut needed was a thin layer of Rustoleum metallic bronze spray paint.  i seriously only put one coat on.  not because it covers so amazingly well, but because the unevenness of the paint seemed to give it more of the worn look i was going for.  it was almost too easy actually.  now let us turn this thing into a lamp, shall we?

lamp kit with harp from home dept...check

lamp shade i had lying around the house...check

a light bulb...check

handy husband who is willing to cut the legs in half so the darn thing doesn't have a 4 foot wingspan...check

  that was seriously all it took.  the lamp kit was slightly confusing {unless of course you are a pro at tying a conductor's knot based on two drawings}, but it only took around ten minutes to get it all together.  i had to rob the lamp shade from another lamp that is not being used, so eventually i will have to replace one of them.  

total cost of this little lamp...$7 (holla!)

unless of course you have to purchase spray paint and a new lamp shade.  in that case, i would budget, say, maybe 13 more dollars?  although i'm sure i will have no troubles coming across a lovely shade for a whole lot less at goodwill.