**How to turn ordinary lamps into unusual lamps-**

My wife and I love to decorate with unusual ideas. We like having friends over and sharing all the creative things we surround ourselves with. Most of our decorations we made ourselves. In this post I wanted to show you one of the ideas we use to make our lamps more exciting.

<center> ![IMG_20170524_120705954.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVK51SEv19QHjm2RcYQqJ8fjdA3pirDr2moUF9p53Bjo8/IMG_20170524_120705954.jpg) </center>

**Whos is the guy in the lampshade?**
It must be the neighborhood drunk, or maybe its and some crazy artist or poet, or perhaps it's just me?
<center> ![lamp 2a.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmNeok2fHdQ1mr5K8LERjLxXXmKEuuQ9a5NDAVuSyK22Q4/lamp%202a.jpg) </center>

**Low cost decorating fun**

I never spend much money on lamps because I never buy them new. They always come from garage sales, or secondhand stores. My number one criteria is to find one with a solid base. Once I purchase the lamp I will clean it up and do any electrical repairs, then I go to work on the lamp shade. 

This is an old paper shade that I painted with acrylic paints. Being an artist who loves abstraction you can see the direction I took it. 

<center> ![lamp 1a.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYkMxtzjq1wVPqpUvU328dQac9mT3RWvBxjrV5ALzG67W/lamp%201a.jpg) </center> 

I particularly enjoyed working on this lamp shade. It was covered in silk and made a great painting surface. 

You will find that the possibilities for painting lamp shades is endless, if you aren't fond of abstraction you can paint in a realistic style. And the best part of all, if you make a mistake or simply get tired of y9ur design you can paint over it.

https://i.imgsafe.org/31c840c0c2.jpg