Bright Idea

   So once upon a time my beautiful niece Riley was into all things PINK.  A pink bedspread, pink curtains, and even a pink Snuggie that her aunt Lissa someone bought her, were only a few members of her impressive collection.  But as we all know, tastes change, items get used less and less, and it's time to either donate, sell, or.....place and intervention!  Which was just what I had in mind for an iHome lamp/speaker that was no longer being used and sat lonely at the end of her dresser in all of its fluorescent pink glory.

  Now I love pink just as much as the next gal, but I also know how quickly it can go from pretty to Pepto...  Plus I try and make the house as gender neutral as possible so the Hubs doesn't feel like he's living in a dollhouse, which means we have a lot of yellows, greys, greens, etc. adorning our home thus leaving our flashy pink friend to stick out like a sore thumb.

So I decided a fresh coat of paint was in order.  Had I ever painted a plastic, metal, glass combo lamp before? Heck No!!! But there's a first time for everything and I had the perfect guinea pig in front of me ready for a make-under!  First things first, I knew I'd be using it as a bedside table and that I would want it to pull in the color of our bedroom curtains, so I snapped a few pics of the color green I was looking to match and headed to Michaels.  Sadly, none of their spray paints fit the bill.  So as I wandered the aisles aimlessly waiting for inspiration to strike, the plethora of acrylic paint colors began calling out to me.  Wait, what was this?! A "Multi-Surface" tag? Having no other options, and a whopping 67 cent price tag I was sold.  I opted for Craftsmart Acrylic Paint in Light Green (exotic sounding color I know)

I got home and began taping off all of the metallic bits and bobs that I wanted to keep, wiped down the base with a bit of rubbing alcohol, and got to painting!  Here it is mid-way

Next up was a quick coat of sealant. I used this product in the hopes of it giving it a harder finish but if I had it to do over I'd use a plain clear coat spray as this one accentuated my brush strokes and make the paint a bit darker :/  Anywhoo after the sealant I gave it another coat of paint, mainly because I wasn't sure how it was going to adhere in the long run and, this way, if it got scratched it would have another layer of the sealed green underneath. I removed the painters tape Aaaaaaaand PRESTO~! Our previously pink table lamp had a whole new look! Here it is in its new home and ready to glow! (...sorry I couldn't help myself)

I know it sounds simple, but so often we hesitate to revamp items because we're not sure how. But always stop and ask yourself what is the worst case scenario here?  I sand it off and start over? I can live with that. And before you know it, you can create a beautiful new accessory that makes you smile every time you see it, because it reminds you of your own resourcefulness :) So how about you guys? Any quick and easy presto chango projects that gave a perfectly good item a second chance?  Please, do tell!