I am in LOVE with the before. But to each his own.

SO much better than the Heather Spriggs "whoops I cut off my had" lamp shade transformation shown earlier today!

The brass and original shade were chic even in the before but good job on the redo.

The before had a much cooler retro vibe. There was nothing "brassy" about the finish. It was vintage. Sad.

Like others, I think the redo is pretty but I really loved the before.

I like the shape and the shade fabric, but I think it would look better if the base were a different color than bright white. The white in the shade is an off-white, and the bright white makes it look dingy. I actually think it would be more chic if the base was the same color as the yellow-green in the shade fabric.

i would have kept it as is...:)

Yay, white spray-painted lamp, haven't seen THAT one before.

Oh no. I'll take retro over country any day of the week.

Geez...harsh crowd.

I'd never want the before lamp, but the after? Yes please! I want to find a pair of cheap lamps to give the spray paint treatment to, but no luck so far.

I agree with Crabbit; I think the base should have been painted bone colour to better match the shade.
Otherwise, I like it.

LOVE that fabric on the shade. Where is it from??

Team Redo.

Oh please, let her paint her lamp people.
it's cute and having the original finial is a big plus.

Before!

There are some vintage things that are cool as is. This lamp was not one of them. Bravo on the new redo!

I loved it as it was before. A fresh lampshade would have made it really work. It's one of those vintage pieces that I think should have been left alone.

Breathed life back into the lamp. Great color choice and well done. Thanks for sharing!

I liked the before, but it is still a really nice redo.

I would have kept the brass parts and just painted over the grey. Not white though.

Oh, well. Looks cute anyway I guess.

I prefer the retro look in the "before" photo.

Team Before!
tacky redo

The before was way better. There are much worse lamps out there to paint!

Team Redo! There was nothing that could salvage that lamp, simply horrendous and not trendy at all!

I think both look great!

i don't care for the before of after particularly, but far worse is ATs love for posting tacky spray paint make overs.

Before.

+1 for before

"Apartment Therapy - paint EVERYTHING white! one room at a time"

loved the before! and i agree that it now looks like plastic.

she likes it -- which is what matters most. But the white paint does strip this lamp of ALL of its former personality :( It does look like cheap plastic now. I wish she had just politely declined and let her grandparents give the lamp to someone who appreciated it as-is....

I LOVE the before. The after is bland.

both are fine. MAKE me choose, erm... the Before. I have a plain room. anything beautiful like the 'Before' pops for me. it's all to do with context people, context..(=

The after is cute, with very pretty lampshade fabric, but it's a shame that she had to ruin such a gorgeous lamp to do it.

Interesting...I liked the before too. The redo is still nice. It's fresh and airy!

The first thing I do with old lamps is re-wire them. 50-year-old wiring scares me.

How you makeover anything you own depends entirely on what look you're going for. If you like vintage, fine. If you like a fresh coat of paint, that's ok, too.

I love both the before and after! (the before could have used a new lampshade, though haha) Nice job, and it goes great with the room.

I'm so fed up with everything going to white - it feels overdone and a bit boring :/ Besides, I was kind of in love with the before!

Loved the before base but not the shade. To leave the base and perhaps change out the shade may have given a cooler look, IMO. Still, the redo is a clean look and works for the room. She did a great job. Design is to each his own.

Team before.

Woah. The lamp was "classy" before the re-do.

ckorfi- the fabric is http://www.fabricguru.com/cart/index.php?target=products&product_id=80619&page=

Is there a huge vat of white paint somewhere?

The "before" looked unique, the "after" looks like Target. Just sayin'.

A perfectly charming vintage lamp....ruined.

horrified!!!

why is everyone taking old lamps and spray painting them white? i mean EVERYONE. it's old. please don't write a whole article on how someone spray painted a lamp... wait for it... white! ta-daa!!

We're hitting that point where DIY has gotten out of control, and everyone is out of ideas and madly painting everything white. (Or sometimes bright colors.) I'm old enough to remember this from the seventies. It will soon start seeming like everyone's house is full of painted flea market stuff, and then presumably we'll relive the eighties when nobody would touch a paintbrush with a ten foot pole, and everything was chrome so you knew for sure no DIY fool had painted it in the last 5 years.

That said, the lamp is nice.

It's great! The white looks fresh and clean and the colorful shade tops it off like icing on a cake.

I didn't mind the before, I like the after more mostly because of the shade. Biggest boon to the change: She can regularly change the shade (if she wants) and have the base work every time.

As for the "spray paint, OMG!" complaints - get over yourselves. Like it, don't like it; that's fine. Still, you don't own the lamp and judging ANYONE for choosing to follow their taste is...tasteless.

I would much rather see these "beautiful vintage" pieces spray painted than sent to a landfill, which is what our culture USUALLY does with things that get old. If you want to protect vintage items, find them and curate them yourself, don't judge others for finding ways to keep them useful.

Is "paint it white" the new "put a bird on it"?

Sometimes you want the kind of lamp where people say "What a cool lamp!" That would be Before, in this case.

But sometimes you want something more understated that works with your decor. Without more context, it is difficult to judge whether painting it white and using a pretty patterned lampshade is a travesty or a clever redo.

I think Before is more beautiful as a stand-alone object but it would be easier to find a spot for After in my house.

And as a p.s., it could also be that Before looked very dingy and tired in a way that doesn't show up in a closeup photo. Painting the thing was probably much easier than polishing the brass.

Sorry Alissa, your grandparents had excellent taste. Hate to say it, so here goes: you ruined it! Personally, I would not paint such a great piece. I'm glad you love it though! That's all that matters.

Sorry - One more vote for "Before"

Team redo. Well, I would have painted the brass and kept the gray, but those are some thin thin rings. Particularly, I don't think the perforated parts come across well in brass—you'd have to get this close to it.

Although, if she chose to refinish, would magic erasure work as a quick-and-dirty fix to spruce up the metal?

Personally I would have kept the brass filagree and painted the rest. But to each their own. It's a pretty lamp makeover.

but while it does get rid of the ugly textured finish, it's interesting that the new paint job emphasises the odd proportions of this lamp. The bottom six inches sort of look like an addition, even though we know that they're not.

What color are the walls painted? Looking for a nice shade of blue-green to match peacock green granite and this color looks beautiful!

looks perfect

what jerks! The after is so fresh-it really suits the room-totally fab!

I really love the new shade! I might have taped off the brass parts to add some contrast to the white, but it still looks nice.

team before. painting the lamp solid white make the shape of the lamp look clunky and off balance

Ruined!