Do you like the lamps?
I they don't work for you, consider selling them and buying lamps that you prefer with the money.

They are such nice lamps, you shouldn't paint them.

I would not paint them. If you would like a more updated look, I suggest you sell the lamps and use the money from the sale to buy new ones. Or you can switch out the shade or attach new fabric onto the existing shade to better coordinate with your room.

NO! They are absolutely wonderful.

I wouldn't paint them either,but how about covering the base in fabric, paper or string? Done carefully, you wouldn't ruin the original lamps.

send them to me! the colours are perfect for my house.

No. A thousand times no.

DON'T PAINT!!!

Why not paint? I think the lamp with the bands of color would be cool painted with white paint that alternates gloss and matte. But hey looks like I'm in the minority.

Don't paint them! They're really lovely.

Really? I think if painting them would make them work for you, go for it. But I know nothing about antiques - are they worth a lot of money as is, or are they garage sale fodder? They are cool but if they're not your style, you shouldn't redo your whole room for their sake.

They're your lamps! If you really enjoy the shapes and think that painting them a different color will mean you'll keep them around for a long time, go right ahead. I probably would. They're not particularly uncommon examples of the era. If you do, I'd definitely stick with a neutral color. The second one (diamond cut-away) especially would look gorgeous in all white.

They so lovely, I don't think they'd look as good quality if you painted them. Why not send a few pictures of the room so AT can help you fit them in better?

Can you work with the shades to bring in your colors? I wouldn't paint either, but those are my colors!

Great idea, Sian!

If you love them as they are, and the problem (as you state it) is they don't go with your decor, you could use them while you think on it.

Whenever I really love something, it either fits now or means I'm going in that direction and will soon start tweaking the rest of the decor. You'd be surprised at how little might need to change to make these work.

These are worth keeping while you decide. But please don't paint them.

Dont paint!! Change your decor instead :)

I wouldn't paint them. They have an originality somehow and painting them would kill it.

Do a little research on them: if they have any value, don't paint (just watch a few episodes of antique roadshow where someone stripped the original color off a dresser and you will know why).

oh man i love the first one...

that lamp with the horizontal stripes is just gorgeous. don't paint it. You could change out the lamp shade? That one would look gorgeous with a chocolate brown shade. Or sell em on ebay and buy what you want.

I say paint them if you like. I love finding odd items and repurposing them to fit my needs. Isnt that what being green is all about?

I'm not against painting lamp bases in general, but in this case I think the colours work so well with the shapes and contours of the lamps I don't think you would be able to do better (and yes, might even make a mess of it despite your good intentions).

So I say don't paint, redecorate (it even rhymes).

Could you make them work in another room?

'Cuz if you painted them, it would break my heart a little.

All the time on these decorating blogs, I see people who get beautiful antique furniture and repaint them some bright color. The finished product always looks good. But the now completely ruined and devalued antique breaks my heart.

It especially hurt when I saw someone on-line who had repainted an antique end-table exactly like what I wanted for my bedroom.

Dont paint - update the shades if you must (although I LOVE the tall shade on the striped lamp) but leave the lamps as is.

You mentioned they were inherited. If you really don't like them, perhaps give them to another family member that might get more joy from them.

These kind of things are so hard to find in good condition and yours look wonderful. Mid-century items like this are coveted by many people. If they really don't work for you as is consider selling them to someone who would love them as they are rather than destroying their original character. Or pack them away carefully and maybe someday they will work better for you.

don't paint them. if you really want to update the look without painting you could consider a new drum shades that complement each other. i think the bases are just perfect as-is.

DO NOT PAINT THEM!!!!
Sell them and buy color-coordinating lamps OR change decor to go with existing lamps.

No. Most of the time people RUIN their possessions by doing just that. Sell them, or work with them.

I'll buy them if you don't want them!!!! Seriously. Then you can buy new ones.

I suggest not painting, the colors are the classic colors of the era. I fear they will look cheap if you paint them; in the end you won't keep them and they'll be ruined.

No! They are beautiful. Please don't paint. Perhaps you can add other turquoise accents to your living room. (It's the color of the year, after all, and I personally think it goes with everything.)

If you really despise turquoise, sell them and use the money for lamps you do like.

Try putting a few color-like items by them... say interesting plants, books with blue or greenish spines, other whatnots and they might look less out of place. They can still compliment the room without being an exact coordinate.

I agree with the other posters about selling them before repainting them.

Please don't paint! Re-think the space

I'm probably a little sentimental right now, but I just inherited some amazing antique lamps from my great-grandmother(whom I adore) this year. I wouldn't dare paint them. I am saving them for the right room. :) I plan to get a new apartment this summer and a newly decorated room will suit my very old lamps. Re-think the space...keep the antique lamps antique.

Is the problem that the lamps don't match your decor or they simply don't coordinate? I personally love the way they look. You could keep them in a particular area of your home and bring in similar colored accessories that can the pull the area together...or you could sell them to me :)

I don't have any philosophical aversion to painting them, but it would be a bummer if they were ruined. I wish we could see more of your decor. If they don't outright clash and you love them, I'd go with the people advising that you find a way to work them into the room. They don't have to go perfectly today--give yourself some time to incorporate them.

Don't paint those. I agree with the idea of selling them. Plenty of people would love them as is, including me. Then use the money to buy lamps that go with your decor better. Or crummy lamps that deserve a good spray painting. These don't.

Don't paint! They are lovely as is. Sell them and use the money to buy one's that match your decor. They would look fabulous in my living room!

Sell them to ME and buy something new! :)

Seriously. Especially that first one. It's lovely.

You say it wouldn't be hard to rethink the space - so that's what I'd do. Maybe just bringing in some throw pillows with colors in that family would do it.

There's something really sweet about finding a place for inherited family items in your home. I have a hutch from my grandmother that's not really my style, but I found a way to work it in that makes me happy. I think about her every time I see it.

NOOOOOOOOOO don't paint!

you should try new lampshades or even think of painting the furniture the lamps are on. i think those are what are really dating your look

If you like the lamps - why would you paint them?

I think they're great just as they are - including the vintage shades which appear to be in great condition - and from what I can see, they fit the space just fine.

If you don't like them - sell them on eBay.
With those original shades, you should be able to get at least $100/each - perhaps more.

I agree! You should use these lamps as a launching pad for inspiration!

I go for the not painting. As someone who has attempted a variety of changes with small home items I've learned that even the most apparently simple techniques can be bolloxed up by an amateur. I agree with others, if you can't use them sell them. Someone else will enjoy them and you can purchase what you really like. And I'm someone who normally would go with the "it's yours, do as you like" crowd. But painting ceramics can produce so many unknown results that you might hate them once you do it.

I'm not against painting or refinishing vintage )as opposed to antique), but most likely the execution of repainting these will look like hand-spoiled crap. You're not going to duplicate the original fired glaze with some Krylon.

If you want solid orange lamps, go get some.

I love the colors of the first lamp. :)

With that being said, if you do paint, make sure you are careful and look up how to do it properly. It seems likely that painting could ruin the finish & texture.

I personally have lamps stashed in closets and under my bed because they don't match my current decor. When I move or redecorate, I do a lamp rotation. :)

Wow, thanks for the recommendations! While I think that a coat of a neutral color, or even a gem tone as a friend suggested would bring out the shapes and textures, they do have character that I run the risk of destroying. I'm heavily leaning toward not painting them. Here's some links to more of the spaces that they would go in. It would not be hard at all to make them match. It would mostly be a matter of maybe some throw pillows and making a new painting to go in the living room to replace the red one. I already have a few that might work. Here's my living room:

living room

and here's the baby's room, where I was already planning on putting one of them (unpainted).

nursery

(AT, if you want to pull the pictures to update the post, please feel free.)

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.

do not paint them. do not paint them. do not paint them.

PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!

Thinking about it, the hardest part about making the colors work will be talking my husband into changing the colors in the living room! I'm not sure how he feels about living with turquoise/yellow/blue... I'll have to test the waters....

sell 'em and get something that makes you happy. They'd look great in my living room, and I'm shopping for lamps!!

I looked at your links and I think those lamps would be perfect as is with your room as it is now. I don't know why you don't love them. Turquoise and yellow are my favorites.

Don't paint them! Send them to me!! jk

I think neutral tones would be wrong. Your living room already is largely neutrals, why add more? The green/blue stripe would be fine. (And those ARE gem tones.)

If anything, I'd look for striped fabric and make new curtains to go with the lamp.

They are beautiful! Don't paint!

I think they look great in your space. The color is a nice bright spot with the neutrals.

If you don't like them, I would sell them. Turquoise is so popular right now, you could get a pretty penny for them and buy something you feel blends better.

--FantasticMrFaux, yes, they are gem tones already; the point my friend had was to do them in a solid so that the focus would move away from the pattern, making the shape and texture of the lamps stand out more.

--Kate, the only other color in the front room is a red tone, and in real life, the lamps don't quite work with it.

I am working on swapping out the color elements in there currently to go with the lamps as-is; I'll post an updated living room shot when I'm done.

Thanks for the advice!! Yes, they are just lamps, and if no one knew what they were before I painted them, the original character would never be missed. We've decided that they are worth keeping as-is, since we run the risk of really screwing them up if we try to paint them.

OK, contrary to everybody else in the whole workd (it seems) if they were mine, I'd spray paint them gloss white. That would retain the silhouette, it would retain the texture (and, in fact, enhance it), and would give the lamps a new, fresh look. I see lamps of this sort at flea markets for under $5 all the time, so they mean nothing to me as "vintage charmers" or whatever. Therefore I think it's perfectly fine to make them function for your life. However, if what you like about them is the color, that's not going to work for you.

I think twine wrapped tightly around each lamp (that angled one might be tricky...) would be a satisfactory temporary neutralizer. Great lamps.

I would paint them a gloss white our jewel tone. I don't have any great love for mid-century modern, but I think the shape is prettier, and I would enjoy them more in my favorite colors.

In short, do what you want. Enjoy it!

Okay, here's the new version of the living room. I had some paintings that worked, headed out and bought a few things from Ross, and here's what I came up with. It's a work in progress, of course, but at least I don't have to figure out how to paint the lamps...for now, anyway...

Re-worked living room

Thanks again for all of the suggestions!!

No, don't paint, please. They have lovely colors, pattern and texture. It would be impossible to create something better than what you have right now.

I love the new look, you did a wonderful job!

NO!!!

yes.
liz at mabelshouse.blogspot.com
does it all the time
she isn't afraid to paint old ugly lamps and make them cute.

oh but they do look really good in your living room though.
by themselves though...ug. ly.

DON'T PAINT THEM. I think the round striped ones are especially beautiful.

If you love them, make the rest of the room match (since you said that wouldn't be difficult). If you don't love them, sell/donate them so someone else can enjoy them just as they are.

I wish I could take those round ones off your hands!

Oh, please don't paint them. They are so lovely-I bet you can find a way to work them into a room.;)

are you all blind? paint them. lamps are expensive and these have a great shape. work with the texture and the alternating colors into something that works with your room. that way if your room color scheme changes, your lamps can be reinvented each time. think of all the possibilities!

if they arent worth any money the way they are- PAINT THEM UGLY THINGS- all the same color would look awesome bc of the different shapes :)

painting those lamps would be a CRIME... sell them on Craigs List

I would paint them. I have a lamp that I rescued from my mom's basement from probably the same era that was kinda the color and texture of oatmeal. I spray painted it glossy white and now it looks like a Jonathan Adler piece.

I also kept the drum shade, but glued on some ribbon trim. The tall, straight shade with the glossy, geometric base is an awesome combination. Highly recommend it.