Before & After: How To Make Your Own Vintage-Style Striped Sconce

Katie Steuernagle
Katie Steuernagle
Apartment Therapy contributor and manic crafter. Float like a butterfly, sting like bedazzler.
published Feb 5, 2013
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Wall-mounted sconce with a brushed nickel finish and frosted glass shade, labeled "before" in orange.
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Inspired by the striped light fixtures at Schoolhouse Electric, I wondered if there was a way to dress up my basic sconce with a few fun stripes. I wanted the process to be inexpensive and easy, and I wanted it to create razor sharp paint lines. After a bit of experimentation, I think I got it.

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I painted 2 coats of green acrylic paint onto a strip of electrical tape and then stretched it around the fixture. For the black stripes, I cut thinner pieces down the length of the tape. To give the whole fixture a shiny, milk glass finish, I sprayed it with high gloss polyurethane. I have a low wattage bulb in my sconce so it doesn’t get very hot, but to test the spruced up fixture, I stuck it in a 200 degree oven for a couple of hours. It held up great!

(Images: Katie Steuernagle)

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before & after
decor & accessories
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