Ta DAAH!

I know you're an impatient group, so here ya go!
AFTER:

Now that you've had your fix, I can tell you the story (skip if you're nothing more than an "after" junkie ;) So, after weeks and weeks of what must have been the Rainy Season's last hurrah, we woke up Saturday to the most pristine weather - cool, dry air - not a cloud in the sky. Ya'll know I've been wanting to get my paint on with this French Provincial bureau for some time now... But I also had my dear junk-shop Pineapple Lamp waiting for some love. I decided to tackle both.
First, I needed a new lampshade. Keep in mind there are no one-stop shop Home Depots etc. down here. I had to visit a designated Lamp Store, followed by a designated Paint Store.
At the Lamp Shop, I immediately spied an espresso-colored drum shade I thought might work, but the shade could not be used with a harp - as my lamp had.
Mind you, I was minus one semi-fluent-in-Portuguese husband for this outing, so you should've seen the comedy show that was me trying to gather that:
A. I would need to rewire the lamp if I wanted THAT shade
B.
Yes, they could do it, but not today (Negative - I'm a horribly-impatient Americana)
C.
OK, my husband can re-wire for me, and NO, he won't electrocute himself in the process (Did I look THAT dumb?)
Thankfully, another customer who spoke some English offered to assist. Avery, meanwhile sat patiently in her stroller offering her help by counting the lampshades - in Spanish! Go figure!

So...I got my shade, got a new switch, a
nd a new "business" part of the lamp where the bulb goes. It took me close to 45 minutes to accomplish this task. It took Ben about 15 to re-wire the lamp. He wasn't real thrilled about me "documenting" his efforts...
And got me back a little later by clicking this...
What? You don't sand and paint in your yoga bra, Wayfarers, and circa early-90s gym shorts? Yeah...whenever I start to get a big head and think I'm a "cool Mom," I have these sorts of things to remind me...
So, anyway...had a little multi-tasking going on...

Ready to roll!
Watching paint dry. {dum, da dum...} **It took three coats and about 72 hours to get it just right**
So, another thing about "paint-projecting" down in Brazil is that you are almost required to use oil-based paint - at least if you want a color custom-mixed. I was NOT thrilled about that. It's been years since I've worked with oil, and wasn't looking forward to the fumes and tedious clean-up.
I am now, however, SOLD on it! Check out that glass-like finish? I've never achieved that much lacquedera with latex.
Here's a pic with a bit of the colorful Otomi coverlet I use in that room - see how much fun? I don't intend to leave the vintage poster there - I think I had that thing in my first apartment! What I hope to do is find or make a cool piece of original art to break up the white lamp base/white wall combo.In case you're wondering if I had any inspiration, why yes, of course!Ebay find via Girl Meets GlamourDesk by Jennifer Flanders
It was originally from Shades of Light, but it's no longer showing up on the site...bummer...

As for all the other "accessories," they include a couple of turtle shells (Ebay - not farmed), a PB alarm clock I've had for years, a little succulent pot, and an objet d'art (egg) my Mother picked up during one of her vacay-travels.
As you can see, I'm not a very talented table-scaper - you know it takes a lot of effort to make them look
effortless! I'd welcome any suggestions!
I originally planned to poll you guys on what I should do about hardware...I didn't know if I should change it out to something more fitting the irreverent color, paint the original hardware, etc. but, I cleaned up the brass, and think I'm really digging it...
It reminds me of turquoise and gold jewelry, which I adore!
So, there ya have it!
BEFORE:

AFTER:
Project accomplished!

Paying it Forward

A Design Departure...

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