” Blog

Desktop Lampshade Repair / Restore, NE Ohio

November 4, 2013 | Author: admin

A gentleman purchased this brass candlelight cluster desktop lamp at a resale shop. He contacted me for repairs to this very unique lamp. I can see why he was so intrigued with the lamp. This small desktop lamp has candle lights that swivel, a brass arrow that adjusts the shade height and a brass wreath finial. This lamp is a one of a kind find!

Brass Lamp with a Styrene Blackout Shade

Lampshade with Brass Arrow Height Adjuster and Brass Wreath Finial

Desktop Lamp with Cluster Candlelights that swivel

The shade is a blackout shade. No light passes through the lampshade. The light comes out of the top and the bottom of the shade. The construction of the shade is most unusual. Most all of these styrene shades (hard laminated material) have the top and bottom wires on the inside of the cover. This is the first I have worked on a shade that the wires were on the outside of the cover material. The wires were unusually thick. The original wire covering was a hard bronze colored cardboard.

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Desktop Lamp with Blackout Shade

The materials on the original shade are a thing of the past and the only restoring feature of this shade is in the construction.

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Blackout Lampshade for Desktop Lamp

After my gentleman customer receives his lamp back, I will post the pictures of the restore.

Lampshade Repair / Restoration, Stark County, Ohio

November 2, 2013 | Author: admin

This beautiful frame is a Kichler lampshade. It is covered with an ivory shantung. The liner was deteriorating. The owner of the lamp decided to replace the shade with something new. I was fortunate enough to get ahold of the shade before it was disposed of. The Kichler lampshade wire has such nice curves.

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Ivory Shantung Kichler Lampshade

An out of state customer contacted me. She had a beautiful lamp base but no shade. She sent me pictures of the lamp base and we matched up this lampshade to her base. The white glass lamp base has etched pink flowers, beige leaves and sits on a brass base.

White Glass Lamp Base with Pink and Beige Flower Accents on a Brass Base

I was able to save the original shantung cover on the lampshade frame and restored only the liner with a pink blush charmeuse silk. I added a metallic gold soutache accent trim. The blush pink liner will make for warm lighting. What an awesome save!

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Charmeuse Silk Pink Blush Lampshade Liner

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Silk Charmeuse Pink Blush Liner Repair

This Old Lampshade wire has such contour and the heavy duty frame is so very strong! I have to mention how very difficult it is to match a lampshade wire to an old lamp base. I look forward to seeing the shade and lamp base together. ( the shade is sitting on just a prop for pictures)

Lampshade Repair, Liner Repair on Pleated Shades

October 19, 2013 | Author: admin

PLeated Lampshade Liner Repair. This is a pair of pleated Cooper Lampshades. They are very nice shades covered with a high end cotton pleated fabric. The covers are in excellent condition but the liners are brittle and shredding.

Pleated Lampshade Liner Repair

Pleated Lampshade Liner Repair

Lampshade Liner Repair, Brittle Fabric

The liner on the left is puling away from the frame.

The shade on the right has a thumb hole from moving it.

Typically, I do not have much trouble removing the trim. Not is this case. The adhesive used to secure the trim has a rather permanent bonding effect on the fabric. Due to the secure bonding, pulling the trim off would have put holes in the fabric cover.

To be able to remove the liner without damaging the cover, I could only loosen the top of the trim. Just enough to be able to remove the liner and have enough room to reattach the new liner.

The liner has to be sewn due to the minimal working area. To sew through glue is a very difficult job.

Lampshade Repair, Victorian Figurine Shade

October 17, 2013 | Author: admin

My customer has received the repaired lampshade.

The lampshade has been restored with a Cream Ivory Silk Cover

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Victorian Figurine Cream Silk Cover

and a Gold Silk Liner.

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Figurine Victorian Lampshade with Gold Silk Liner

It is a beautiful figurine lampshade.

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Figurine Lampshade Repair

My customer is sending me pictures of the shade on the Figurine Lamp Base. When I get them, I will post the completed lamp.

Cannot wait to see the lamp!

Lampshade, Shade Repair, Victorian Messien Figurine Frame

October 12, 2013 | Author: admin

Boudoir Lampshade, Messien Figurine Lamp Shade Repair. Such a delicate lamp shade. I will be restoring this shade with a silk charneuse ivory cover and silk charmeuse gold liner.

I was able to save the original trim. The top fringe trim has such a delicate presence and is so complimentary to the frame.

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Figurine Lampshade Frame Repair

The original frame is painted. I do not remove or repaint the original frames unless they are pitted from rust. I do clean and wax the wire to protect it from rust. The rib wires (wires that are vertical on a lampshade) on this shade seem to be copper. The first I have seen. The rest of the wires on this frame are some other metal.

I left the original wrap on the top and bottom wires and wrapped over top of them with new twill. I have actually worked on a shade and the wrapping on the wire was a nylon (like a ladies hose), but most often it is a cotton wrap. I like to leave the original wrap.

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Messien Figurine Lampshade Wire

This is my current shade project and will post the finished shade after my customer has received her restored shade.

Lamp Shade, Victorian Fringe Lampshade Repair, Restore

October 10, 2013 | Author: admin

Victorian Fringe Lampshade Repair, Restored. The pictures speak for themselves. This is a pair of Crown Victorian fringed shades repaired with charmeuse silk. I used the original trim on these restored shades.

Lampshades-Victorian-Crown-Fringe-Repair

Original Victorian Crown Lampshades in need of Repairs

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Crown Victorian Repaired Lampshades

Removing the original trim to use on newly restored shades is a tedious service. But it is so worth it! It takes time and patience to remove the trim without damaging it and believe me, some trims seem like they are cemented onto the shade.

I used only a lint roller to clean the trim. The trim cleaned up just beautiful.

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Crown Victorian Fringed Silk Lampshade

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Crown Victorian Repaired Silk Lampshade

The cost savings in using original trim and frame is substantial.

Victorian Crown Lampshade Restore, NE Ohio

October 1, 2013 | Author: admin

Two Victorian Crown Lampshades in need of repairs. These shades are deteriorating due to age. I cannot say what the original cover fabric is, but the new cover will be charmeuse silk.

Victorian Crown Lampshades in need of Repairs

I was able to remove the original trim around the top, middle and bottom without damaging the trim. Removing old trim is a tedious job but well worth the time. The old trims are so pretty and cannot be replaced. The trim cleaned up very well with a lint roller, but it will never look new. It is slightly discolored from dust but in really good condition. It gives me great pleasure to be able to save something original and use it on the restored shade.

Victorian Lampshade Liner Deteriorating, Shredding

After taking off the trim, you can see the original cover was stapled onto the frame. It amazes me when I see staples on a shade. It just seems like it would be so hard to staple the material onto the frame and get a taunt fit. I see staples often.

Victorian Lampshade with Original Cover Stapled

I have another weekend on these shades and then should be able to post the restored shades.

Antique Bell Lampshade, Ohio Shade Restoration

September 22, 2013 | Author: admin

The Antique Bell Lampshade sits on a floor lamp. The original cover was very deteriorated and hard to tell if it was actually ivory or gold. Usually you can tell the original color of fabric under the trim, but that was not the case on this old lampshade. The liner was most definitely gold.

Antique Bell Lampshade restored with Ivory Silk

My customer wanted an ivory cover with a gold liner. I used an ivory charmeuse silk for the cover and gold charmeuse silk for the liner. It is a beautiful warm golden light.

Antique Bell Lampshade restored with a Gold Silk Liner

I was able to save the original trim. The original trim is old gold with metallic gold accents. The old trims are absolutely beautiful and impossible to duplicate. I was very pleased to be able reuse a piece of the original antique lampshade.

Antique Bell Lampshade with Ivory Cover and Gold Liner

RESTORED PLEATED FABRIC LAMPSHADES, NE OHIO

August 31, 2013 | Author: admin

These pair of small pleated shade covers were shredding. I removed the trim, liner then cover. The covers were splitting along the pleats. When I took a real close look, I believe they were paper, not actual material. I could tear them vertically along the pleats and horizontally, just like paper.

The new cover is a sheer fabric that I sent to a pleating company to pleat. The pleated material comes back with pleated paper on both sides of the material. The paper is to protect the material during the pleating process. I believe these manufactured shades were covered with this pleating paper.

Restored Mushroom Pleated Shades

These fabric shades have three layers and all layers are hand sewn. The new pleated fabric is very sheer so I first covered the frame with a fitted cover and then used the sheer pleated fabric. The liner is applied last on a shade.

Mushroom Pleated Lampshades Restored

Even though these shades are small, there is a lot of time and costly materials involved in restoring pleated shades.

STENCILED PIERCED LAMPSHADE LINER REPAIR, NE OHIO

August 22, 2013 | Author: admin

The liners have been replaced on these stenciled pierced lampshades. The tissue is a very different liner than anything I have ever worked with before. The stenciled pierced shade and liner is applied as one when they are made. I removed all the old liner tissue but there are still small remnants on the inside seam and near the top and bottom wires. I actually like that it is there. You can only see it if you look inside the shade. They are not visible when the light is on.

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Original Pierced Lampshade

You can see how dark the original liner is. There is so much work in these original shade covers.

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New Tissue Liner

The bottom wires, in particular, were really starting to rust. I cleaned and painted them with a primer to prevent any damage to the shades. Had the shades sat for much longer, the rust would have absolutely damaged the cover.

I reattached the wires with a twill. When putting something new on an aged shade it can appear out of sorts. I added a golden trim that matched the center of the flowers just perfect. It breaks up the new from the old and accents the original shade.

I was real happy with the finish. These shades are so pretty on and off.

Pierced Lampshades Restored with New Liner and Trim

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Original Pierced with New Liner and Trim

Lampshade Restoration