I’m redecorating my entire living room with the money I made from selling my husband’s Vespa. A new burgundy sectional from Macy’s sucked up almost all the cash, leaving me to scrounge for the remaining pieces at garage sales and thrift stores.
Right now I’m restoring two cast iron floor lamps, at right. I’m hesitant to call them antiques, as that implies they are rare and/or valuable. It’s true that restored iron lamps sell for as much as $1,200 online, but I picked these up for $50 total from a local consignment store. I doubt they are of much value.
You can see which one I’ve already restored! I scrubbed away a coat of rust and metallic paint with a steel brush before wiping it down with mineral oil, which will prevent new rust from accumulating. The scrubbing process took about 3 hours.
My costs for this project include:
- Two iron floor lamps for $50
- Steel brush from Home Depot for $2.97
- Mineral oil from CVS for $4.97
- Two new lamp shades (one came with no shade at all, the other came with an opaque white glass shade) for $12 total at Ocean State Job Lot (a store similar to Big Lots)
- No wiring kits needed as both worked when I bought them
Total cost: $69.94 for two beautiful, working floor lamps!
What home projects are you doing to save money?
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
I came here because of an email that I might have one $100.00 from Fundadoodle. Can’t find a connection here. Love the lamps.
I think it looks great! I hope you show full pictures of them both once they are finished. I love doing projects like this one.
I’d like to see full pictures of the lamps. They look great so far. Did you paint them too? If yes, what did you use?
I’d like to see photos of the entire living room when it’s finished! You might include Lucy as a centerpiece!! LOL BTW ~ Love the look of the shiny lampstand!
I saw some burlap shell/starr hangings at a fancy store in OC; how am I saving money? I went to a fabric warehouse, got some burlap (on sale no less) and already have the starfish. This is going into my bedroom,
@di I’d love to see the finished product. Will post pictures of my finished lamps, too.
The second lamp is taking me awhile because what I’ve discovered under the coat of rust and dirt isn’t so pretty. Now I need to sand the entire thing AGAIN with emery cloth. I hope this events out the metal’s look. Otherwise, it’s going to be coated with spray paint.
You are foolish to think that they would not be worth much just because they practically cost you nothing. My father recently picked up a watch for 1$ from a yard sale; the value – about 1k$. Now on to your “restoration” – do you ever in your life watch Antiques Roadshow??? What you’re doing is devaluing them!!! You should have had them looked at and then if needed, treated by a professional conservator.