flea market find

Bonnie Walker
Jul 12, 2016
2 min read

Let me just start by saying that I owe this find to my mother. To kick off summer, she and I went to a flea market that a local antique store was hosting on a sunny Saturday morning. I love flea markets, I really do. But I have come to realize that the hotter and sweatier I am when shopping outside, the more likely I am to skim over pieces with real potential, usually because I'm preoccupied with whether or not I'm getting sunburnt. #palepeopleprobs

But luckily, Mom saw what I did not. In a concrete lot of makeshift tents overflowing with poor man's treasures, she saw this lamp. Now, I wish I had taken a picture of it so you could see what it was surrounded by - broken picture frames and detached doll heads, not exactly an appealing atmosphere! It had a large empty glass base with a makeshift cork in the top holding the lightbulb and harp and it was topped with an southwestern, aztec-ish woven lamp shade. (read: not my taste) But my mother pointed out that the cork could be removed from the top, leaving roughly a 3" opening through which I could fill the base of the lamp with various seasonal items. And as I have recently learned about myself, I am always craving a way to change, adjust, or freshen my spaces. So the idea of changing out the interior of a lamp is so much simpler than replacing furniture or altering wall displays (which is what I am more inclined to do.)

There was no price listed so I asked the vendor and immediate response was "Oh I know, isn't it wonderful? That lampshade is just the absolute best! It's gorgeous and so versatile too!"

I definitely gave her points for her marketing skills, but I had already decided I was only interested in the base. So as kindly as I could I said "Oh, yes it is nice, but I don't think I would keep it. I love the base though! I just don't think the shade would work with my home."

She was very sweet and accommodating and sold me just the base and light structure (sans shade) for a mere $10 (fist pump!) So I took it home, had my mom help me pick up a lampshade from HomeGoods (my go to for all things lighting), and snagged a faux greenery garland from Michael's to fill the base for the remainder of summer. And voila! It gives extra light + greenery to my living room and really couldn't make me happier.