"I love lamp"

As I implied the other day, I am a garage sale/flee market/thrift store junkie. [Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right?] I get giddy when I see a 'sale' sign.  It could just as well say 'adventure'. My cousin Megan and I are like Holms and Wattson or Indiana Jones and Crocodile Dundee (hey, they'd work great together if given the cance!), seeking treasure, mystery, and justice. I've found that wearing a hat aids in the feeling of intrigue and importance. My mother-in-law (who is quite an expert in the 'junking' field, herself), and I went to a Lutheran Church rummage sale last weekend, where we filled the back of her Subaru in short order. I got a floor lamp that isn't kidding (this baby's large and in charge). I didn't need another lamp...I actually need fewer than I have already. I think the obsession with lamps comes from the warmth and variety they add to a room- especially the vintage ones. *Don't worry, I've rewired the most dangerous specimens.  I've dabbled in ceiling fixtures and constructed a pendant in the summer kitchen, where I also have spare lamps chillin'. Quoting (not recommending), Anchor Man-- I LOVE LAMP. Anyway, here is a taste of my collection:

My long-lost-friend.  Andrew and I bought this lamp at a garage sale the summer after we were married, then I traded it to my sister Anna for a table and after eight years of being here and there, it's back in my living room.

From L to R: lamp and shade found seperately at a huge indoor 'event' a few weeks ago in Megan's town of Bemidji, MN; you may recognize that shade from the wrangling I did in Pierz last week, I just popped in on a shadeless lamp I've had in the closet for years (was a rusted brass that I spray painted gray); my squatty little pineapple lamp from a church sale last summer- I spray painted it white and capped it with a burlap shade from Tarjay.

Okay, so I guess both these pieces were bought new, but they were on super sale!  The shade is from Anthropologie.  The lamp is actually from the garage sale of a gal who owns a little boutique.

Lamp- old, from the same place as the gray one earlier.  Shade- new, I recovered it with sheer rosettes and a lot of hot glue.

Lamp- birthday gift from my brother, Isaac and sister-in-law, Jess (from Target, I think).  The shade is from this big creepy store in Dayton, OH called Mendlsons.  It's like a warehouse of old or rejected shelving and clothes and kitchen gadgets and underwear.

Church garage sale last summer.