Quest for a Black Lamp Shade

I never knew buying a lamp shade could be such a difficult thing, but it is. Since I bought a pair of gorgeous vintage lamps, without shades, I did not know for sure what size I needed to purchase or even what particular style would look good with the lamp base.I was open to new possibilities. In my minds eye, I pictured a couple looks that I thought would look good but kept changing my mind. Eventually, I decided I wanted a uniform look to match my new floor lamp, so the shade would have to be black. I thought it was a drum style shade I wanted but the shade isn't totally straight vertically like the drum style is. It is slightly flared out on the bottom. I think it is a barrel style which is very similar. It really is confusing how many different names they have for a style/shape of a lamp shade. Not to mention all the different types of fittings they have and apparently the most common type of fitting is now almost impossible to find!! That has made my task rather daunting!!

 


My lamps in the first picture have a harp and a beautiful crystal/lucite finial, so they require a spider fitting to attach the shade. Most lamp shades have a spider fitting that the shade sits on and then you screw in your finial. I ordered 2 cute black lampshades with a silver metallic lining from Target and was so excited to open the box and try them out on my lamps. I couldn't wait for a visit from Mr. Mailman and when he did finally visit, boy, was I disappointed!! I tore open the box and found out that had a Euro fitting, one where you cannot use a harp or finial because the light bulb screws into place to hold down the fitting for the shade.Now I could have removed the harp and not used the finial and I could have made it work,but I loved the finial and didn't want to lose the look of it. So rather than send the shades back to Target, I thought I would drive to the nearest one to return them to see what else they had. I always loved Target and since we don't have one in my town, I always jump at the chance to go to one.But oh, my quest had really just begun!!


So my boyfriend and I took a ride to Target and returned the black lamp shades. Now off to find ones that fit. Hopefully,I will find one in a similar shape to my floor lamp, pictured above. So we find the lamp/lamp shade aisle and I am not feeling too confident. One aisle from top to bottom had nothing but lamp shades with Euro fitters. One tiny section, with maybe half a dozen shades with the spider fitting,only one black and it is way too huge. Everything they had in this tiny section was huge shades,like floor lamp size, not for table lamps.So I was rather disappointed with Target.I went to a few other stores and also didn't find anything.

 A friend recommended I try Hobby Lobby, so I was eager to see what they had. Hobby Lobby recently opened up in my town and from what I had seen, I really liked their home decor items, so I was hoping that they had what I needed for my living room lamps. I am sad to say, they had a million and one lamp shades with Euro fittings and very little with the spider fitting that I so desperately needed. There was not one lamp shade I liked that I could use....they were all some form of brown and you know how I feel about brown!!! LOL I have been keeping my eye out online but most websites do not specify what type of fitting and I am not having a repeat of the Target incident. I don't know what I will do next but am open to suggestions. One thing is I don't want to spend a lot on a plain lamp shade. I spent over $50 on my bedroom shades and they are gorgeous but were way more than I wanted to spend....if they didn't tie everything together so well in my bedroom, I never would have splurged. My comforter set cost less!! (lol I bought a second hand one on ebay.) 

So now I am on a Quest...for the Holy Grail of cute black lamp shades!! At least that is what it feels like to me. I never realized this could be such a difficult task, but I would like to have the new shades before my new furniture gets here, I have some time....maybe a month, give or take a week either way to find them but it is just annoying looking at a bright bare light bulb. I have so many cute touches I want to add to my lamp shades once I find them and I can't wait to get started but until I find what I need I will have to. In all my research, I found for some reason spider fittings for lamps seem to be going the way of the dinosaur and the Euro/uno fitters seem to be the new kids on the block. Also, while out shade shopping, I found some other goodies for the living room that I will share in my next blog which I will devote to accessories. Until next time....xo

                                                                                                                                                         

Project Living Room:Part 3 (Update)

It has been a while since my last post concerning Project Living Room, so I thought I would give you an update on the progress. I have had several  personal issues that required my immediate attention dropped on my lap, so I have had to spend my time tending to other parts of my life. Hopefully, everything will all be fully taken care of by next week and then I can blog more. Yay!! I have felt like a juggler who is about ready to drop a bowling pin!! Not good. 


Thanks to my very dear friend,Mr. Mailman, I have another lovely little addition to my living room. And I have no idea who my mailman is or what he even looks like but when I hit Amazon or Ebay,his visits tend to be quite frequent, evident by the boxes blocking traffic in front of my screen door! I need an ottoman and the one ordered with my new living room suite will not be here until mid-April at least, so I found a simple, but really cute ottoman to use in the meantime. It can probably be used as an extra seat in a pinch. It is so me!!

The ottoman is black velveteen with rhinestone/crystal buttons. I love it!! It feels very firm and is actually higher than my sofa.I haven't truly used it other than propping my feet up momentarily in the excitement of it's arrival. I am sure it will get used very soon. It might be a bit of a tight squeeze once my furniture gets here, but I thought it was small enough to fit in a corner somewhere or at the bottom of my coat closet. I must say it is the most elegant ottoman I have ever seen! Never before in my life did I ever think I would get giddy over an ottoman!! 

The majority of what I have planned for my living room is still on order or in the process of being shipped,however, a few new pieces are already being used. I can't believe I got such a fashionable,cute rug at Walmart for under $40 and it is a 5'x7'. They have a few cute styles in various colors at this price point but I chose the classic"black and white". 

The above pictures are samples and did not come from my actual living room. But, I will  be posting pics as soon as the room is finished. I so love the rugs striking bold geometric pattern. I am seeing it everywhere online. I even saw an almost exact copy of this pattern rug on Joan Rivers' Fashion Police show on E! I was bowled over that my taste was now that popular. When I decided to decorate my place in the "Hollywood Regency" style, it was not mainstream at all. I have loved it for years before I even knew there was a name for it! This quatrefoil or ogee curve pattern is becoming a favorite of mine. I found matching pillow covers, as well. I need to order pillow fillers from good ol' Wally World. They have them in a 2 pack for around $7-8. 

So it seems like things are fitting into place nicely. I managed to find a similar patterned runner for by the front door and a small 2'x3' to go in front of the sliding glass door leading to the balcony. There were no other sizes of the area rug I purchased and the ones I found that matched my pattern and had various sizes,  costed more than the area rug I bought itself, so I decided against those. Besides, it is my opinion that such a large bold print , all over,in such a small space would be over kill. The same geometric print in different sizes I felt might work. I also limited the number of patterns over all in my living room for the same reason, overkill. I found these similar rugs also online from Walmart and they were cheap like under $10 a piece and the difference is the pattern is on a smaller,less bold scale and the white is not as bright. The website says it is beige and depending on the light, it looks either beige or a slightly off-white. I think these should work despite the differences. Plus, I wasn't wanting my look to be too "cookie-cuttery". You know, everything matching perfectly. Matching details I love but a bit of variety is good too. I want my room to look like I choose every item in it carefully,not like I just bought out an entire collection from a going out of business sale!! 

So I am still waiting for my entertainment unit/console. It is due to be delivered later on this month and I am very,very anxious as I ordered it in January.I cannot fathom why the shipping is taking so long. To see the piece I am referring to,please read my "Project Living Room:Part 1". Also, I am waiting on my living room suite, which is on back order and due to come into their warehouse in mid-April. Thinking back, I do not think I ever revealed which set I decided to go with. I posted pics of both contenders on my "Project Living Room:Part 2" blog. I was torn between a very good priced,gray velvet tufted, 2nd hand sofa, I found on craigslist. I also knew where I could order the matching chair, but it had no ottoman. And the second choice,but first love, was the gray tufted sofa with the gorgeous rolled arms from Macy's. I knew which one I really wanted in my heart, but was trying to stick to a smaller budget. A friend advised me to go with my heart because the price difference was not that huge, in her opinion and she shared her own experience of buying a living room set. She spent more money than me, but hated her set. She taught me to love what you buy or rather BUY what you LOVE!! I am going to be the one who has to live with it and sit and look at it every single day, so the choice became simple....I am happy to announce that I went with the Macy's set!! The reviews of the set were all 5 stars or else I would have had a very difficult time buying a sofa sight unseen. That still is a bit weird to me,but I am confident with Macys. The sofa is so popular it is on back order, so that is what is holding up my order. I can't wait until it gets here.

 Meanwhile, I am trying to be patient and trying to find some artwork to hang on the wall. I also am trying to nail down an accent color for the living room. I originally thought red because it goes so well with black and white and gray, but I feel that is so overdone. I was thinking of some more modern color palettes, like maybe hot pink or turquoise. I love the color aubergine/eggplant, you know a dark purple but feel it would be too dark a choice but a muted version might look very elegant next to silver/gray. I also am loving yellow with gray! It looks so fresh and clean, especially with white in the room. I don't have a lot of white,more black but I am shocked how much I am digging the color yellow. Now the color gold, either metallic or not, I love! I used to have my old living room painted gold,unfortunately, the apt. complex where I live, does not allow tenants to paint. Everything is painted a horrible off-white color, so to me, everything looks dirty and in need of painting all the time. And we are forced to live with it. A bright stark white would look so much better to me, perhaps with some gloss to it. I don't care for this matte paint they chose for all the apartments. Anyway, until next time I will be trying to come up with some accent color ideas. If anyone has any suggestions , please just let me know in the comments section. Thanks xo