Repurposed Lamp Metal Plant Stand

If you’ve ever come across an outdated lamp and thought, “There’s got to be a way to repurpose that,” you’re in the right place. This project is all about turning old lamps into one-of-a-kind plant stands. It’s a simple makeover that gives new purpose to forgotten lighting—and creates a charming way to show off your favorite plants indoors or out.

Let’s see how I transformed these misfit lamps.

Junky Lamps

I have a thing for cheap lamps. I just can’t help but buy broken lamps of all sorts.

Assess Your Thrift Store Lamps

A few of the lamps had already been painted, then put in storage and never repurposed. You can see tools handy for this lamp base project, including vice grips, pliers, and wire snips.

Mix and Match Lamp Parts

First, I started mixing and matching lamp parts to see if I could add interest to any of the upcycled lamps.

Remove All Wiring

The very tall lamp still needed its wiring to be removed. This is where the snips come in handy. Whenever I part out a lamp, I save all the bits and pieces for future projects. If the lamp has good wiring, a socket, and a plug, I save those, too. In this case, the wiring and plug were very old and not worth saving.

Generally, to gut a repurposed lamp, you need to work on the base and the socket simultaneously. They both are connected to the threaded rod that runs through the entire lamp.

Clean and Sand Where Necessary

This lamp base was a simple fix. I added a small top piece that I found in my stash. See why it is handy to keep nuts and washers from past projects?

Here’s my messy collection of used lamp parts. That large bell-shaped piece was dismantled to be used on one of my lamp candlesticks.

This piece needed to be sanded and cleaned well before it was ready to be painted.

The large spray shelter can be used for spray painting and when using your Finish Max paint sprayers.

In this case, a chalky paint primer was mixed for use with the Super Finish Max. Elevating your items on sawhorses makes the task easier.

Painted Repurposed Lamps

So, spray a coat of black paint, then add the top coat of the chalky paint.

How to Distress With an Emery Board

I’ve been using these emery boards, which I bought on Amazon, for years. Using the emery boards for distressing gives you more control than sandpaper on small areas. This is especially helpful when you want subtle distressing. I continued with this technique on the other two repurposed metal plant stands.

Repurposed Lamp Metal Plant Stands

Do you love them as much as I do? They currently reside in my hallway, and I smile when walking by them. The light distressing is a difficult choice—it is tough to know when to stop.

Candle Holders made from Repurposed Lamps

I have to say that I don’t love them as much as candle holders. What do you think? How would you use these repurposed lamps?

gail

See more upcycled lamp ideas here