Is it Normal?

Is it normal that a $2.00 thrift store chandelier would be the catalyst for an entire room makeover?  Apparently for me it is. 

Our office leaves much to be desired.  We have a huge, bulky desk in the room, 2 office chairs, a couch, and DJ equipment...more on that one later.  This Home Depot special is the only light that we've had in the office for the past 6 years.



So I found this chandelier for $2.00 at a thrift store and knew I would be able to do something with it.  Thanks to Michelle at Three Men and a Lady for her inspiration.  The poor sales guy was very concerned about it being broken and did I really want a broken lamp.  I just smiled and handed over my $2.00

So we removed the glass shade and hung it outside.

I used Rustoleum lacquer spray paint in white.

I found a linen lampshade at TJMaxx for $7.00 and was so excited that the total cost of this project was $9.00.  I put the lampshade back on and my husband hung it for me.  I went to bed, so happy.  You know that happy when something is accomplished.  I sometimes even lose sleep over it.  

And then I woke up to a little note taped to the light switch.  I think your lamp is a fire hazard, it smells like burning plastic.  This is what I found...

The 8, 60 watt bulbs melted the lampshade.  Maybe the 480 plus watts were too much?  What was I thinking.  So my Saturday was spent looking for a new, bigger drum lampshade.  I searched the Internet, all stores that carry lampshades and nothing.  I found a local shop that custom makes lampshades, Artistic Plus.  The sales lady was great, but the prices were just too much.  Remember, this is a $2.00 lamp.  All shades were $55.00 for the ones in the store and $70.00 for custom made.  The fabrics on the ones there were not really what I was looking at.  So the $70 plus fabric was looking like my only choice.  The sales lady actually LENT me one of the drum lampshades to check for size and color in my room.  So I brought it home and was not in love. 

So Sunday morning I took a trip to Goodwill just to check and as luck would have it, sitting on a shelf a drum lampshade.  I passed quickly, picked it up and kept walking. I really didn't even look at it, I think the shock was too much.  So after carrying it around for a couple of minutes, I actually looked down at what I was holding.  An 18 inch drum lampshade, wrapped in original packaging with tags, in a beige silk. This is too much, first the owl and now this.  There had to be a catch, maybe an outlandish price as sometimes happens at Goodwill.  So I searched for the little black marker and found it $5.00. Yes, $5.00. So I brought it home and here it is sitting next to the $55.00 one.  It's the one on the left and actually the color works so much better for what I am looking to do in the office.

So now, it has to be taken down and hung again with the new $5.00 shade.  My poor husband...I think I drive him crazy.

So thanks to my new chandelier, I will be redoing my office. I am so excited.