Tripod Lamp ~ Restoration Hardware & Pottery Barn Beware!

Have any of you seen the Restoration Hardware Source Book?  It has some really provocative home furnishing photos...I highly recommend it.

The minute I heard they were coming out with their own furniture line I went to their website and ordered the catalog.  This catalog is 600+ pages of vintage inspired, rustic, neutral, dreamy goodness...all shot in a moody, masculine and yet somewhat ethereal fashion. 

Oh the power of staging, lighting and good photography.

I have to admit ~ there aren't too many items in this catalog that I would turn down.  I would definitely have to pair them with some light and bright walls, textiles and accessories though.  I'm just not totally sold on the dark, somewhat gloomy, altogether masculine look they have going on. 

Here is one of the pieces that caught my eye:

"A REPRODUCTION OF A BRITISH SURVEYOR'S TRIPOD , CRAFTED OF WOOD WITH SOLID CAST BRASS ACCENTS."

TABLE LAMP $350
FLOOR LAMP $1175


I don't know about you, but that's waaaaaaay out of my budget.  Ha.  I have not paid $1000 for ANY piece of furniture...not one thing. 

Then, we found a Spotlight Floor Lamp in Pottery Barn's January catalog, priced at a mere $599.

Okay, I know that I'm giving myself away as a cheapskate  seriously thrifty person now.

You probably already know we like to shop thrift stores, yard sales, junk stores and flea markets.  Every so often we head out with a mental list of things we are hoping to come across.  I had my chandelier shades on my mental list for months before I finally found 6 matching shades for 99 cents each.  Wasn't really confident I would ever find them.  That's how I felt about finding a wooden tripod also.  So, I just about fainted when Scott casually walked up with a wooden tripod in his hands and said, "Hey, look what I found...".

 YEP.  Serious.

He found an old, wooden, tripod easel with extendable legs for a whopping $3.99 at our local GW store.  Sometimes it seems like the stars align in our favor!  At this point our fellow GW shoppers were gawking at us...I do believe I might have let out a little squeal.  I actually grabbed Scott and hugged him (he didn't complain) and told him how completely fabulous he was.  I'm pretty sure he was thinking, "Wow, I guess Sherry really wanted an old, wooden, tripod easel."  Sometimes Scott just doesn't share my vision.  It's not his fault...he's a visual person...I just needed to show him. 

When we got home, I grabbed my 20 pound Restoration Hardware catalog and flipped through until I found the picture of the tripod lamp (see the pictures above).  Scott was impressed.  Well, actually he said the price on those lamps was "ridiculous"!  But he quickly ran down to a place in town that has a bunch of "junk" for sale ~ for next to nothing ~ and picked up this beauty for a buck:

It was dismantled in a flash so he could use the parts for our tripod lamp.  Once he's got it, he's unstoppable.

Alex helping drill the hole for the lamp workings.

Scott getting it all put together.

It's not as "chunky" or fitted with "solid cast brass" but it definitely has the right vibe about it.

The lampshade came from GW also...it was $2.99.  It appears brand new...it had a small smudge on it.  It isn't quite the right size or shape but it will do until we can get the perfect one.

The new lamp fixtures are a rusty brass and the tripod metal is a matte nickel color...also slightly rusty.  Hey, I heard it's okay to mix your metals now...if you do it correctly.  I wonder if rusty brass and rusty nickel can go together?  I might have to put a darker stain finish on the wood to get it looking just the way I want.  We decided to live with it for a couple of days to see what we thought would look the best.  Should we spray all the metal pieces a uniform metallic finish?  What would you do?

Turned out pretty nice for a $3.99 lamp, $2.99 shade, approximately $3.00 in miscellaneous hardware, and a $1 junk lamp.



Looks pretty smashing here in my craft room...  ;)
1.

 What outlandishly expensive item would you recreate if you could?

Sherry