Not Your Average Old Lamp Makeover with Interference Paint Drip Effect

Don’t just spray paint another old lamp. Give it a new life with this easy and eye catching iridescent interference paint drip effect!

It was one of the first Pinterest projects (and one of my first blog posts) I ever tackled:

Spray painting a thrift store lamp.

And boy, you would have thought that I had just built myself a piece of furniture I was that impressed with myself.

Since then, I have spray painted many thrift store lamps. 9 as a matter of fact. I refuse to buy lamps retail anymore.

So when I spotted a pair of these art deco looking babies on SUPER clearance (they were 80% off an already cheap price!) I didn’t want to go the typical let’s spray paint another lamp route.

Enter DecoArt’s Enchanted Iridescent paint. It’s an interference paint which, in short, means that the color changes slightly depending on the angle you look at it because of the way that it refracts and reflects light.

When I started playing around with this super cool iridescent top coat acrylic paint, I knew exactly what technique I wanted to use.

A paint drip lamp!

I’m a big fan of a good paint drip effect, and I had yet to attempt one on a piece of furniture.

I was so pleasantly surprised with how these lamps turned out. It was kind of an experimental process since I had never done it before.

And it was so easy! Here’s how you can try this technique for yourself with an old lamp or thrift store find…

DIY Iridescent Paint Drip Old Lamp Makeover

Supplies Needed:

• Old Lamp
• Americana Enchanted Iridescent Topcoat Acrylic Paint in Any Color
• Americana Enchanted Ultra Black Basecoat Acrylic Paint
• DecoArt Paint Adhesion Medium
• Primer
• Satin Spray Sealant
• Liquid Gold Leaf Paint (optional)
• Painters Tape

Tools Needed:

• Soft Bristle Paint Brushes
• Mixing Cups

Step 1: Clean and protect the lamps

Using painters tape, protect all the areas of the lamp you don’t want to get paint on.

Clean the areas of ceramic well to remove any dust, dirt, or grime.

Step 2: Prep and prime the lamps

Give the lamps a coat of primer to help prepare the surface of the lamps for whatever type of lamp you’re using: ceramic, brass, wood, plastic, etc.

Step 3: Paint the base coat of the lamps

Begin by giving the Americana Enchanted Ultra Black Basecoat a good shake and mixing it with DecoArt Paint Adhesion Medium in a 1:1 ratio. This will ensure that the paint sticks well to the slippery surface of the ceramic.

Then, take that mixture and combine with some water in a 1:2 ratio (more water than paint). Adding water will make sure the black adheres smoothly and evenly.

PRO TIP: The water helps keep the paint wet so that as you’re painting it doesn’t dry too quickly and create brush strokes and ridges!

Paint the lamps using long, even strokes. Don’t load up your brush too full or you’ll have drips to deal with.

Make sure each coat dries completely before moving on to the next.

Because I used a white primer, my lamps took approximately 4 coats of the black to be completely covered.

Don’t worry, this step does go really fast even with multiple coats because they dry quickly!

Step 4: Apply the iridescent paint drip effect

Start by mixing the Americana Enchanted Iridescent Topcoat Acrylic in a 1:4 ratio with more water than paint.

You will be building this ratio up adding more and more paint as you go, so you need to start with it pretty watery.

Begin by painting the top 80-90% of the lamp with a coat of the thinnest iridescent top coat/water mixture using a soft paint brush.

Make sure the bottom line isn’t harsh, although it should blend well no matter what because this layer is so thin.

Then, apply paint to the top of the lamp generously letting the excess paint drip down organically.

If you want to nudge the drips, use your paintbrush to gently manipulate the paint/water mixture.

Pro Tip: You might have a few air bubbles during this step. Blow gently to pop the bubbles.

Let dry completely.

Step 5: Gradually build up the iridescent paint drips

Add a little bit more iridescent paint to the water/paint mixture and repeat the drip process. Let that coat dry completely.

I repeated this step two more times (adding more paint each time) for a total of 4 different drips.

There isn’t a hard and fast rule to how much paint to add each time, or how many coats to do. This is really all about your personal taste and preference.

Step 6: Seal the lamps

Give the lamps a coat of satin finish sealant. Once dry, remove the painters tape.

Pro Tip: Make sure you remove the painter’s tape as soon as you can after this step, especially if your lamp has a brass base. Because you are using watered down drippy coats of paint, some moisture will seep under the protective layers of painters tape no matter how well you tape it. Removing the tape will make sure the moisture doesn’t sit on the brass too long and create rust.

Step 7: (Optional) Paint the lamp base and neck

The neck of my lamp and the base were a really brassy gold.

I decided to give both a coat of liquid gold leaf for a more rich, deep gold tone.

If you learn better through video, make sure you check out the video tutorial above on this iridescent paint drip effect!

You might still be wondering…

Can I paint a lamp with acrylic paint?

Short answer: Yes. But you’ll need to do a few things to make sure it adheres and doesn’t chip such as using DecoArt Paint Adhesion Medium.

Can I spray paint a metal lamp base?

You definitely can spray paint a metal lamp base, but I prefer to use liquid gold leaf.

All in all, to say that I am happy with these lamps is the understatement of the year. I am in LOVE, and they match my new bed perfectly 🙂 I love how they change with the light!

Americana Enchanted Iridescent Topcoat Acrylic comes in 5 shimmering gorgeous colors and the Ultra Black basecoat.

Americana Enchanted also comes in 5 Enchanted Iridescent Shimmer shades, now available at Michaels!

This post was sponsored by DecoArt, all opinions are my own.