I spent 4 weekends stripping my grandma's 1976 lampshade and it's still ugly

My grandma passed last spring and I inherited this lamp with a beaded shade that looks like a melted disco ball. The beads are glued on with something that smells like nail polish remover and they're half falling off, so I figured I'd clean it up. Three weekends of picking beads, scraping adhesive, and using every solvent I own, and the shade still has this weird brown stain that won't budge. Yesterday I finally checked the inside and found a label saying it was hand-painted in 1976 with enamel, which explains why nothing touches it. I honestly think I should just accept it as a permanent fixture in my guest room and call it a conversation piece. Has anyone else dealt with vintage items that fought you the whole way, or am I just stubborn about junk? I'm this close to just covering the stain with a tassel and moving on.

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1 Comment

logan_white5924d ago

Tbh, you got my full respect for putting in that much effort on something most people woulda tossed in a dumpster by weekend one. That enamel stain is basically a brick wall, and you've already fought harder than that shade deserves. Slap a tassel on it and call it grandma's legacy, that's not giving up, that's just working smarter. I've had a couple old pieces that ended up winning the fight too, and sometimes the stain becomes the story. At least now you know for sure it's not coming out, so you can finally relax about it.