Fantastic Way to Heighten & Beautify a Lamp: 3 Easy Steps

A white barrel lampshade with a round paper napkin decoupaged, with a pink peony pattern. A fantastic way to heighten and beautify a lamp.

In my art room lighting is important….as you can imagine. But finding a functional fun lamp is a challenge. I had one of my own favorites which I purchased several years back at a local thrift store. It merely cost just a couple of dollars, so I could not pass it up. It is colorful, quirky, and it actually works. It’s a chartreuse ceramic gondola lamp made between the 1940s and 1950s. The only downfall is it is a very short lamp. So in order to use it for appropriate lighting on my work table, it had to be taller. All I needed was a fantastic way to heighten and beautify my lamp.

A ceramic, chartreuse, vintage, gondola lamp waiting to be heightened and beautified.

My first thought was just to use a stack of books to add height. But I’d really have to have a super tall stack in order for it to work. I can still use a few books but I also need to add something more. Looking through my excess supplies of goodies, I came up with an idea. I had an extra lampshade, and an extra ceramic turquoise bowl, that had a chip in it. An idea quickly came to me. All I needed was a hot glue gun (paid link), some Mod Podge, and a decorative paper napkin.

Adding hot glue to the bottom of a bowl.

Three Easy Steps to heighten a Beautify a Vintage Lamp

Step 1. I flipped the bowl over and applied hot glue to the base. Then put the base of the lamp on top of the hot glue. Step 1 Complete!

A fantastic way to heighten and beautify a lamp. This ceramic chartreuse gondola lamp has a ceramic turquoise bowl glued to the bottom.

Step 2. I applied a decorative round floral napkin to the front and back of the shade. It had a pink peony floral design. Importantly, I used matte Mod Podge (paid link), to get the finish I wanted. I applied it to the front and back of the paper napkin. It took 2 hours for the shade to dry, and then it was ready to go. Step 2 complete!

Painting Mod Podge onto a paper napkin, onto a lampshade.

Step 3. I attached the shade to the lamp, twisted in a lightbulb, and stood back…WOW! Now the project is complete.

There you have it! What a fantastic way to heighten and beautify a lamp. It’s quick and easy! You can enhance and add pizzazz to a light you already own and give it a totally different look. The best part is you will own a one-of-a-kind lamp, created by YOU! So, give it a try!