ol’ peg leg

I have been wanting to brighten up this neutral corner of our living room for sometime now.  I do love the lantern lamp and just about all of the accessories but not together.  The proportion of the lamp was just wrong and all of that brown was killing me.

IMG_1393

Then this man walked into my life…

vintage ship captain lamp

and everything was suddenly right in this corner.

milk paint table makeover & ship captain lamp

For those of you who follow me on instagram, you know that I fell in love with the peg leg ship captain lamp last weekend.  I spotted him last Friday at the most amazing hoarder sale that I’ve ever been to.  It was completely overwhelming.  So overwhelming that I left on Friday without ol’ Peg Leg.

I was so discontent knowing I left him behind.  I lost sleep over it that night.  The next morning I got up first thing and headed back to the sale thinking my treasure would be long gone.  I was so anxious to find out that I backed into a neighbor’s car pulling out of the driveway.

True story.

I can’t even believe I just admitted to hitting a parked car on the internet.  The mayhem was totally worth it though because when I returned to the sale, the ship captain was still there waiting for me.  All was right in the world!

I took him home with me and let the transformation begin in this little corner.

milk paint table makeover & ship captain lamp

I had been imagining the little oak side table in Mustard Seed Yellow milk paint for quite a while.  The captain influenced me to finally make the change.  He seems to have that power on me.

milk paint table makeover & ship captain lamp

Two coats of milk paint, a topcoat of MMS wax and a good buffing and here’s how the table turned out.  Her curves pop against all of the neutrals.

milk paint table makeover & ship captain lamp (12 of 21)

I’ve been planning to inject more yellow into this space to brighten up all of the browns, blues & greens.  In fact, I think I’m over the blue accent wall but that is a project for another day.  So I pulled some accessories I already had and I’m happy with the results.

milk paint table makeover & ship captain lamp

Ol’ Peg Leg’s lamp shade is new from Target’s Threshold collection.

milk paint table makeover & ship captain lamp

I moved the books to the lower shelf which I gave a dry coat of Eulalie’s Sky, a new milk paint color.  You can barely see the blue but it goes with the books I think.  I also filled this glass apothecary jar of my Grandmother’s with shells for that shelf.

milk paint table makeover & shells

We picked up this brass ship wheel barometer thingy on our honeymoon.  I have no idea how to use but I sure do love it.  Form over function, here.

antque brass barometer

We’ve had the vintage cage turned coffee table for a few years but the hooked rag rug below it is new.

milk paint table makeover & ship captain lamp

After doing a bunch of research on making a rag rug, I found one at Crate & Barrel and registered for it.  My friends got it for me for my shower!  I just love that it is made from recycled fabrics and I’m sure I could have never made one like it.

milk paint table makeover & ship captain lamp

What do you think?  Have you hit any good hoarder sales lately?

Linking to Miss Mustard Seed

4 thoughts on “ol’ peg leg

  1. Good morning,
    I hope your are doing well. The pics of your space are fantastic. I have been searching high and low for this exact lamp. It was available in the 70’s as a ceramic project by the New Holland company. The New Holland company was based in Trenton, NJ and closed their doors in 1997. There are a few of these gems floating around but they can be difficult to find. Usually an estate sale or ebay. My brother also had this lamp. Unfortunately it was recently broken during a move to a new apartment. As the person who was responsible for the loss, I would love to replace it. I can tell by your story that old peg leg has a special place in your life. Things have a way of changing, however, and I was hoping you would be willing to part with this amazing little guy. He would definitely be loved. When you have a few moments please let me know your thoughts.
    -Greg

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