How I Restored & Styled My Grandfather’s Antique Oil Lamp

Welcome back to this month’s Thrifty Decor Team Challenge where a bunch of us thrifty girls love to show off how we decorate our home with affordable ideas. You can find all 8 makeovers at the end of this post, but first up is “How I Restored & Styled My Grandfather’s Vintage Oil Lamp”. My beautiful mom inherited the antique oil lamp from her dad back in the 60’s when I was a baby. Here’s a look back to those simpler days….

That’s me as an infant with my mom in the summer of 1969, and I think my dad probably took the photo. You can see my mom trying to “Shh!” him while she finally got me to sleep after my bottle 😆. Once you notice the baby bottle, I am sure your eyes will see the beautiful oil lamp that my grandfather turned into an electric lamp that you plug in. You can’t tell yet, but wait until you see what color the lamp shade use to be…

How I Restored & Styled My Grandfather’s Vintage Oil Lamp

I grew up with the “yellow lamp” in our family living room in the 70’s and it watched me watching the Brady Bunch while sitting on that round pedestal table (in the photo above) that I actually inherited, too. This bright canary yellow is common for antique oil lamps, but was honestly never a favorite of mine especially when I finally received the lamp from my loving sister a few years ago. Thankfully, my sister and her girlfriend cleaned the brass so it looked beautiful, so I tried to incorporate the bright yellow color into our home. Unfortunately though, it never felt quite right so I thought to myself there has got to be something I can do to tone it down a little without taking away it’s charm, or history. I finally looked up lamp shade replacement parts (see photo below) although I must admit, I didn’t think my grandfather would approve. At least not until he saw the new one anyway 😊…

I don’t quite remember how much I paid for the new glass shade, but I don’t think it was much (if you try this be sure to measure the base of the shade and the height). I’ll never know for sure if Cy would approve of the new shade, but in my heart it just felt right. Here’s “Cyril” my grandfather as young man. This one’s for you, Cy! I never had the opportunity to meet my papa because he only lived to be 52. He passed 3 years before I was born, but I was told by mom many times that I inherited his love for everything “home”. Okay, so now that you know the history, let’s get to the finished lamp…

The Oil Lamp’s New Look & Styling it for Our Home

Although the original canary yellow lamp shade is still in perfect condition if I decide to switch it back, I fell in love with the soft glow of the amber glass shade for our home. I styled it up against a charcoal painted wall in our family room and it’s the first light I turn on every single day when dusk falls, and it’s the last lamp I turn off before calling it a day. I almost forgot to mention that we also took the lamp to a lamp restoration shop and had the wiring my grandfather did redone because the wires were looking a bit worn and we were were concerned about it’s safety. So, what do you think of it? The “canary” yellow lamp shade might be put away for now, and my mom’s two ceramic canaries don’t clash with it any more. Yippee!