How To Paint A Frosted Glass Lamp Shade

Lamp shades, made of frosted glass, soften the light, diffuse them more evenly than clear lamp shades, and add to the unique quality of your lamp shades. Like the clear glass, you also can change the color of frosted glass or paint a design on it.

Changing Color

Paint cannot adhere correctly to any areas that are greasy. Therefore, wash the lamp shade to remove any grease or dirt, and then dry it completely.
Squeeze paint onto paper plate. Please paint the new color onto your shade with a 1-inch-wide flat art brush to change the color of your frosted lamp shade to a solid color.
Paint in the same direction and overlap each stroke. As paint will dry fairly quickly, you don’t need to overwork each area. Apply the second coat of the same color before the first coat dry.

Two-Color Texture

To get a more mottled paint treatment, you can choose two or more colors of paint. Squeeze the puddle of paint onto the paper plates, and one for each color.
Soak a sponge in water and wring it out. Dip a corner of it into one of the paint colors. Apply the paint to the clean portion of the paper plate. Use random patches over about half of the surface to dab the lamp.

Soak another sponge and pour it into the area that has not covered the new paint. When the first color is still wet, you need to apply a new paint to create a soft look, making the colors easy to blend. Let the first coat dry and apply a second coat of the same color, creating an edgier look.

Design Stencil

Attach a stencil to your clean lamp shade with the painters’ tape. Apply a small amount of paint onto a paper plate. Dip the tip of a stencil brush to swirl the paint around to evenly distribute the paint.

To remove some of the paint, you need to blot the brush onto a clean part of the paper plate. Apply paint in the openings of your stencil with circular motions. Remove the stencil immediately.
Clean the back and front of the stencil. Apply the stencil to another spot on the lamp shade. Let each color to dry before applying the next another color.

Warnings

Before stenciling or using a sea sponge on your lamp shade, you need to practice your design on a piece of paper.

Originally published at https://www.fisherlight.com on May 14, 2019.