Bookcase Sconce.

I was looking for a lighting solution for the back office.  I was going to make a little reading nook with a chair and side table.  And there was a plug-in perfectly situated so I wouldn't have to worry about any major electrical work.

Imagine my delight when I strolled into Goodwill and this beauty was awaiting me:

It was 3.99 but it had the special tag of the week, so that meant 50% off.  For two dollars I brought this bad boy home with me.  The clerk at Goodwill told me I could bring it back if it didn't work so I had a safety net if I didn't like it. 

I got home, put a bulb in, plugged it in......and.........nothing.  Whomp-whomp.  But I figured that when the husband got home he could take a look at it so I took it apart and made a mental note of the weird flap of metal near all of the scary wiring. 

As soon as the husband got home he took one look at it and said "I think it's one of those touch lamps."  Turns out sticking a bulb in it and plugging it in wasn't all I need to do. And that weird flap of metal was the sensor. Shows what I know about electrical components!  I put it back together and stuck a bulb in it and then.....tapped the side.  Worked like a charm, lol.

This brought about a new problem: Can you spray paint a touch lamp?  Google to the rescue and it turns out the answer is: Yes. And that's exactly what I did.

I used Rustoleum Ultra Cover 2X in Gloss Navy Blue.  This is my new spray paint obsession and I don't think I will use any other paint from now on. 

You will notice that the placement is a little different than I originally planned.  I decided that the middle of the room was a little lonely so I moved things around and came up with a seating arrangement in front of the bookcases.  I have seen sconces mounted to bookcase before, kind of like this:

Source

It was a perfect storm to mount my new sconce to the trim on the bookcase.  There was a considerable gap between the bookcases that we had covered up with the trim.  All we needed to do was run the plug through a hole in the trim and then plug it in.  A plug-in was conveniently located about a foot from the ceiling because there used to be a TV mounted to the wall at that height. You can see it here:

The only snag was the original cord wouldn't reach so my hubby switched it out with a cord he had on hand. 

My husband did all of the heavy lifting on this one because I was too busy standing in the corner with my eyes covered.  I was worried that I wouldn't like it and then we would have a bunch of large holes in the newly installed trim.  Turns out all that worry was for nothing because I love it!

I wanted something a little industrial looking for the "shade" part of it so when I spied this at Home Depot for 70 bucks I knew I could recreate it for cheaper:

Source

I searched around on the internet and found this site.  It had wire cages for bulbs and a very healthy selection of Edison bulbs. I am obsessed with Edison bulbs. The bulb was 3.75 and the cage was 5.00.   I ordered them both and tried to wait patiently.  I kind of guessed that the cage would fit over the sconce and it all worked out.  Lucky!

And all lit up:

From far away:

I am super happy with how it turned out and I can't wait until I find and re-do some chairs to go underneath it! 

Lindsay.

I linked up to Beth at Home Stories A to Z
I linked up to Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick