‘Skeleton’ lamp shades

Just put these two little cuties out in our space at Stars:

The bases do NOT match, but are very similar.  Once both were repainted black, and paired up with the matching ‘skeleton’ shades, you hardly even notice the difference.

Just about any lamp/shade can be made into this style.  Size/proportion is what’s most important.   It takes a lot of hunting to find the perfect match like I did here.  Almost NEVER do I find both the lamp and the shade at the same place or at the same time.  I keep a small stash of both lamps and shades on hand all the time. 

When hunting for old lamp shades to strip, be SURE your top ring is ATTACHED to the bottom ring with the side ‘spines’.  A lot of them are NOT attached, rather the shade is a stiff ‘cardboard’ material that holds the whole thing together.  Unique shapes of shades work best for stripping too.