I think that the first time I ever saw a swing arm lamp, it was in a movie. I’m not sure which movie, as my mom loved movies and it was a rare weekend that we didn’t go to the drive-in or the movie theater when we were younger. We saw A LOT of movies. I have drooled over swing arms lamps ever since.
When it came time to decide on the guest room design, a swing arm lamp never even crossed my mind.
Until I found these beauties on sale at Lowes. Let me tell you that they had me at $19.99! I was so excited, I was like a kid at the circus. The Hubs truly thought that I had lost my mind, but, being the good sport that he is, he reluctantly agreed to hang them.
The lamps were a brushed nickel, but I needed wanted them to match the gold hardware in the room. So I spray painted them!
The lamps were suppose to be hardwired into the wall, but y’all know me, I move things around. A lot. The Hubs came up with the idea to put plugs on the ends, rather than hard wiring them.
And that was all well and good, until I realized that you could see a cord. I hate cords. Seeing a cord for me is like having a paper cut. Or a tooth ache. Not good at all!
The Hubs knows me well enough to know that I was not going to like the cord showing, so while shopping for supplies to convert the lamp, he purchased a Cordmate. A Cordmate is a paintable plastic tube with an opening on the side for your cord to slide into. The Cordmate has a peel and stick strip on the back side to easily attach it to the wall.
As you can see in the picture above, we painted the Cordmate to match the walls and slid the cord into the side. The Hubs then took a level and marked a vertical line onto the wall. To attach the Cordmate to the wall, you simply peel off the back sticker and press it onto the vertical line. The vertical line insures that your cord hangs straight.
You may be able to eyeball it, but here at the castle OCD rears its ugly head!
You would think that I would call this project done and move on to the many other unfinished projects that I have waiting, but no, I’m not done yet. I have a couple of other surprises that I will share with you next time in Swing Arm Lamp, part 2. Yep, I’m going to make you wait. I’m good like that!
Tammy
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