Collaborative Consumption
I am extremely inspired and proud of my friend Evie @mumpacktravel who is preparing to embark on a 12 month trip around Asia with just herself and her globetrotting five year old, Emmie.
As part of this preparation, she is starting to sort through her life to determine what will be stored and what can go and something that continues to amaze her throughout this process is how much "stuff" she has accumulated! And we all do it. She does her best not to just throw it away. She passes it on to those in need, holds stalls at markets, posts on various social media platforms etc.
The age old saying that "ones mans trash is another mans treasure" still holds true today and the concept of sharing, re-purposing, swapping, and donating is getting a new lease on life as technology is being used to find new homes for previously loved items. It even has a fancy name: Collaborative Consumption, or The Sharing Economy.
We love the concept of collaborative consumption and strongly encourage our clients to re-use their existing base if they can and sometimes we even re-use the shade rings. It is usually the shade itself that has dated, faded, cracked, yellowed or broken and this we can easily fix with a new lampelier shade. The base may just need a rewire, which we can also do for you.
We have done some really great lamp revamps for our clients. From basic IKEA lamps where we have kept the base but ditched the shade and created something bigger and/or bolder (something - anything - other than the beige that IKEA love) to creating something fabulous for a lamp found in the local charity shop.
So if your lamp is looking a little tired, or you have just redecorated and the existing shade no longer fits with the new look, don't throw your lamp away. Give it a revamp!
Click here to read our Top 5 reasons to revamp your lamp.
Where to find a second hand lamp
There are some great places for sourcing second hand lamps in need of a makeover. There are sites such as Ziilch (Australia) and ebay, or try your local classifieds, garage sales and classified groups on facebook. In Singapore you could go to the Expat Auctions or try the Carousell app. Another good option is to pop down to the local charity shop and see if you can find a treasure there. The bases are generally pretty solid and we can rewire them and design a fabulous new modern shade to give it a new lease on life.
These gorgeous lamps were rescued from the window of a charity shop in London on my way back from the tube station (although they are almost too cute to revamp!).
Have a lamp that needs a revamp? Join the #lamprevamprevolution with lampelier.
Read more about the Collaborative Consumption concept in this article about Ziilch founder Michelle Power or there is a book written about it: What's mine is yours
