When Jonona Amor, interior designer of Jonamor Decor , was charged with creating a lamp out of non-traditional fixtures, just where did she head off to? The 99 Cent Store! Feeling void of inspiration, she channeled the legendary Tony Duquette, who had an obsession with creating fabulous objects out of items that cost next-to-nothing."I arrived with an open mind," she says, "and I scoured every object in the store, imagining their possibilities." And just what did she find? A stack of bamboo baskets with an appealing shape, a four-faced, ceramic Buddha head and a yellow ceramic vase that coordinated with the other bric-a-brac...all totalling under $3! Her finds were so inspiring that she decided to make a pair and headed off to Orchard Supply Hardware where she picked up the light bulbs, lamp kits and finials for about $50.
Next she headed home to see what she had on had to repurpose for her whimsical plan. Two wooden candleholders, four bangle bracelets, two coasters and two large wooden beads fit the bill. After drilling holes in the heads and the pots to accommodate the light fixtures, she then set wiring wiring and hot gluing the whole thing together, only to find that the lamp shades were too short. Not a problem, she just went back to the 99 Cent Store and bought two more baskets ($2!), cut out their bottoms and wired them to the originals.
And voila! Her original Lover Lamps crafted out of unexpected items that cost about $60. "Thanks to the 99 Cent Store," Jonona says, "I went from zero inspiraton to 100 percent success!"
For more of Jonanor Decor's unique designs, pick up The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating with Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Detailsat Borders, Barnes & Noble,Amazon or Powell's.Marveling over Jonona's thrifty, yet chic innovation -- The Elegant Thrifter
Always Frugal, Always Fabulous!
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