naked lampshades.

i've written quite a bit in the past about lampshades... it's not that i'm obsessed with them or anything, i just find it strange that a simple affordable one is so difficult to find. whenever i buy vintage or thrifted lamps, the lampshades that come with them are almost always damaged or terribly out of date. & i'm a firm believer that updating the shade takes the whole lamp from strange goodwill find to chic new-to-me lamp!

so. i did finally find some completely plain white ones for about $15 at target. good size, great price, but they stayed plain as i never could really figure out what to do with them. cover them in fabric? stencil a pattern in fabric paint? start over with some really cute ikat ones i wish i'd seen first?

i was trying to figure out a temporary & non-permanent solution until i decided & this is what i came up with. i had some book pages lying around from christmas crafting that were about the same height as the shade. i added some mini clothespins to keep them on & thought it turned out pretty cute!

this is the odd little corner i'm still trying to fill up now that our christmas tree isn't there anymore:

& my little temporary solution:

yep! just clipped up there! still a little more neutral than i'd like, but at least now there's a little something interesting going on with my little thrifted brown wooden lamp.

what is your favorite go-to fix for temporarily giving something some color or texture?