i just finished painting my rooms. I want that color on my ceramic lamp bases to match the theme and color of the walls. The paint i used has a primer built in would this be okay to use?
Not all paints will adhere to ceramic, even those with a built-in primer. Your best bet is to first spray the lamp base with a shellac or a pigmented shellac primer (such as Zinsser's BIN) to set up a surface that will allow the paint to adhere. Then you can paint it with any paint you like. Shellac dries within the hour, so you can prime and paint it in the same day. Clean the lamp base before painting it to get any hand oils or ambient grease off of the ceramic. Window cleaner works well for that. Use masking tape and newspaper to completely mask off the fittings and cord before you prime or paint the lamp base. And put the lamp shade in another room until your paint is dry. Recommendation: do not use a flat wall paint for your lamp base, as dirt, fingerprints, and other soils will not clean off. Use only a satin, semi-gloss, or gloss paint. It will look better too.
