My Chandelier's New Look!

Before

The picture is fuzzy because I remembered to take the picture AFTER I had turned off the power!

I have been "puttering" around my house doing project after project since our kitchen remodel. Of course, it's inspirational and quite frustrating all at once. As I focus on a project, other "household" chores seem to pile up! Hopefully, I will get a bit better at managing it all! I did manage to clear out all the dust from the remodel (jack hammer thingies are messy), but I still have quite a bit to organize in my kitchen, spring cleaning projects to finish, and declutter obsessions to work on! Everyone knows when you spend a great deal of money on a purchase....something always fall apart...something unexpected.

Well, that is certainly true for us! Our water heaters went out as our kitchen remodel was underway. AND, you will never believe it, but our flat screen TV was hit by lightning yesterday. My poor husband sat quietly in the living room mourning his lost for quite a while yesterday. It's just part of how it works. We have to just be thankful for the blessings that we do have and not worry about what could go wrong next! If you see my husband mourning his lost, please feel free to remind him!:)

Now for my chandelier project! My husband was not very supportive of this project. He feared that this was my secret ploy to just get a grand replacement to match the new kitchen. It sincerely wasn't a plan! I had seen on blogs and research that this was totally possible! My brass chandelier was about to be a beautiful rubbed oil bronze (ORB) color just like my kitchen!

It was not very difficult, and I did it with two children under four underfoot. My small dog did get a bit of spray-paint on his back after being a bit too curious during my project!

Here is what I did...

1. Take down the chandelier. (You must turn off the main power. You also need a second set of hands because it is difficult to unhook the wires and hold the fixture.)

2. Put some sort of plastic or cardboard down to protect the floor where you plan on working on the fixture. I used whatever I could find in the garage! Some people recommend a cardboard box to sit it in while working. I also used something (empty baby wipe box) to prop it up on both sides.

3. Remove anything that comes off. For me this included the light bulbs, the "candle thingies", and such.

4. Tape around the wires to protect them from paint.

5. Lightly sand all the brass.

6. Clean the fixture.

7. Spray-paint with a primer. I used Kilz Spray-paint Primer. Let it Dry. Turn it upside down and repeat. You don't have to be very thorough with your spraying with primer.

8. When it's all dry, spray-paint with your chosen color. I used Rustoleum ORB. It took two cans. After I had let it dry, I went back with a small art brush to get any spots that I might have missed or need some touch up.

9. Pull off tape and add the pieces back that you removed.

10. Hang your "NEW" chandelier back up and enjoy your new look...costs less than twenty dollars!


After:

Hmmm...several questions come to mind. First, can I buy the ORB spray-paint in bulk? (I have a LOT of brass in my house. I really like this color.) Second, what else can I spray-paint?!

I'll keep you posted on what else I can "surprise" Robert and spray-paint!

On a side note, to those of you who have asked...I ordered some more needles for my embroidery machine so I should be up and running by the end of this week...maybe. I still need to get it serviced for its yearly visit, but I think this will help it to "go" a little longer until I get it down to Macon! I'm having an embroidery debate (mostly in my head). I'll share it this week...

Have a great week...and remember when things go wrong, count your blessings...

and admire your "new" chandelier!

Tammy