9 After Party: Dining Room Light Fixture
>> Friday, June 4, 2010
What? You never mentioned this project! What about the arm chair in progress? The master bath? The 101 other projects you have going on right now?!
You’re right. I pulled a fast one on you. This guy was low on the Rehabilitation Station totem pole, but as a self-diagnosed home ADD nut, a spray paint sale caught my attention and this fella quickly became our next guinea pig…
…and for good reason. Odds are if you live in a 1950’s ranch, you probably have one of these guys hanging around. AND if you are anything like me, the shiny brass finish just isn’t doing it for ya. Time for a change, and for just $5.00, it’s totally worth the effort.
Supply List
| - Voltage tester | |
| - Screwdriver | |
| - Spray paint (we used textured paint from Rust-oleum) | |
| - Sandwich bag | |
| - Paper towels | |
| - Newspaper |
First things first, I had to get the fixture outside to prep for paint.
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After unscrewing the decorative canopy, I turned off the electricity and used a voltage tester to make sure the work space was current-free.
Following these online instructions, I detached the wires and carefully lowered the fixture to the floor.
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Time to prep!
To protect the wires from paint, I tucked them into a sandwich bag (I would give a shout out to Ziploc, but we use off brand).
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Moving outside, I gathered our supplies and gave the dusty fixture a wipe with a few paper towels and a good dusting with compressed air.
Like the wires, I wanted to protect the light bulb sockets, especially since I was using textured spray paint. The twist of a few paper towels kept the sockets paint free.
On to the fun part! Check the directions on the back of your paint can for specific instructions and dry times.
Once you’ve covered all of your bald spots and given the paint plenty of time to dry, all that’s left to do it re-hang your fixture and turn the power back on.
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Easy right? And much improved…
Budget Breakdown:
| Light Fixture | FREE (with 30 year mortgage) |
| Voltage Tester | $14.97 |
| Textured Spray Paint | $4.98 |
| Total | $19.95 |
A seriously spruced light fixture for under $20? That is a good day, my friends.
9 comments:
My parents have a chandelier like this in their home. HIDEOUS!!!! Maybe I can offer to paint it for their anniversary or something. Yours looks great!!
Looks great!
I really really like the way the textured paint turned out. Where did you buy it?
Carmen, that sounds like the best anniversary present ever--at least to us anyway!
Thanks, Bella! Not bad for an evening's work, if we do say do ourselves.
Tiffany, the paint was from Walmart. Nothing fancy, but we definitely agree with you on the texture. It made such a difference!
-Cara
There's also a great hammer texture spray paint I use. Fixture looks fantastic!
Leslie, funny you mention the hammered paint. I spent probably 15 minutes in the paint aisle debating between hammered and textured. I can't wait to try the hammered paint on another project!
-Cara
This is awesome Cara! I've been wanting to do this to our old light fixtures too. Thanks for giving me the motivation to do it!
p.s. you guys always make things look so easy and doable :-)).
Thanks, Reese! Glad we could inspire you. Be sure to send us before & after photos of your fabulously rehabed light fixture!
-Cara
Totally perfect. I have a ceiling fan in need of being dragged out of the 80's, this looks like a good option.
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