Chandelier Revamp

I've been wanting to update the look of my bedroom but without all the work of painting the walls. I figured some new bedding and nick nacks would give the room the vintage feel I was after. The first major project was the headboard and matching slipper chair I upholstered (but that's a whole other post). I changed the artwork on the walls and did some rearranging. The only thing I had left to do was to update the light fixture. It was a black rod iron 90's style 5 light chandelier with hideous bowl shaped glass pieces covering the light bulbs. After searching for a new fixture at the usual big box and lighting stores, I found nothing that would match with the brushed/aged gold mirror and curtain rods I had just put up until finally it occurred to me that I could simply paint my existing fixture, remove the bowls and change the bulbs to chandelier style ones.

Here's how I did it: I started by thoroughly cleaning the fixture with a little dish soap and water to ensure all the dust was removed and give the paint a clean finish to adhere to. Then I purchased a can of copper and a can of gold spray paint. I started with the copper paint, in a well ventilated area, spraying a very small amount at close range into a plastic container. (The paint dries very quickly so it is best to work with small amounts of paint). Using an ordinary 1" paint brush, I painted the entire fixture with a coat of the copper colour including the chain and the plate that is fixed to the ceiling. (You will want to put some masking tape around this plate to ensure you don't get paint on the ceiling). It is important that the entire fixture be completely covered with this copper paint and none of the original colour is showing through. If it is, apply another coat of paint after your first coat is dry. After allowing the copper paint to dry for 24 hours, I repeated the same process with the gold paint. This time I wasn't as careful about coverage. The idea is that the brush strokes and some of the copper colour show through to give it that aged look. After allowing the paint to dry for another 24 hours, I attached some clear gemstones that I found at the dollar store. To do this, I used mechanics wire to make hooks by simply twisting them around a thick marker. (You can use anything you have on hand that is cylindrical in shape). After making the hooks, I laid them all out on a piece of paper and spray painted them gold on both sides. The final step in completing this project was to fix the sockets that the old bowls used to sit on. These sockets had ridges and didn't look "finished", so I thought the easiest solution would be to cover them. I found a roll of vintage looking tin at Michaels craft store which was about an inch wide. I cut 5 pieces approximately 3" long with tin snips and painted them gold as well. After these pieces were dry, I rolled them around a small plastic bottle to create 5 perfect cylinders. Then I slipped the 5 cylinders over the tops of the sockets (no need to attach them in any way) and they fit perfectly.

The total cost of this project was only about $38. Each can of spray paint was $7, the roll of tin was $8, the crystal gemstones were $2 for a package of 20 and the light bulbs were $6 for a package of 4. Cheap and easy!