Let There Be Light!

More banishing the brass...

After 8 years of this awful builder special, I have finally have upgraded!

You might be asking yourself...how did she live with that for 8 years? Well, the ceiling is 20 feet high and unfortunately it never occurred to me to replace the light when we had the scaffolding for painting. And then before I knew it, it was just this awful light that I would someday replace.

It's definitely not a job for an ordinary ladder.

About a month ago I went to a Habitat for Humanity Restore.  Imagine my delight to find a 12 arm chandelier for $10!  All of the ones I had looked at online were well over $200. I thought the price must be a mistake, so when I took it to the register I was stunned to hear $10.

Here she is before her makeover (the giant green blob in the background in my treadmill - just didn't want it covered in paint)

I hung her from the rafters to make sure I could get a nice coat without having to paint in sections. Again one of those times when prepping pays off - even though it can be annoying. (please ignore the messy garage)

I used Rust-oleum in black satin.  I figured gloss would be too shiny and flat would show way too much dust. (I'm lazy and always in need of immediate gratification so I didn't prime)

I looked and looked for drum shades, but buying 12 was over my budget so I opted for these linen-look ones from Lowes for a $6 each. I bought some textured ribbon at Jo-Ann's Fabric.

Notice the glass of wine in the background....seems to be a staple for my evening make-overs.

Viola! A brand new (to me) chandelier for about $90. I added the chain cover because the old chain used to get so dusty and full of cobwebs and I never had a way to clean it.

 

So I'm not perfect - it's obviously time to dust.

Because this was so easy I also sprayed the light in out entry. I forgot to take the before, but close your eyes and imagine more of that awful shiny yellow brass. On a side note, the glass panes do not come out so this one was much more labor intensive in the prep and in all honesty, kind of a pain.

Finally, Finley and I have come to an agreement when it comes to me having my blog time...

Clearly we will have to revisit this option when he is full grown and weighs 90 pounds!

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