Chandelier renovation, upcycled lighting, redo chandelier,

I hate to waste things. We try to reuse what ever we can, to save some dollars and to be green.  Lets just say, spray paint and I are intimate friends.  In a house like this one, that consumes dollar bills like chickens  cracked corn, recycling materials is a helpful budget band aid.

ugly chandelier with crystal strands

In this case, the focus is an ugly chandelier, seen to the right. A really ugly, rusted, discolored chandelier is our sickly patient. It needs a redo big time, because we have some dark dingy corners of the house that need light just to be habitable. As if the classic Williamsburg style is not dated enough, the antique brass finish is even more repulsive to today's designers and homeowners. A makeover is in order. For right now, it is a preliminary makeover.  What is shown here is the preliminary reconditioning, to be followed by some funky touches added at a later time. I just love funky glitz, so that is part two of the plan for this chandelier. What is shown on the right here is a photo I took while experimenting with the crystal strands to see if they would catch the light in the room. They did, so I proceeded to redesign the chandelier below,  which is larger, to a new funky one I have shown before on this blog.  I chose to leave the brass because it was not tarnished and it seemed to look fine with the crystals. I like the transformed look, so I am doing another one using this rusted antique brass one.

Funky style glitz renovated chandelier

In this first stage, the chandelier was removed from its ceiling location in the dining room. It was replaced by a funky larger one that I glitzed up with Swarovski crystal strands to catch the light that streams into the dining room in the mornings. I like the way this larger one turned out. Nothing like I have ever seen at anyone elses house, and I am pleased with its fusion look....kind of Waterford meets Architectural Salvage. You can see from the photo here,on the left, the customizing changed its look substantially.  In this photo it was a hanging lamp but was changed to a overhead installation in ceiling box, once sent to the dining room.

chandelier with renovation

This reconditioning was done as easily as pushing down the button on a spray can. There was some prep. First it had to be removed from the ceiling by turning off the power at the electric service box, and disconnecting the chandelier from the electricity in the house. Once disconnected it was taken down, the plate over the electrical box was removed and the chandelier was prepped for paint. To prep it I first wiped it down to remove dust. Then it was washed down to remove any film or dust still left on the surface. We then examined the quality of the metal surface. Though its color was called antique brass, it really was just treated steel. There were some rust spots and we used a brass toothed brush, the size of

a toothbrush, to lift off the rust and smooth out the surface. This could be done several other ways, but this way was comfortable for us to do. Once it was cleaned up we took it outside and sprayed it with a can of flat black spray paint in a can. We used Valspar brand flat black spray paint, but one could choose to use Rustoleum to get more rust control. You could also use a glossy paint finish is you like that look, there are even stainless steel and granite colors in these spray paint colors these days. You can find a pretty broad selection of colors, so decide what you like and search for something appropriate. Since I was painting black I wasn't too worried about the rust bleeding into the color. If you are doing a light color you probably want to go with the Rustoleum.  Next the spray painting started. You have to be sure to do all sides. Spray from the top, the left side, the right side, the bottom and anything inbetween. Spin the chandelier so you get to see all sides, nooks and crevices. You want a good even coat, installed a thin layer at a time so that you do not get drips. Drips in the paint surface can be very visible and are undesirable.  You must analyze how the paint is being applied through the whole painting process.  You do no want blank spots. I will also add that I bought a special squeeze handle to install on the top of the spray can instead of the push button. Using the squeeze handle is makes it easier to manipulate the can and to make a continuous a stream of spray.  It was worth the couple of dollars investment, especially when spray paint is a miracle worker in home repair, and the squeeze sprayer can be reused.

chandelier was painted and changed to a hanging lamp

Once removed from the ceiling and repainted, we bought a kit at the hardware store. The kit was used to turn the chandelier into a hanging light, as opposed to a chandelier wired into a socket in the center of the ceiling. We did this because there are no ceiling fixtures in this old house, so there was no box to wire it into on the ceiling. we chose instead to put a hook in the center of the room and we hung the chandelier from that hook. A second hook at the edge of the room leads the wire and chain across the ceiling, down to a plug on the wall. The hanging light kit we bought has a switch on the wire to turn the light off and on when we need it to light the room. Fortunately the outlet we plugged it into is connected to the switch in the room so it has been a very easy adjustment for us to use this fixture, though the room switch in not required since there is one on the chain included in the hanging light kit.

We have this light hung now, but it is not done. I still intend to put some crystal strands on it to cause it to throw more light around the room. Once I apply the crystals, I will again publish some photos of the light and the changes. I actually love the black color on this dated but classic shape. The black color made it so much more contemporary in style. That actually is one of the reasons why the crystals aren't on it yet. I am living with this look for a while before I decide to proceed further.

to see my other chandelier reno click this link
http://shoresidefarmhouse.blogspot.com/2009/10/chandelier-reno.html