Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Dandy Chandy

Since the remainder of the fabric for my chairs has yet to arrive, I thought that I would makeover the chandy that I recently bought for the master bedroom. Let's start another project while we're waiting right? :) This isn't necessarily the most dramatic chandy makeover, but the added drama to the room is what I was after. And I do like a big chandy. I liked what I had up there before, it just wasn't big enough. I Justin will be hanging it in the walk in closet. You can catch a glimpse of it HERE.


















I found this baby at the Goodwill for a steal....great piece, just not in my favorite finish. I looked past the shiny brass and knew it was the shape and size I was looking for.









I wanted something big, dramatic, and lantern-ish. It's definitely big, 30" long by 17" wide. This would not have worked had it not been for the tray ceiling in the bedroom.










On to painting. There are a lot of different ways to use spray paint and here is what I find works best for me. I always, always, always prime, especially metal. I use clean metal primer and it covers like a dream. I like to leave it over night to really cure, by the next day, the surface is ready to accept paint. For spray paint, I typically use Krylon, in this case I used glossy black. I find that I use less paint when I prime, not to mention a much more durable finish. Again, I like to let the paint cure another night. After lots and lots of spray painting projects, this is what works for me.












I chose to mask off the glass instead of taking it out. I was afraid I wasn't going to get the chandy put back together right, so I masked. Here is a tip: Once I had unscrewed the little triangle screw caps and taken out the lighting part, I screwed them back on. Not only does this make it easier to prime and paint, it protected the threads from getting sprayed.



Goodbye brass, hello black! I primed, I painted, I happy! :)

My guys hanging the chandy, don't they look so happy about doing it! Ha! I don't remember what they were talking about, but I'm sure it wasn't about being happy hanging this heavy thing!










It works! I had this vague fear that after all the work I put in it (and the work in hanging it) that it was at the Goodwill because it didn't work. Luckily, that fear was unproven! Shew!










I cleaned it all up and it looks fantastic in the room. One other step that I did, which was hard to photograph. I used Rub-N-Buff (in antique gold) on the little triangle screw caps. It was really a great detail that talked back to the other gold in the room.
You might ask yourself why didn't I just leave them the original brass, well I wanted them to be antique gold and wanted some of the black showing through. It's really a detail that isn't noticed right away, but I think it helped it stand apart from just a standard black paint job.



I think it was worth all the effort!









If you've got one, I hope you are inspired to paint that brassy chandy!










The bedroom is coming along, I can't wait to show you everything that's been done, and see how far it's come (and see what will still need to be done :)! Here's a little sneaky peaky!















11 comments:

  1. WOW! I am amazed! Thanks for the great post, helps me so much w/my minds eye!

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  2. Great light fixture, Michelle! What a find! I love it! I saw something similar at the Restore a few months ago, and while I did think about it, I passed because I know we will be moving soon. Next house!

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  3. This turned out great! I love it!

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  4. The chandelier turned out beautifully! Love the little gold touch. Can't wait to see the rest of your room.

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  5. I would have probably passed on the lamp...the shiny brass would have temporarily blinded me. Believe you me...I'll be looking for something similiar in the future. It looks amazing. Who'd a thunk it?
    Debbie
    P.S. You may already know this, but a little trick I do is to take an extension cord that the female end has been cut off of and attach it to the wiring of a lamp. I then can plug it in to see if it needs rewiring before going too far into the project.

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  6. Debbie, thanks for the tip, I forgot about that!

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  7. I can't believe how beautiful it looks. I can't get over what a good job you did! Love love love it! Thanks for the ideas.

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  8. looks great, i told my husband i wantd to spray a few of ours and he thought i was nutz... i have to bring him to blogsville!

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  9. How great is that? It looks entirely different and perfect. I love it!

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  10. Hi Michelle,
    The light fixture came out fabulous! Thanks for commenting on my blog. Love your blog. I'm your newest follower!
    Jean

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Thank You for taking the time to comment! Because of the insane amount of spam comments, I had to stop anonymous comments-sorry for the inconvenience.
Michelle